Already Designed

by Xavier Neal

  My best friend smirks proudly. “First came love. Then comes career….Looks like you’re going to need to rework that plan of yours now that your goals are being met early.”

  Are they though? Because last time I checked the plan was to get married and start a family. Not fall in love and fight for my boyfriend’s attention.

  As if Henley can read my thoughts, she asks, “Are you meeting Levi for dinner tonight?”

  “I was thinking we could do dinner instead.”

  Hm? Oh yeah. I fucking lied earlier, though when she agrees to eat with me, it then stops being one. See. I’m clever.

  Henley gives me a suspicious stare. “What’d the pretty boy do this time?”

  “Nothing.”

  “How is it out of all of us you are the only one who still hasn’t learned to lie better?”

  Why does that have to be one of my life skills?

  “Where is he right now?”

  I divert my attention to my laptop I have yet to turn on. “Most likely still with his new co-star.”

  “Wait, I thought that was just supposed to be brunch.”

  Under my breath I mutter, “So did I….”

  The sound of clicking summons my attention back to Henley. Her manicured nails are oscillating between typing and scrolling on her cell phone.

  I know exactly what she’s doing….

  After listening to a few judgmental hums and watching her lips repeatedly purse, I quietly question, “Should I be worried?”

  “No. Levi’s chased you too hard to let a pretty face fuck it up.”

  “So she is pretty?”

  Of course I didn’t look her up! Levi refused to tell me her name, I’m pretty sure for that reason. What he didn’t suspect or was too sex high to consider was the fact my best friend works in the same industry he does and can find that shit out with minimal effort.

  Henley flashes me the photo she pulled up. “She’s not ugly.”

  I take a long, skeptical stare of the girl next door cute brunette. “Great.”

  “Look Kady, you’re gonna have to suck some of this shit up. Put on your big girl panties and prepare to deal with a new level of nightmares. You’re dating an actor. A highly adored, highly sought after actor. You’re gonna have to deal with him in the limelight and the fairly attractive co-stars that often come with it. You’re gonna have to fucking live and breathe the mantra that tabloids live to sell lies because it makes them more money. You’re gonna have to really trust what comes out of Levi’s mouth if you expect what you have to last, and most importantly you’re gonna have to miracle grow a bit more confidence in yourself.” The last line strikes me unapologetically. “You’re a catch, Kady. Like a real one. And you know it. You’ve always known it. It’s the reason you make men work hard to get a date with you. You know you’re worth it, even if dating someone as popular as Levi has momentarily made you insecure about it.”

  Fuck, it really has.

  “Levi may be pretty, but he’s not completely stupid. This shit with Lynn today was strictly business I’m sure. So, you need to climb down off your bitch stick and relax. Remember your boyfriend loves you and has earned some credit in the bank of Kadence.”

  Can’t believe she said bitch stick in a serious fashion.

  “I’ll make you a deal. We can grab dinner for free at Cox and Lox since they’ve been begging me to come by, but afterwards you show up on your man’s door step and remind him why he should be grateful he has you to come home to.”

  The wink at the end of her suggestion successfully sends a smirk my lips. “Deal.”

  This is going to be a huge adjustment. I know that. I understand that even if I keep forgetting it. Dating is difficult enough without adding unpleasant facts like many actors fall for one another while working together or leave their spouses to pursue the passion they felt on screen. Maybe I should rewrite my five-year plan to include something about building more trust? I know Levi originally said more fun, but this seems a bit more crucial in order to keep him on it, don’t you think?

  Chapter 12

  KADENCE

  Levi nips harshly on my bottom lip. My mouth expands to release a moan and he slips his tongue inside to seize it.

  These have easily been the best three weeks of my life. Not that I need a guy to make me happy or give me a good time. Growing up and many of our post adolescent days have been filled with kick ass moments. Fun trips. Lots of laughs. The thing that makes these last three so special is having Levi to add to it all. We’ve spent time doing simple things like cook outs on the beach with our friends, sometimes his, sometimes mine, sometimes both. I stayed in town and spent Thanksgiving with him and his family. We’ve been binge watching 90’s cop shows in between sex marathons. He’s shown me his favorite beach spots where he watches others surf or water ski while downing the best breakfast tacos I’ve ever had, and I’ve taken him to hole in the wall restaurants for live music and dancing. He’s spent hours curled up at my side watching me work. Watching me create. Admiring me against my orders not to. We’ve given hours to looking over his script, rehearsing his lines, and making plan after plan on how to keep our love this alive. How to keep it from dying during the distance. Unfortunately, no matter how hard I work at convincing myself everything will be fine, I’m still terrified.

  His hard cock bumps against me as if asking for my touch.

  My hand starts to comply when Adrianna’s voice interrupts. “Don’t you have a room you should be doing that in?”

  I pull away and bury my tipsy giggles in his black dress shirt covered chest.

  “Jealous?” Levi teases, hands snaking down my backside. “Need me to hook you up with a friend?”

  “First of all, I’ve met your friends. Pass.”

  Her and Marlz would be awful together. Don’t even consider it a possibility. They have more of a brotherly sisterly vibe to them. They’ve met. They’ve even enjoyed a few smokes together. They’ve also argued and it resulted in her dragging him by the ear out of the bar they were at. No….I didn’t get to see it. Just heard the story. But God I wish I had! It was probably hysterical. Come on….A large guy like Marlz being bullied by a petite thing like Ri? Side splitting funny. Hey, why are you laughing at me like that?

  “Second of all, I have no problem getting dick, thank you.”

  His hands settled on the curve of my ass at the same time I turn my face towards her.

  Levi childishly pokes again. “You sure you don’t need any help? Haven’t seen you date anyone since I’ve been around.”

  “And if you’d like to stay around, I suggest you mind your own fucking business,” she sasses before snatching a glass of champagne from a passing waiter and strutting out of the kitchen.

  Our annual holiday party is something that, believe it or not, started when we were kids. See, Henley and Hendrix were born on Christmas Day making it practically impossible to have birthday parties with their friends growing up. Hendrix was fine with celebrating his half birthday as a substitute, but Henley hated how far away it was from their actual birthday, so their parents gave into both their requests. They threw a joint birthday party in the summer around June 25th and they threw an additional party the first or second weekend in December. When their parents split, Henley stopped celebrating in the summer the same way Hendrix stopped celebrating in the winter. At some point this bash became a ‘hot event’ among the celebrities who reside in South Haven and eventually grew to be one of the biggest winter parties celebrated across the country during the holiday season. What used to be nothing more than some poorly hung lights, tacky snowman decorations, 90’s playlists, and expensive booze fused with cheap mixers mutated into an elite extravaganza with people practically begging to receive an invitation. Now we wear tight white cocktail dresses instead of ugly sweaters. Now we have bars and bartenders serving only the best and being requested to promote the best. And now we have security scrutinizing for who is going to steal rather than staring each other down about
who broke the coffee table. Sometimes I miss the simplicity of the old days. You know, when Henley was popular but still worried about being just a phase. Those were the times I still had faith in the idea not everyone in Hollywood was disingenuous. That was before I gave my heart to one of the trendiest names in the business and had to secretly pray every night he doesn’t shatter it.

  Levi’s fingers busy themselves with trying to find their way under the flowy lower half of my white dress despite me shaking my head.

  “Ri’s right,” my boyfriend states firmly. “You do have a room here.”

  Our eyes meet with matching lustful gazes.

  Did I mention we’ve been banging like he’s going off to war instead of a film shoot?

  On a hungry growl he lunges his lips forward only to have my head dart away at the last minute, desperate to catch a glimpse of an unexpected sight.

  Calen’s hands are wrapped tightly around Lani’s waist from behind. She laughs and leans against him as they continue wandering into the kitchen. “I’m gonna need you to stop grabbing my,” her eyes catch mine, “ahhh!”

  I gleefully giggle. “Well hello.”

  Lani attempts to remove Calen’s grasp, but he refuses and retorts, “Hey!”

  Levi tosses his best friend a nod. “Havin’ fun?”

  Calen chuckles, drops his chin onto Lani’s bare shoulder, and replies, “The most I’ve had in years.”

  His sentimental confession causes me to coo yet Lani’s face seems angrier than ever.

  She’s definitely more of a private person….

  With genuine excitement in my voice I ask, “How long hav-”

  “Not right now,” Lani declares instantly. “Not having that discussion.”

  My eyebrows draw together in confusion. “Wait. Does everyone else know?”

  She shakes her head slowly.

  “But they will be the end of tonight.” Calen winks.

  She grunts her disgust, pushes out of his hold, and marches away towards the dessert station.

  Yes, we have a dessert station, not just a table. And if you get a chance to go over there, I recommend dipping treats in the white fudge fountain. I dipped Levi’s finger in some to lick it off and immediately wished it was something actually edible. The great food we get catered definitely falls on the pro side of these parties now being this huge.

  Once the pair is out of sight, I lock eyes with Levi. “Did you know?”

  “Yeah.”

  My hands fall to my hips. “And you didn’t tell me?!”

  “I basically signed a verbal NDA swearing to keep it quiet.”

  “Wha…”

  “Besides what’s going on between them has nothing to do with me, so it’s not like it was my place to say anything.” My mouth moves to argue when his hand curls around the nape of my neck to tug me back into him. “However, I don’t want you to ever keep quiet.…” He steals a swipe of my bottom lip. “I always wanna hear you screaming, babe. I want the whole goddamn world to hear my name off these lips.”

  A soft whimper from me slips into the air. Our parted mouths start to press together when someone gasps, “Oh my God, Levi!?”

  Damn it! We definitely need to get to my room….

  His frustrated grumble is short lived. “Lynn?!”

  Not the ho ho ho I wanted to deal with tonight.

  He pulls his body away from mine to give the beautiful brunette a big hug.

  This is the first time I’m seeing her in more than a picture. As much as I hate to state this out loud, she’s much more stunning up close. Fit. Toned. A hint of natural beauty and missing the obvious proof of an addiction to coke or diet pills in her pursuit to be a big deal in the business. To make matters worse, she is perfect for him on paper. Remember the way the world used to love Brad and Jennifer in the early days? Yeah. That’s what they would be like together. Practically perfect. Believe me. I’ve put in the mental hours comparing their personality resumes. They would work almost a little too well….

  When the two of them part, Levi doesn’t return to my side, forcing me to bite my tongue to prevent from mouthing off.

  Being a little tipsy in this situation is not going to be a good thing.

  Lynn pushes her hair behind her ear. “What are you doin’ here? I thought you were taking this weekend to spend time with your girlfriend?”

  The word stumbles him back to me, though I don’t make the effort to touch him. “I am. My girlfriend lives here. This is their annual party.”

  “Whoa! You didn’t tell me you’re dating Twinley!”

  “Henley,” he corrects for me. “And I’m not. I’m dating one of her best friends.” Levi peers down at me with a sweet smile. “Kadence, this is Lynn, my co-star.” He turns the grin her direction. “Lynn, this is the woman I can’t live without.”

  Adoration over his declaration twists the corners of my lip the right direction. I extend my hand towards her. “Nice to meet you.”

  She gives me the shortest shake possible. “And you.”

  Are you sensing a bit of a cold shoulder or did someone turn the A/C up in this room?

  Lynn redirects the conversation to one that can’t include me. “Did you hear about the most recent script changes they’re trying to make?”

  He shakes his head.

  “Francesco is adamant apparently about drawing out all three sex scenes.”

  It’s deck the halls, right? Not deck the co-star?

  “According to the emails, his vision is for the sexual chemistry of our characters to be the beautiful contrast to the crimes we commit. He has this whole Bonnie and Clyde vision and expects our love for one another to be the brightness in this dark story.”

  Out of the corner of my eye I notice an unusual twitch on his face.

  What’s that about? Is he excited to be fucking her on film? Does the idea of adding more romance to what I was under the impression was a weird new age heist movie make him happy? Am I being paranoid? I’m being paranoid, aren’t I? Solution suggestions? Let’s make a list! What should we put at the top? More liquor? Yes! More liquor. No more items needed on said list.

  “And they sent out the updated shoot schedule for our first week. They’re postponing almost all our ocean time because of the unexpected drop in the water temperatures, so we’ll be spending a good portion of our first week filming the bedroom scenes.”

  “I need a drink,” I mumble and prepare to walk off when Levi’s hand stops me.

  “One sec, babe, and I’ll come with you.”

  My lips press together to prevent telling him what I really need is space.

  “Damn. I wanted to spend the first week diving. I wonder if there’s any chance we can convince them we’ll be fine in those waters. I mean, we’ve both probably swam in colder.”

  “Almost definitely.”

  Believe it or not the idea of them being diving buddies is way worse than them being drinking ones. You know the buzz you get from alcohol? He gets a more intense one from the water. If he has the choice to go out for a drink or go out for a surf, surfing always wins. He’ll settle for wind surfing or even a swim if possible. Hm? Oh no. I’ve become quite acquainted with his outdoor patio. The view of him from there is sexy as shit.

  Lynn adds an unnecessarily giggle, “Both in and out of suits, right?”

  “Right,” he quickly concurs.

  Impatience expands itself along my shoulders. “You two keep talking about work. I’m gonna go grab a drink from the bar outside.”

  “No. We’ll go together, babe.” Levi’s hand reaches for mine again. “I’m gonna go enjoy what’s left of my weekend with my girl. You enjoy your time here with….” His head tilts in question. “Wait. Who did you come with?”

  Yes. Who needs to fall onto the ‘never gets another invite’ list?

  “Terry Mueller. We’re old friends from high school.”

  There’s unmistakable giddiness in his voice. “Terry Mueller like the basketball player?!”

  Ly
nn tosses her head back on a what I believe to be a flirtatious laugh. “Fan?”

  “Hellcat ‘til I die,” he announces loudly. “Everyone in my family is a fan.”

  “Mine too.”

  “Born and raised?”

  She makes some sort of morphed claw and pumps it into the air. Levi grins widely at the same time he repeats the action.

  Am I invisible? Can you see me?

  After sharing another laugh, Lynn questions me, “What about you, Kadence? Are you a fan?”

  I shake my head. “I don’t really like sports.”