Friends With Way Too Many Benefits (Friends With… Benefits Series (Book 5))

by Young, Luke

  “Really, it’s a gift and basically I got it for free. I mean, I do have to attend this creepy guy’s party next month as part of the deal, but…” She smiled. “I guess you could go in my place if you really wanted to.”

  “Really?” He shook his head.

  “Yeah, but they’ll be expecting you to wear a bikini.” She chuckled.

  “Something tells me they don’t want to see me in one.”

  “Probably not.”

  “I don’t want you to have to do that. Do you know anything about this guy?”

  She shrugged. “Don’t worry. He’s just some real estate millionaire. I’ll take a few of the Playboy security guys with me. I’ll be fine.”

  “Oh. Okay… Again I’m sorry.” He sighed. “I just need to pull it together and really focus on finishing this movie.”

  “Yeah, sure, I get it.”

  “Maybe when we get back to L.A. we could…” He looked into her eyes and shrugged.

  “Sure, whatever.”

  He pulled his hand away and gave her a smile. “Thank you for the poster. I feel like my collection is finally complete.”

  “I’d love to see it.”

  “Okay.” Opening the door, he climbed out of the car. He poked his head back in. “You’re doing a great job. Everyone’s been just blown away.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes, I think big things are ahead of you. I really do.”

  He closed the door and left her in the car. She gripped the steering wheel and watched through the rearview mirror as he walked away.

  51

  A few days later Brian stood courtside as Amanda shot her first tennis sequence in the movie. Olga Katarina, a body double for the World famous starlet had just concluded her work on court. She’s a former pro on the Women’s tour, had once been a qualifier at the U.S. Open, but never established much of a career. Her one claim to fame could now be the fact that her legs and general body shape mimicked that of the famous Amanda Joseph. If you were to pick a body to emulate, it was a pretty damn good choice.

  Amanda’s assignment that day was to film the upper body and face shots and maintain a competent swing that later, with the benefit of editing, could be married up with Olga’s expert shots and look seamless on screen. Amanda was on court with a middle-aged little known character actor playing the part of Jillian’s rude tennis date near the beginning of the story.

  After twenty minutes of filming, Brian met with his student to correct some minor issues. Shooting commenced and about two hours later Paul wrapped that sequence and the crew headed back to the trailers for the daily post production work.

  Sweaty, but still looking stunning, the super beauty, spoke with Brian as he sat on a bench courtside.

  “I’m free for the next couple hours if you want to squeeze in our session tonight instead of tomorrow morning.” She smiled. “I prefer to sleep in, just don’t tell Paul.”

  He chuckled. “I had the rest of the day blocked out for this anyway, so sure.”

  “Great.”

  “Let me grab my racquet and I’ll be right back.”

  A few minutes later, Brian returned with his tennis bag and discovered Amanda practicing her serve. He headed to the opposite side of the court and the two hit the ball back and forth for about ten minutes. He provided instruction as they worked on alternating between crosscourt forehands and backhands, directing her to hit the ball over the center of the net, at its lowest point, whenever possible.

  Noticing she was not following through completely on her strokes, he suggested they record her swing for review. Brian called to the front desk and requested assistance. A member of the staff met them a few minutes later carrying one of the club’s iPads used by the instructors.

  Brian introduced his assistant who hit balls to Amanda as Brian recorded her strokes. After capturing four each of her backhand and forehand swings, Brian thanked his assistant and sent him on his way.

  Brian and Amanda sat on the bench reviewing the recording. In slow motion they went over first her forehand then her backhand stroke. He pointed out what she was doing right and areas for improvement. The main issue was with her forehand. She needed to lead more with her left hand and follow the swing through to completion.

  “This is incredibly helpful,” she gushed as they headed together to the same side of the court.

  “Let’s try a few and really focus on your swing. Don’t worry about getting the ball in or hitting with pace, just focus on connecting and following through.”

  “Okay.” She narrowed her eyes. “So, is it like this?” She took a few practice swings.

  He smiled politely. “Almost.” Positioning his racquet back, he demonstrated the proper forehand stroke.

  “All right.” She nodded and gave it a try.

  “That’s better, but, here…” He moved in behind her and took gentle hold of her arm, bringing it all the way back to the starting point. “You see, um, really start back this far.”

  “Okay,” she said softly. Their faces were only inches apart.

  He took a deep breath, sampling her perfume. “Yeah, and, um… then swing from low to high.” Guiding her stroke, he slowly twisted his body along with hers to the final position.

  She turned back to him and smiled. Their bodies were so close now he could feel the heat pouring off of her. The attraction between them was undeniable. She gazed into his eyes. “You really are an incredible instructor.”

  “Thanks,” he replied softly and they stood less than a foot apart for only another second but it felt like an eternity. He stepped back and stammered, “Um, yeah, so why don’t you try it now.”

  “Okay.” Bringing her racquet back, she held it steady and glanced back to him.

  “That’s it.”

  She swung from low to high and led with her left hand to the proper finish position.

  He smiled. “Perfect. Let’s try some.” He ran to the other side of the net and hit a ball to her. She returned it well, hitting it with medium pace and enough topspin to drop it safely in the court. “Great….That’s it.”

  The two hit dozens more balls with Amanda’s consistency improving by the minute. He found himself staring at her shapely legs and rear as she bent over to pick up balls from the court. Pulling himself back to reality, he slapped himself in the face and quickly turned away.

  After an hour more of practice, the two retuned to the bench and sat down chugging from water bottles. She smiled. “This is so much easier when you know what you’re doing.”

  “Yeah, it’s ninety percent mechanics. You don’t try to kill the ball, just hit solid strokes and you’ll go a long way to improving your game. You really have some natural talent.”

  “You think?”

  “I do.”

  She took a sip from her bottle. “I really appreciate you working with me. I wouldn’t have lasted another day with Uri.”

  “No, I’m glad to do it. It’ll be something I’ll tell my grandchildren about.” He smiled. “Would you mind if I got a picture of us, so they’ll actually believe it?”

  “Sure.”

  He pulled his iPhone from his bag and he set up the picture, holding the phone at arm’s length as Amanda moved close to him.

  “Ready?”

  “Yep.” She smiled and he took the picture.

  He reviewed the image, smiling. “Thank you.”

  “How about I thank you for the lessons by buying you dinner tonight?”

  “What?” Caught off guard, he stammered. “Um, I, uh…”

  “Do you have any plans?”

  “Just, um, you know, I’ve got to get home tonight, but thank you.” Rising up from the bench, he grabbed his bag. “Actually I’m kinda late, so…”

  “Maybe another time.” She bent down to pick up a ball from the court, her cleavage now slipping out before him.

  His eyes bugged out of his head and he turned away quickly.

  “You really like the smell of these?” She chuckled.


  “What?”

  “Tennis balls… you like the smell?” Lifting one to her nose, she gave it a sniff.

  “I, um…”

  “From the novel, you know…” She narrowed her eyes. “Remember?”

  Realization smacked him across the face. “Sorry, yes, it’s, um… an acquired smell.”

  “Must be.”

  “So, you’re good right, you know your way out of here?” He took a few steps backward.

  “Just one more question.”

  He gazed at her waiting.

  “You wouldn’t happen to have a shower I could use that’s not in the locker room?”

  “What?”

  “You’re open today right?”

  “We are.” He narrowed his eyes.

  “I really can’t shower in a public place. With all these phone cameras floating around, I can’t take the chance.”

  “Oh, of course.” He took a moment to think. “We have showers back in the massage rooms. I could see if one is free.”

  “That would be perfect.”

  She followed him off the court to the massage rooms lobby. After checking the schedule, he led her to the open massage room and held the door as she walked in. She dropped her bag on the floor and looked around smiling. “This is a beautiful club you have here.”

  “We just put these rooms in.”

  He pointed to the glass enclosed shower. “There’s soap and shampoo in the stall and the towels are right there.”

  “I appreciate it.”

  “No problem.”

  Glancing to the door, she frowned.

  “What is it?” He asked.

  “I don’t see a lock.”

  “We don’t, um, we don’t want any of our masseuses or clients to get… too comfortable back here if you know what I mean.”

  “Oh, I get it— no happy endings.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Do you think you could maybe guard the door for five minutes, while I’m in here?”

  “Oh, yeah, sure.” He pulled open the door and turned back to her. “Rest assured, no one is getting past me.”

  “Thanks.”

  After delivering a weak smile, he slipped out, pulled the door closed and slumped against the wall, cringing. “Rest assured, no one is getting past me,” he said, mimicking himself in a nerdy voice.

  “Jesus Christ you’re such a loser.”

  Seven minutes later, she pulled open the door, dressed in fresh clothes and looking stunning for a woman who only ten minutes earlier was completely sweaty and a mess.

  “Thank you for waiting. I appreciate it.”

  “No problem.”

  Her phone beeped and she pulled it out of her bag and took a look. “My driver just pulled up. Wanna walk me out?”

  “Yes,” he replied and led her down a hallway then through a side door to the parking lot.

  Upon seeing her, the driver hopped out of the large black sedan and rushed to the opposite side to open the back door. She smiled and waved as she climbed into the car.

  Brian watched as they drove away breathing a sigh of relief.

  52

  Jillian awoke at 8:30 a.m. and looked over to discover Brian’s side of the bed empty. Her period was now seven days overdue, but she hadn’t mentioned anything yet to her husband. Not wanting to get his hopes up again, she kept this her little secret and had trouble falling asleep the previous night preoccupied with thoughts of taking the test first thing in the morning.

  Pulling a pregnancy test from her bulk pack under the sink, she carried it to the toilet and followed the directions. After waiting the required amount of time pacing around her bedroom, she took a look at the results and a huge smile spread across her face.

  Her first instinct was to call Brian, but instead decided she wanted official confirmation so she grabbed the phone and dialed her doctor. Two hours later, she sat in the exam room waiting. Suddenly her doctor entered the room wearing a smile and said, “Congratulations.”

  “Here’s a prescription for prenatal vitamins.” He handed her a slip of paper. “And just be sure you get lots of sleep and eat healthy.”

  “Oh, I will.”

  “Is dad here?”

  “No, he’s at work.”

  “Well, tell him congratulations from me. You guys really went the extra mile.”

  “I know.” She rolled her eyes. “And I’ll be sure to tell him.”

  “I’d like to see you back here in four weeks.”

  “Okay.” Slipping off the table to her feet, she smiled.

  Ten minutes later, Jillian was driving toward the tennis club, as she asked the smart device in her car to dial Victoria. The hands free phone rang twice. “Jillian.”

  “Guess what I’m doing right now?”

  “Let’s see… you sound happy so I’m going to say you’re sitting out by the pool and you were just skinny dipping with Brian and he sat you on the edge and went down on you.”

  “No.”

  “Okay, um, he was sitting on the edge and you went down on him.”

  “Geez, no, it has nothing to do with pools or sex, well, it sorta has something to do with sex.”

  “Sorry, I have sex on the brain. I just finished a session with this couple who droned on and on about how their sex life wasn’t fulfilling or exciting enough.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, and they do it more than I do. I had no idea what to say to them. They told me they were doing it in dressing rooms at department stores, bar bathrooms and constantly in the car. I’m starting to think they just came in to brag— those bastards,” She grumbled. “You know, I never thought I’d say I miss those couples who never do it, but they really make me feel so much better about my own situation.”

  “What’s your situation?” Jillian asked.

  “I don’t want to talk about it, but tell me when was the last time you and Brian did it?”

  “Geez, I think it’s been about a week.”

  “Oh, good, now I feel better.”

  “You know it’s not a competition.”

  “Jillian, life is a competition.”

  “Okay.” Jillian laughed. “If you must know, we were going to kick it back into high gear when I started ovulating again.”

  “You know, that’s not the best reason to have lots of sex.”

  “I know. I know, but that’s why I’m calling… I’m pregnant!”

  “Oh, honey that’s amazing. What did Brian say?”

  “I’m on my way to the club to tell him now.”

  “I’m so happy for you. Maybe you’ll have a girl and Kaylie will get herself a best friend.”

  “Maybe.”

  “Hey, I’m going to send Jim to work so you and your sperm daddy can go celebrate.”

  “You don’t have to do that.”

  “I insist. His lazy butt is still sleeping and with all this sex talk I think I’ll go wake him up in a special way. I really don’t think he’ll mind.”

  “You go do that.”

  “Stop over later if you want.”

  “I will. Have fun waking him.”

  “Bye.”

  Jillian walked through the lobby of the tennis club and greeted the attractive girl working behind the counter before slipping into the office and closing the door. Brian smiled up from the paperwork at his desk. “Hey, what are you doing here?”

  Leaning down to him she gave him a long, deep kiss then sat in a chair, beaming.

  He gave her a concerned look. “Really, what’s up, because you’re scaring me. Natalie didn’t fall off of a balcony on the set did she?”

  “No.” She giggled. “Actually, I sorta don’t hate her anymore.”

  “That’s good. So what is it?”

  “We did it.”

  “Did what?”

  “Remember about seven weeks ago we decided to not try so hard to have a baby?” She flashed her eyes at him.

  “Yeah, I remember.” His jaw fell open and he chuckled. “I’ve never had so
much fun not trying so hard in my life. So, it worked?”

  “Yep.”

  “Wow, I, um…” He pointed down to his groin. “I knew my boys had it in them to pull this off.”

  “They did.”

  He rose to his feet and opened his arms. She moved to him and he hugged her tight, lifting her off the floor.

  He kissed her then returned her carefully down. “So what do we do now?”

  “I just have to eat right and go back and see the doctor in four weeks.”

  “Sounds pretty simple.”

  “That’s the easy part. Just wait about seven and a half more months.”

  “I think we’ll be able to handle it.” His smile faded a little. “I’d take you to lunch, but I’ve got a lesson scheduled in about thirty minutes.”

  Suddenly the phone rang and Brian checked the display. “It’s Jim.”

  “I called Victoria already,” Jillian said.

  Brian answered the phone. “Hey… Yes, she’s here now… Oh, thank you. We are excited. Hey, why are you all out of breath? Oh, okay… All right, great.” He hung up the phone and gave her an odd look. “He sounded a little too happy and like he just ran a marathon or something.”

  “He was sleeping and Victoria told me she was going to…” She made quote marks with her fingers. “… wake him up, so…” She shot him a suggestive look.

  “Ooohhhh, I love when you wake me up.”

  “I’ll have to remember that.”

  They shared a smile. He said, “Jim said he’d be here in fifteen minutes, so we can go to lunch.”

  She moved close to him and placed her hand on his chest. “You know we could skip lunch and just go home to celebrate properly.”

  “That sounds good.” He raised his eyebrows. “I wasn’t really hungry anyway.”

  53

  Across town on location at the University of Miami, Natalie and Chance’s brief tennis scene was being filmed. They were using the group of four courts on the south side of the campus since no palm trees were visible through the dark green mesh which covered the fencing. This made it a site suitable to pass for a college in Georgia.

  Paul’s blood boiled as he watched Chance blatantly coming on to Natalie on this day, and for that matter, every day they were on set together since Paul broke his relationship off with her almost two weeks ago. He’d been dying to find out if she was actually sleeping with the perfect bodied super stud. During this shoot, Chance had his hands all over the young actress and she seemed to not mind at all. Maybe she was simply staying in character or trying to get along with her famous costar. It was all Paul could think about although he hadn’t discussed his concerns with anyone and was struggling to play it cool. He’d spent the nights since the breakup drinking way too much, thinking about Natalie and tossing and turning in bed. He was head over heels hung up on her and it was bordering on an obsession.