★★★
"Line your knuckles up, babe. Head up and keep your eyes on the ball," Jared yells from behind the chain link fence. I watch as the ball whizzes past me.
"Strike two."
"For God sake, babe, swing all the way through. You're never going to hit the ball that way." I glare in his direction and stick my tongue out at him. He takes this too damn seriously.
"Oh, you're going to be in the dog house tonight, Jare," his brother Elijah jokes with him.
"Shut the fuck up, my girl can't resist me."
Jared's dad steps back bringing both arms above his head, they come back down and he brings his right hand back, and then forward, pitching the baseball right to me. I close my eyes and swing, praying I make some kind of contact with the ball.
"Strike three. You're out." I hear Jared's mom call from behind the plate.
"Shit. Shit. Shit," I huff and walk to the dugout where Jared, three of his brothers, and their significant others are waiting for me.
"I told you, babe, you've got to keep your eye on the ball."
"I did!"
"You did not, I watched you shut your eyes before you swung. It was such a girl move."
I huff and stomp my feet, acting like a child as I sit on the bench and watch Jared approach the plate for his turn up to bat.
It's been a little over two weeks since our trip to the beach to watch the sunset. Each day with Jared has somehow gotten better. We show up to work and goof around with the crew for a few hours, and then go out on some type of excursion. I'm starting to realize how lucky I am. We started a relationship and we get to spend the first few weeks with each other. No work, or canceling because of obligations, just pure time with my man.
We headed to his hometown of Brentwood today to celebrate his dad's sixtieth birthday. The man didn’t want a party, or any big gifts. Jared's dad just wanted his family home and to play a family game of baseball. Jared and his six brothers all came home to celebrate, and brought their wives and girlfriends with them.
Jared's the youngest of the seven boys and he has four nieces and two nephews. I’m surprised to see such a great family unit. I guess when I think about people in the porn industry, or anyone who has sex for money, I think they must have had a rough life.
Not Jared. It's obvious just by being around these people how much Jared is loved and adored by them. I originally tried to get out of going today, but Jared insisted. I'm glad he did. I've learned more about him and fallen in love with his family.
I hear the smack of the aluminum bat hitting the ball and I look up to see Jared running towards first base, and the ball going over one of his brother's heads.
"Run, you lazy bastard!" Giles yells from next to me. Giles is Jared's oldest brother and he's married to Angela. They have three kids together and all of the kids are currently playing at the park located several yards behind the backstop.
"I thought you would have built some endurance in your profession, but you're slower than me. I feel bad for your lady, Jare," Scott yells from the other side of me. Scott is closest in age to Jared, only a year apart, but they all tease Jared because he's the baby in the family.
I giggle beside him as I see Jared trying to run faster. He rounds second base. The ball has rolled and hit the fence and Jared's rounding third before his brother gets a hold of the ball. He dashes for home plate as his brother launches the ball to the catcher. One of the boy's girlfriends is catching; I think her name is Ally. She moves to cover the plate, but ducks out of the way at the last minute as Jared slides into home.
I scream and cheer alongside my teammates because we've just won the game. I watch Jared's dad toss his glove on the ground and kick the dirt in front of him. We cheer as Jared runs over and picks me up in a big bear hug. I giggle some more before he puts me down and we joke around with his family members on the losing team.
We head back to Jared's parents' house and enjoy some pizza and ice cream. The guys play cards, and I decide to sit with the girls in the living room and get to know them. We don't leave there until midnight, but I've honestly had such a great time. Jared's family is so fun and I'm so happy to have been accepted into the large group with open arms.
"They loved you, babe. My mom was almost in tears. She thinks you'll be good for me." Jared pulls his shirt and jeans off before climbing into bed.
"And you disagree?" I ask from beside him.
He reaches for me and kisses me tenderly on the lips. "No, I know she's right. You're already good for me. And I'm about to show my gratitude."
His lips come back down on mine and he spends the next hour showing me his gratitude.
★★★
Twenty-four days. It's been twenty-four days, and tomorrow is the day Jared and I get retested along with the rest of the stars under contract with Jared's production company. I'm excited and anxious, but I'm not anxious over the test results. I’m anxious because Jared and I can stop being so careful. I want to feel him deep inside me. I want to feel him in my mouth as I lick up and down his length and take the head of his cock between my lips. I want to taste his cum on my taste buds and I want to feel him come inside me, have him fill me completely.
I've never thought such dirty thoughts before, but I can’t help it. Jared has brought out an entire new side to me. I enjoy sex... I crave it. He makes me feel like I can do anything, and I want to do everything with him.
Jared's anxious, too, but for different reasons. He’s afraid of what the test results might say. He's not only worried about himself; he's worried about all of his friends and me. He doesn't want anyone to have to go through finding out they have this.
Production is planned to start back up in two days and I'm holding off on asking him the big question. I know what he's told me before, but I worry that when he gets the test results back and realizes he's clean, he'll go back to shooting scenes. I don't want to ask him about this now because he has too many things to worry about at the moment.
This morning over breakfast he kept zoning out and he barely ate the pancakes I made him. I don't usually make him breakfast, but since we've had a lot of free time the last few weeks, I've been making him breakfast more often.
When he finished his coffee, he went upstairs to take a shower and make some phone calls, and he hasn't come back down since. I don't want to bother him. I figure he just needs some time to himself so I call my sister and verify her travel arrangements. She's planning a trip to come visit and I have to set some clear guidelines. Under no circumstance is she allowed to hit on, proposition, or make Jared uncomfortable. He is mine.
Tawny walks in the room and hears the last part of my conversation. She starts to laugh as she plops herself down next to me on the sofa in the living room. I quickly end my call with Winnie and turn her way.
"Jeez, girl, you think everyone wants a piece of your man."
"That's because everyone does, Winnie included. If I told you the things she's told me about him, well, I'm surprised it took her this long to plan a visit."
"She loves you and she would never trump all over you and Jared. Plus, if you haven't noticed, Jared only has eyes for you."
I smile up at her, "I know."
"Alright, Chica, what's on the agenda today? Jared said he isn’t putting up the facade of shooting today, and I really don’t want to bum around the house all day. Let's go do something."
I glance up the stairs to where the hallway is that leads to Jared's room. "I don’t know Tawny. I think I’m just going to do what Jared wants today. He’s pretty stressed out."
"All the more reason to go do something. It will keep his mind off things and hopefully release some of his stress."
I look back at her, "I don't think he looks at it that way. Why don't we put on a movie while we're waiting for him to come out of his room?"
I swear his ears must have been ringing because we hear his door open, and Jared is walking down the hallway as soon as I finish my sentence. He walks down the spiral staircase
and joins us in the living room, sitting down on the other side of me. He's shaved his hair off and I gasp in surprise, quickly shutting my mouth before he notices my shock. He must have shaved it before he showered. His mood is so horrible today. I don't even want to ask him why he's shaved his head.
"Could this shit whole day go any fucking slower? I think something is wrong with the clocks."
I smile at him, but am inwardly worried. "Baby, they're satellite clocks."
"Well, then something's wrong with the fucking satellite because the clock only says it's a little past noon."
I reach out and wrap my arms around him, resting my head on his chest and I hear Tawny laugh beside me.
"So what, you think the world is against you? You're right, all the governments decided to fuck with the satellite so a few porn stars in Los Angeles have to wait a little longer to get an HIV test."
I turn my head and stare daggers at her. She knows how stressed he is and he's technically her employer, so she needs to be a little more understanding.
"Knock it the fuck off!" I yell at her.
"Alright, alright. I know I've pissed you off if you're cussing at me. So what should we do to pass the time faster?"
"I don’t want to do anything," Jared says from beside me. "You girls can do something though."
"I'm not leaving you," I whisper up to him and kiss the bottom of his chin.
Two hours later it's obvious something needs to be done. Jared is storming around the house acting like a lunatic. Tawny is starting to look as worried as me. She goes to her purse and comes back with a prescription for sleeping pills.
"I take these when I fly. They're some heavy-duty shit, but I take one pill and I'm out for eight hours straight."
"He won't take that."
"You don't tell him. You crush it up and put it in whatever he's eating or drinking. It's the only way to get him to calm down and have the time pass quickly."
"I don't know..." I drift off as we hear a loud bang from his office upstairs. The door opens and he yells for me to please bring up a broom and dustpan. He broke the glass vase I put on his desk last week.
I look back at Tawny, "I'll make the coffee and you crush the pill."
A few minutes later I bring up the dustpan and broom with the freshly made cup of coffee. "Here, babe. I'll sweep this up. You relax and drink this."
Jared nods his head and takes the coffee. By the time I'm done cleaning up the mess, he's sitting in his chair and finishing the last few sips. I start to make small talk with him, but within a few minutes he starts acting funny and is having a hard time keeping his eyes open. I get him to come with me to the bedroom and he falls down on the bed and is asleep within seconds.
"Tawny!" I yell from inside the bedroom. I hear her running down the hall towards us. She opens the door and spots Jared, covering her mouth to hide her smile.
"I guess it worked."
"You guess? I barely got him to the bed. The pill is safe, right?"
"Absolutely, I take it all the time."
I let out a breath of relief. "Good. If one pill knocked you out for eight hours, we probably have about four hours of him resting."
"Um..." Tawny whispers, looking down at the floor. "Did I say I only gave him one? I meant three."
"What?"
"He's a big guy and he was acting like a psychopath. It was the only thing we could do."
I look down at my sweet man on the bed and realize she's right. This was the only way the three of us were going to make it through the day. I just hope he’s not pissed at me when he finally wakes up.
Chapter Sixteen
"Can't we just have the good old doc test him while he's unconscious?"
While Tawny's idea isn't a bad one at the moment, I'm fairly sure it's unethical to have someone get a medical test without his or her written consent.
After we left Jared in his bed yesterday, the rest of the day went surprisingly fast. Tawny and I watched movies while sipping margaritas on the sofa. Tawny makes the most delicious margaritas and I was feeling pretty good by the time I went to bed.
I lay next to Jared all night, resting my hand on his heart to make sure I could still feel his chest moving. I wasn't too worried about him until this morning when he still hadn't woken up. Tawny kept assuring me that he would be okay and not to worry, but when Kelly and the doctor showed up a few minutes ago, I officially started to freak out.
I made up some excuse to why Jared wasn't waiting for them and I went upstairs to get him. Tawny followed behind me and we've tried for the last ten minutes to get his ass up, with no success.
"I think we have to tell Kelly," I whisper harshly to Tawny. "There's no way we are going to be able to get him downstairs."
"Tell me what?"
Tawny and I both turn towards the door and see Kelly and Jared's doctor standing there. It takes Kelly a second to put together the scene she sees in front of her.
"I can explain-"
"What did you do?" Kelly bellows and walks over to the bed. "He's unconscious and I know for a fact he doesn't do drugs."
"He was a mess yesterday, Kelly. He was violent and throwing things, completely freaking out about today. We just wanted him to relax."
"What did you give him?" The doctor asks, opening up what looks like a medical kit.
"I gave him a few of my sleeping pills," Tawny rattles off from the other side of the bed. "I didn't think it was that big of a deal."
I'm about to go into more depth about the events of yesterday when Jared starts to stir in the bed next to me. I immediately sit down next to him and start to caress my palm on his cheek, willing him to wake up. I hear him groan a few times before he slowly starts to peel his eyelids open.
"Am I in heaven?" He slurs, his voice rough from sleep. He's looking right in my eyes with the most serene face. "You're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."
He reaches out for me and pulls me into a kiss and I giggle against his lips, letting him kiss me for a few seconds before I pull away. Once I'm sitting back up I look down at him and his eyes are closed.
"Jared, you have to wake up. The doctor's here to give us our tests."
He groans softly, but doesn't move at all. I watch as the doctor gently brushes me out of the way and sits beside Jared on the bed, waving an open bottle of something under Jared's nose. It only takes a second and Jared's sitting up in the bed. His eyes are wide as he looks around the room to see four faces staring at him.
"What's going on?" He looks down and pats the comforter. He looks back up to me, "Why am I in bed?”
I hesitate, knowing he'll be pissed when he finds out what we did.
"Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum over here thought it was a good idea to give you sleeping pills yesterday without your knowledge. You've been knocked out ever since." Kelly looks all too happy to rat on us.
Jared looks at me as if I've betrayed him, "You drugged me?"
"We had to, baby. You were all over the place yesterday and the day was going by so slow for you. I just wanted you to relax and for today to come quickly for you so we could get this test over with."
"I hate to break up the conversation, but I'm pressed for time. I only have a little over an hour here before I head to the studio to start testing. We need to do this now."
I watch as the doctor puts on his gloves and pulls out brand new medical equipment so we can get tested. Tawny and Kelly leave the room, but Jared and I decide to stay together for each of our tests. An hour later we're saying goodbye to the doctor and Jared has the silliest, dopiest smile on his face.
Jared shuts the door and cheers loudly, like his favorite team just won the big game. "This is amazing. The best news ever."
He leans down and kisses me on the cheek before running to the kitchen. The rest of us follow behind him and I watch him pull a few twenty-ounce bottles of water from the fridge. He opens the first bottle and chugs the contents of the bottle, finishing it in under a minute. I watch as he opens the second b
ottle and starts to drink again, this time at a more leisurely pace.
"Thirsty?" I ask him.
"No, I've got to flush out the crap you two dumbasses gave me yesterday. My body feels heavy and that is unacceptable for what I have planned tonight."
"You have plans... like a party?" Tawny asks excitedly.
"No, not like a fucking party," he rolls his eyes at Tawny. "More like I'm getting you a room at The Four Seasons tonight. I have big plans for Autumn, and I need the house empty. Trust me, you don't want to be here to hear us."
My body is instantly on alert when I hear his words, and my cheeks start to feel warm from the blush taking over my skin. Jared winks at me and finishes off the contents of the second bottle before opening bottle number three.
The rest of the afternoon goes by quickly. Kelly and Jared talk business. Jared has a ten a.m. call time tomorrow directing two actors, as long as they clear their testing. Tawny leaves around three to head to The Four Seasons and I shower and get ready for my evening alone with Jared. Although we've been sleeping with each other the past few weeks, tonight will be different and I find myself anxious. Butterflies flutter in my stomach as I anticipate being with him with no barriers.
We leave for dinner a little later on. Jared compliments me on my dress. He tells me I look beautiful in the cream colored dress and black heals I'm wearing. I tell him he looks stunning in his opened gray dress shirt and black slacks.
We eat dinner at a nice five star restaurant in Calabasas and drive back to his home listening to Motown hits. It's one of the only stations that come through in his Mustang, but I love listening to the classics.
When we get back to the house Jared grabs wine and two wine glasses, and we head upstairs to his bedroom. The room is lit by candlelight and the sound of smooth jazz is coming through the surround sound speakers in the house. Red rose petals are scattered across the bed on top of fresh white linen sheets.
"How did you..."
Changing His Game Page 19
