Man of the Year

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Man of the Year Page 7

by Bianca Giovanni


  “Will you love me when I’m just some regular dude and we don’t get to stay in badass hotel suites like this?” I joke.

  “Yep,” she nods adorably.

  “Will you love me when I’m all old and I have to take Viagra to get it up?”

  “James, if I know anything about you, it’s that you will never need Viagra to get it up,” she grins.

  I laugh loudly and kiss her, nodding my head in agreement.

  “And yes, I’ll love you when you’re old and gray, when you’re sick, when you do stupid shit that you know will get you into trouble but you do it anyway,” she teases. “There’s not a moment of my life when I won’t love you.”

  It sounds so good that I have to close my eyes as I hear it.

  When I open them again, she’s gazing at me with so much love that I feel like my heart could explode. Heavenly. She's a fuckin' heavenly creature. The only difference between my beautiful, kind, sweet, affectionate girl and an actual angel is the wings.

  “Lola,” I say before I can filter my thoughts, “will you marry me?”

  Her eyes get huge and her eyebrows shoot straight up. “Seriously?” she asks with a stunned smile.

  “Yeah,” I nod, feeling totally vulnerable all of a sudden. That just slipped out. I was so overcome that I blurted it out without any kind of lead in. What if she says no? Does stuff like that happen or do girls always say yes?

  “You’re asking me right now?” she giggles. “While you’re still inside me?”

  I laugh loudly and give her an apologetic shrug before I joke, “What? This isn’t the fairy tale scenario you’ve dreamed of since you were a little girl?”

  She snickers and shakes her head. “Not exactly. But that doesn’t change the answer.”

  Here it is. Fingers crossed.

  “Yes, James,” she says, giving me a little kiss on the lips, “of course I’ll marry you.”

  “Really?! You seriously will? For real?” I excitedly ask her.

  “Dude, did you think I was gonna say no?” she snickers. “I fucking love you and I have since I was, like, six! Remember when I used to make you play house with me and you were my pretend husband? I’ve been training for this for years.”

  I’m totally fuckin’ beaming and I hug her tight around her waist as she squeezes me back. “Jesus Christ, Lola, you have no idea how happy that makes me!” I say into the curve of her neck.

  She laughs and pulls back, brushing her fingers through my hair as she looks at me with the warmest smile I’ve ever seen.

  “Hey, can you wait right here for a sec? I need to get something,” I say, remembering the little surprise I had for her.

  “Sure,” she says, sliding off of me and sitting up on the bed.

  I hop over to my suitcase and dig through it, all the way to the bottom. Here it is. I take out a roll of old socks and open them up, reaching way down into one and finding what I’m looking for.

  She’s watching me curiously wondering what the fuck I’m hiding an old-ass pair of socks.

  “Ok, here we go. Marriage proposal, take two,” I smile, gesturing like a clapboard with my arms as I drop to one knee at the side of the bed.

  Her jaw drops when she sees that I’ve got a big-ass diamond ring in my hand.

  “Lola Caraway,” I start, “I have loved you for as long as I can remember. You are my soulmate and I want to spend the rest of my life holding you and kissing you and lying next to you. Will you do me the honor of being my wife?”

  She puts her hand to her chest and she still looks surprised. I see two tears trickle down her cheeks and I do everything I can to memorize this moment. That look on her face … fuckin’ priceless!

  “Uh-huh,” she nods rapidly with a giggle. “Yeah! Fuck yeah, definitely!”

  I laugh and take her hand, slipping the ring on her finger.

  “Dude, have you had this planned this whole time?” she says with a big smile as I wipe the tears off her cheeks.

  “Kinda,” I confess shyly.

  “For how long?” she laughs.

  “Don’t make fun of me—swear to God that you won’t,” I say and she nods. “Ok, so remember when I asked you to move in with me the day after we got back to L.A. from your mom’s house?” She nods again. “When I told you I was gonna run and get us some lunch while you unpacked things, I went to the jeweler first.”

  She gasps and her smile gets wider.

  “I described what I wanted and he sort of drew up and told me he’d have it for me in about a week. I picked it up that day when I told you there was a really long line at Trader Joe’s. It was a top-secret maneuver. Totally stealth.”

  “No way!” she laughs.

  “Yep,” I nod.

  “So, wait, that means you’ve been planning to propose to me since, like, three days after we slept together?” she asks.

  “Again, don’t make fun of me, but I’ve been kinda-sorta planning to propose to you since the night I first kissed you.”

  She covers her mouth and her eyes are huge and round.

  “To be honest, it’s been in the back of my mind since I was, like, 17. My mom used to tell me that one day I’d meet a nice girl and settle down, but I always kinda thought, ‘Well, I already know the nicest girl, so I already know who I’d want to settle down with.’”

  “You’re just … I, I can’t even … this is so …” she says, struck speechless by what I’m telling her.

  It makes me smile to see that I’ve ruffled her so much. She’s adorably flustered and I can tell she’s completely touched by my devotion to her.

  She can’t think of what to say, so she glances down at the ring and giggles as she looks back up at me. “You realize this is a gigantic diamond, don’t you?” she laughs.

  “Uh-huh,” I nod proudly.

  “What the hell did this cost you? This is too much. I feel like Elizabeth Taylor with this thing on!”

  I laugh loudly and touch her forehead to mine. “Don’t be worrying about what this cost, missy!” I say, playfully scolding her. “That’s confidential, need-to-know basis type shit.”

  “And I don’t need to know?” she chuckles.

  “Nope. You don’t have that kind of security clearance,” I grin.

  “Well,” she giggles, “I guess I’ll just have to say thank you and that I think you’re going to be a wonderful husband.”

  I pause for a sec and look at her. “Goddammit, I love you so fuckin’ much!” I sigh as I grab her face and kiss her.

  She laughs and wraps her arms around me, sweetly hugging me to her as I let my lips do the talking to show her how grateful I am for her.

  “So, Lola Laird, huh?” she grins when we part from the kiss.

  “Fuck, that sounded so awesome! Say that again,” I smile.

  “Lola Laird,” she says slower and more seductively.

  “One more time,” I beam.

  “Mrs. Lola Laird,” she says with a laugh.

  “Fuck yeah!” I exhale and kiss her more passionately this time.

  There’s a lot of kissing after that, probably for at least an hour, and then we take a bath together. I rub her back and kiss her neck—I can’t keep my hands off her. I feel like every time I touch her she can feel that reverence I have for her, the way I just adore her so goddamn much.

  We crawl into bed and I hold her close, caressing her skin and watching as she drifts off to sleep. I’ve hit the girlfriend jackpot with this one and I’m psyched to put a ring on it.

  I kiss her forehead softly and then take a very content deep breath as I fall asleep with her in my arms.

  Chapter 4 - Lola

  “Lo. Hey, Lo,” I hear James whisper.

  Too tired. Can’t respond.

  “Lo, wake up.”

  “Mmm,” I grunt my disapproval.

  “Lo, come on,” he says through an audible smile.

  “Five more minutes,” I manage to whine.

  I hear him laugh and then I feel a blanket of firm muscles cove
r me. He’s pushed me onto my stomach and he’s lying completely on top of my back, pressing his full weight into me. He’s messing with me to try to get me to wake up.

  “Lola,” he whispers, intentionally breathing directly into my ear. “Lola Caraway, you must get out of bed,” he continues, drawing out my name for a Darth Vader effect. “Use the force, Lola. Get up and let's get a move on.”

  I whine louder, annoyed but amused at his wake up attempt.

  He nips at my earlobe and then puffs a big snort of air across the back of my neck like a rodeo bull, which makes me giggle.

  “Mmm, too early,” I grumble.

  “I wore you out last night, huh?” he teases, pushing up so he’s seated on my butt with his legs on either side of me. “You even snored. It was a total fuckin’ KO.”

  “Mm-hmm,” I nod. “Congratulations, champ. Now let me sleep it off.”

  “Nope,” he chuckles, drumming on my lower back. “We gotta go to the convention this morning, so you gotta get up.”

  “I only need, like, half an hour to get ready. I can sleep for longer.”

  At this, he launches into a full-fledged drum solo that would make Tommy Lee jealous, using my shoulder blades, my butt and my lower back as he makes drum noises with his mouth. He finishes, tapping my head with a symbol crash.

  I’m tired and I hate him for waking me up right now, but I laugh. I have no clue how he has such energy after last night.

  “Come on. Up. Pronto,” he says, leaning over to kiss the top of my spine.

  I pout, but I can’t contest it. I knew about this and, even though I’d like to pass out until it’s time to get ready for the red carpet tonight, I know James has a few obligations today and that he wants me to accompany him.

  “You have five seconds,” he smiles against the back of my neck, “or I’ll be forced to make you get out of bed.”

  With that, whisks back the sheet so he can tickle my ribs.

  Oh, how I’d like to smack him right now! But I can’t because I’m laughing too hard and trying to struggle out of his hold. Sometimes I think he likes overpowering me like this, just to prove that he can, and I end up having to do whatever he wants.

  “Fine!” I gasp through giggles. “Fine! I’m awake!”

  “That’s better,” he snickers and smacks my butt.

  “You’re awful!” I laugh and push myself up off the bed.

  “And just think how awful I’m gonna get when we’re married,” he jokes, giving me a big, smart-ass grin. “If you think I annoy the shit out of you know, look out, cupcake!”

  I make a very dramatic grunt of exasperation and head into the bathroom.

  He follows me in and leans on the edge of the counter while I take a seat on the toilet.

  “Today shouldn’t be too bad,” he says. “There’s gonna be a lot of people, but we’re not gonna be down there for long.”

  “And you’re doing the signing first, right?” I ask.

  “Yeah,” he nods. “We’ll go to the booth, I’ll sign for a little bit, then we can walk around, get the lay of the land and we’re off the hook until tonight.”

  “Did you get the badges already?” I say, flushing the toilet and nudging him so I can wash my hands.

  “Uh-huh. They were with the room keys,” he nods.

  He smiles at me through the mirror and I laugh inwardly at the situation. He’s shirtless with gray pajama pants and I’m totally nude. I just peed in front of him and neither of us raised an eyebrow. I have friends who were in relationships for almost a year before they peed in front of their boyfriends. I guess this is a pretty big bonus of dating someone you’ve known since they were a kid. James used to pee with the door open when he came over to my house and I remember forcing him to stand guard when I peed in the woods on camping trips. We really have no limits with each other, which should be nice when we’re married because we won’t go through that early phase where you’re still kind of putting up a front.

  “Want me to order breakfast?” he asks after kissing the top of my head.

  “Sure,” I nod. “Oh, and one more thing,” I say, catching him before he turns to leave the bedroom.

  “Yeah, babe?”

  “I love you,” I smile.

  His resulting grin is one of true elation and I make a mental note to tell him I love him more often. I know he’s sensed my hesitation, which is quite unfounded, and I need to let him know that I’m in this for the long haul too. I guess I’ve been holding back because I worried about his commitment level, but I take one glance down at my left hand and feel significantly more confident about our future together. He asked me. He said he’d been planning to for months. He really wants this and I’m grinning like an idiot right now just thinking about it.

  I brush my teeth and clean up while he orders. When I’m fresh and dressed in a comfy robe, I peek out into the living room to see him on his phone in his pajama pants and a t-shirt. He holds up his finger to me and I nod, getting a complimentary water from the fridge while I wait. Our room was stocked with beverages and snacks from the hotel because James is a VIP at this shindig.

  “Yeah,” he says into the phone. “I was really proud of it. Me and Amber worked together a lot, but that one was something special.”

  Immediately, I put together that he’s doing an interview. He’s had a lot of phoners like this lined up over the past couple weeks. Everybody wants to ask him about retiring and about his movie, Collared, garnering so many nominations. It’s like the Thriller of the ceremony and it’s up for an award in almost every category, even the technical ones like Best Editing and Best Marketing.

  I pretend not to listen, because I really should give him some privacy, but I’m too nosy and I end up eavesdropping.

  “No, I don’t think I’m really gonna miss it that much,” he says, taking a glance out the window at the Strip. “Don’t get me wrong, I’ve loved making movies and I’ve loved almost everybody that I’ve ever worked with, but I’m just not there anymore. I’m really starting to look forward and to think about my future. I’ve got this awesome girl now and my focus is on that.”

  It takes a considerable effort to freeze my face and suppress a smile. I’m supposed to be pretending not to listen, after all.

  “I totally get it, and I know some people can do it. My best friends have been dating for, like, ten years and they still work in the business, but I’m starting to realize that I’m kind of a true love guy and that I want to be with just one girl, you know?” he continues. He laughs at whatever the journalist’s response is and then smiles, “I know, right? Who would have thought that I’d fall head over fuckin’ heels like this? But she’s great. If people knew her, they’d understand immediately. They’d be like, ‘Yeah, I’d quit my job for that girl too.’ Shit, if I was President, I’d resign just to be with her.”

  I have to turn away because my lips are starting to twitch and my face is exploding with a joyful expression.

  “Yeah, totally excited for tonight,” he continues. “I’m trying not to get my hopes up too much, ‘cause you just never know with these things, but I have a pretty good feeling about it and I think me and the gang might not be going home empty handed.” He laughs. “We’ll see. If it happens, I’m just gonna wing it and try to speak from the heart.”

  There’s a knock at the door and I know it’s room service.

  “Alright … for sure, man. Well, thanks so much … you too,” he says before hanging up.

  I stare at the cart of food James has ordered as I let the waiter in. James signs for the meal, hands him a big tip and the man smiles and nods, heading back out into the hallway.

  “This is a feast,” I laugh, uncovering the plates. Did he order everything on the breakfast menu?

  We’ve got omelets, pancakes, bacon, sausage links, home fries, waffles, French toast and a variety of juices from classic orange to Naked Mighty Mango.

  “Did you just tell them to bring you one of everything?” I laugh, cracking open on
e of the pomegranate açaí smoothies.

  “I couldn’t decide what I wanted,” he smiles. “Plus, I was hungry as hell, dude. Had to get back some of what we burned off last night.”

  I blush, my senses remembering everything that happened last night with such clarity that it’s like it’s happening all over again.

  He might have a point about the calorie count. I tear into the pancakes and scarf down half my omelet before I can blink and the two of us sit there in silence, the only sound coming from forks clinking against dishes as we devour everything in front of us.

  I’ve noticed that I eat a lot more now, but that I’m not gaining any weight. In fact, I’m looking more toned and athletic. I thought about it the other day after eating four slices of the large New York style pizza we’d ordered and I think it’s because I’m getting a lot more exercise these days. James seems to have boundless energy, particularly when it comes to sex, and I’ve discovered that a few hours of rigorous fucking can be great cardio. Can’t get that from a treadmill, I think to myself as I look him over.

  “So, when we get down there, I’ll show you around. I think you’ll be impressed. It’s a lot like Comic Con, but with more cocks and tits,” he says, describing today's Adult Entertainment Convention.

  In my brief Google search of the AEC, I learned that it’s the largest porn convention in the country and that it’s the number one place for fans to meet their favorite stars. It’s attended mostly by men, but there is a growing segment of female attendees, especially with the rise in popularity of male performers like James and Ethan Dane. Typically, fans pay for day passes or for the three-day pass that gives them access to a special meet-and-greet room. They bring stuff for the stars to sign and check out new products, like James’ recently released sex toy line, and it’s a great opportunity to boost sales.

  “I’m psyched for you to meet Shawnna too,” James says as he eats a bite of toast. “She’s super cool. You’re gonna like her.”

  Shawnna Hendrix was James’ first co-star, an incredibly famous performer at the time who requested the young buck by name after seeing some old modeling shots on an agency website. James said the scene he shot with her was the best he’s ever done and that she was a true professional who made him feel completely at ease with having sex in front of a massive crew of experienced filmmakers. They’ve stayed in touch over the years and they frequently talk on the phone.

 

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