by Lulu Pratt
“You can’t hit the snooze,” Mira said, rolling over with a smile. “You know Evelyn will come rolling right in here, energetic tendencies flaring out of control.”
“Then we should give her a show to walk in on,” I smiled, rolling over and pulling her into my body, rubbing my hard morning wood against her leg.
“Mmm,” she giggled. “That sounds like a fantastic idea, but I think we should just get up and save ourselves the drama.”
“You are no fun,” I pouted.
“Aww, later, I promise,” she smiled, kissing me on the nose before she popped up out of the bed.
We both took showers, separately unlike other mornings over the last two weeks, and got dressed. She looked adorable in her little yellow sundress with big curls in her hair and light airy make-up on her face. She looked Los Angeles sunkissed, like she had spent the day on the beach. When we made it downstairs, Evelyn was waiting for us in the living room.
“There you two love birds are,” she smiled. “Come on in, I have a surprise for you.”
“Morning,” I nodded at Harrison.
“Morning,” he sighed, making me chuckle.
“You two have done a really good job, you have, but we thought we would mix things up just a little,” she smiled. “So, we have a surprise guest for you.”
She stepped to the side and chuckled as Miles walked out of the shadows and nodded his head at me. I was shocked to see him there, and I walked over, giving him a big hug. It was nice to see a familiar face, even though Mira had become more than familiar. He patted me on the back and laughed, nodding his head at the rolling camera.
“We thought you would like to have your best friend here to meet your new wife,” Evelyn smiled, walking back behind the camera with Harrison.
Immediately I felt butterflies tingling in my stomach. I loved Miles, don’t get me wrong, but he didn’t have the best manners, and the ability to say the right thing always just flew right past him. He was used to growing up in a rich home, being waited on hand and foot, and saying whatever the hell he wanted to say when he wanted to say it. I was worried about how all of it might impact things with me and Mira, especially since we had just turned a really good corner in our relationship. I could only assume that the company had done it to push the ratings and add a bit of drama into our lives.
“It’s good to see you, man,” Miles said, shaking my hand and turning to Mira. “And you must be the absolutely stunning blushing bride. I’m Miles, Ryan’s best friend.”
“It’s really nice to meet you,” she smiled gracefully. “He’s told me a lot about you.”
“If it’s bad, it’s probably true,” he whispered with a smirk.
“Don’t listen to him,” I laughed. “He is a scoundrel, but I love him like a brother.”
Mira laughed and walked over next to me, standing just slightly behind my shoulder, almost shielding herself. She had a pleasant expression on her face, but I could tell this had surprised her as much as it had me. I wouldn’t let this change anything. I was really aware of how far we had come, and I didn’t want anything to mess it up. And like it or not, when Miles was gone it was still just her and I trying to make it to the end of the show.
“So,” Miles said, sitting down in the chair and propping his feet up on the table. “I was thinking we go out to one of those hot Los Angeles bars and have some fun tonight. What do you think?”
“Sounds good to me,” I said, looking at Mira.
“Sure.” She forced a smile and glanced over at Evelyn who was watching excitedly from the back of the camera.
That evening we got all dolled up, Mira coming out in a killer, backless, tight black dress and bright red high heels. Her make-up was dark, but her lips were painted bright red. She was fucking hot as hell and I considered just taking her back upstairs and bending her over. I knew Miles though and if it wasn’t centered on him he wasn’t having it, so we jumped in the limo that was waiting for us and headed off to this hot new bar right in the center of the city.
When we walked in, Mira reached forward and grabbed my hand, allowing me to lead her to a table. The place was definitely new age and high-end, but there was more than one unhappy customer sitting at the bar. The place was all purples, black and teals, with big glass tables and a bar that seemed to wrap around the whole building. I knew it was something set up by the producers, Miles didn’t have the right amount of class to find a place like that for the evening. Miles sat down and ordered a beer and three shots, leaning back in his chair and looking over at us. Mira ordered a beer and so did I before the waitress left the table.
“This is crazy,” he laughed, throwing his head back.
“What is?” Mira asked.
“Just seeing this whole thing up close,” he said. “I don’t know how the two of you do it with the cameras always up in your grill.”
“You get used to it after a while,” I shrugged, taking my beer from the waitress and thanking her. “I don’t even see them anymore when I am out. I just keep moving.”
“I have to say, there are some serious tens here,” Miles said, shaking his head and looking around. “This guy, he is a babe magnet. In fact, I don’t remember a time he left a bar by himself.”
Miles laughed at his own comment, and I glanced over at Mira who was obviously not enjoying the conversation. I wanted to stop Miles, but I knew that would only make it worse because he didn’t like to be rejected. I would just deal with the repercussions later. He sat up in his chair and passed around the shots. I licked my lips, not really feeling like getting wasted, but Miles would give me hell if I turned down free booze. I think it was in that moment I realized that in the span of only four weeks I had completely forgotten about the man I used to be. Hearing those stories, I felt removed, like I was listening to a story about someone else. Mira didn’t know that though, and she was taking it at face value. But in that moment, there was absolutely nothing I could do to help that, besides trying to steer him into a better conversation, which obviously not going to happen any time soon.
“In fact,” he went on. “Ryan and I made a pact that neither of us would ever get married, that we would grow old banging chicks and being stress free. It looks like he broke that promise.”
Miles looked over his shoulder at a young blonde eyeing him. He wiggled his eyebrows at us and jumped up from the chair. I watched him walk over to the girl and start a conversation which was something I did a lot in my life before Mira.
“I don’t like it,” she said, once Miles was out of earshot. “I mean, good for you, you were a whore, but that doesn’t mean I have to hear every gory detail.”
“Miles is just messing around,” I smiled, putting my arm around her. “He gets that way when he’s drunk. He doesn’t have a very good filter to begin with and it only gets worse when he throws down at the bar.”
“That’s just an excuse, and I don’t like excuses,” she grumped. “I will not sit here all night listening to your whore stories, picturing you with someone else. I would rather just get out of here.”
“Oh, come on,” I teased. “You don’t have any friends who like to embarrass you?”
“No,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest. “I don’t really have many friends, I’ve been too busy taking care of my mom, but if I did, they wouldn’t be the kind of people who would intentionally say things that could make other people, people they hardly know, feel uncomfortable.”
“I don’t really get uncomfortable,” I chuckled. “But they sure could give it a try.”
“You are supposed to be there for me,” she said, angrily. “You aren’t supposed to sit here and make excuses for your incredibly rude friend. To top it all off, it’s on national TV and I’m being made a fool in front of the entire world.”
“Come on, you’re being a bit dramatic,” I said. “It’s not in front of everyone, and they will look at Miles and see an asshole too. He is very easy to recognize as a complete douchebag. I think the viewers have him pegged r
ight away and will understand.”
“I just want to go home,” she sighed.
“Come on,” I said, turning to her and hugging her tightly. “Just chill out, he’s just messing around and before long he’ll be swept off with some chick in here and we can just enjoy ourselves.”
“I am not going to sit around and let him embarrass me,” she said, pulling back. “I’ll see you at the house.”
She turned and walked out of the bar, leaving me sitting there all alone. I could see her through the windows as she climbed into a taxi and then disappeared out of sight. I shook my head and rubbed my face, realizing I had probably just screwed up again. But what was I supposed to do? Miles was my best friend and he was literally just being who he was. I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Mira was technically my wife, but not in the same way other married people were. Even after all the sex we’d enjoyed this past two weeks, we were still basically strangers. I didn’t want to hurt her, but I was also not ready to break off my friendship for the situation.
“Hey,” Miles said, walking up and looking around. “Where’s Mira?”
“Well, she left,” I said, swigging my beer.
“She left?” He looked shocked, which meant he hadn’t realized how much of an idiot he’d been. “But the night just got started.”
“Call her crazy, but she wasn’t really too fond of the things you were saying,” I replied. “You know, most girls generally don’t like hearing about their boyfriend with other women, much less the fact that I swore off marriage.”
“You’re sticking up for her,” Miles said, looking at me curiously. “You really care about this girl.”
“That isn’t the fucking issue,” I said, angrily. “There is a whole lot of money involved in this deal and if she walks away because you were an asshole, then you’re gonna owe me a shit ton of money.”
“Oh relax,” he laughed. “She’s just being a bitch, and she obviously has a seriously spiny stick up her ass. Everybody has a past, right?”
“I guess everyone does,” I said, shaking my head. “I wanted to ease her into it, not tell her every gory detail of my young adult life and create a situation that has her running for the hills. Also, don’t call her a bitch. Mira is my wife.”
“She’ll be fine,” Miles said. “Come on, I’ll get you a shot.”
CHAPTER 14
Mira
On Friday morning, I woke up with the same attitude I’d had the night before. I turned over in the bed and looked at Ryan, sound asleep and snoring loudly. He must have crept back in late last night after staying out with Miles at that bar. I had come home — tired, mentally exhausted and my heart feeling heavy in my chest. I was irritated, annoyed and just wanted things to go back to where they had been before Miles popped up, but unfortunately, I couldn’t turn back time. I did suddenly wish I had slept in one of the guest rooms, because my fondness for Ryan was quickly wearing off.
When Miles first started talking about everything I was sure that Ryan was going to cut him off, but when he didn’t I knew I had to voice my feelings. Obviously, I was mistaken about how much he cared for me, because instead of stopping it and taking me home, he took his friend’s side and I was left to get myself a cab and go home alone, feeling slightly more than defeated. But hell, it was exactly what they wanted, right? The drama, the heartbreak, it was what made good TV.
I shook my head and got out of the bed, knowing Evelyn would be there any minute. I knew I should wake Ryan, but in reality, I didn’t even want to talk to him right now. I just wanted some time alone, even if there was a camera shoved in my face. I headed into the bathroom and changed into a pair of shorts and my T-shirt. I pulled my hair back into a ponytail and put on some lip-gloss just to give my face a little shine. It was the most I could muster for the cameras right now and I really didn’t care.
I crept out of the bedroom and headed down the hall, stopping and staring at Miles, passed out, fully clothed on the floor of one of the guest rooms. I assumed that between the alcohol and the giant ego, his head was too heavy to make it five more steps to the bed. I rolled my eyes and kept walking, trotting down the stairs to the kitchen. I started a pot of coffee and looked over at Evelyn who was on the phone, taking down some notes on a piece of paper.
“Excellent,” she said into the phone. “I love the numbers, let’s keep going with it.”
She hung up the phone and looked at me with a smile. “Good morning!”
“Morning,” I said, trying to fake my way through it.
“I guess Ryan is still passed out from last night?”
“Yeah,” I chuckled. “Out like a log.”
“No matter,” she smiled. “I just want to say that I absolutely loved everything about last night’s taping. The drama is exactly what will keep bringing the viewers back. We would never have a second show if it was all lovey-dovey happily ever after, would we now?”
“I guess not,” I shrugged, pouring a cup of coffee.
“Are you all right?” she asked.
“Sure,” I said. “You know, I love being embarrassed by some idiot from Indiana. Make that two.”
“Oh,” Evelyn said, standing up and walking over with a pouty face. “Try not let it get to you. Men are assholes, they just are, and we just have come to accept it and expect untoward behavior from time to time. You have your own reasons for being on this show, so don’t let them make you miserable. Do you, be you, handle Ryan however you like. Why don’t you have your mom over for dinner tonight? Maybe she can break up the tension between the three of you.”
“Okay,” I sighed. “I miss seeing her every day anyway. I’ll go call her and see how she’s doing.”
“Perfect,” Evelyn smiled, nodding at Harrison.
I picked my phone off the counter and turned, carrying my coffee in the other hand to the garden room. I looked down at my phone as I walked, slowing down hearing the footsteps behind me. I turned around and saw Harrison, camera rolling, following me into the room. I sighed and shook my head.
“Sorry,” he said. “Bosses’ orders. I’ll stay on this side and not hook up the microphone. I’ll just pretend I screwed up.”
“Thank you,” I smiled.
Even with Harrison being a nice guy, it was really starting to get annoying that my life had somehow turned into a show, and a spectacle for all to see. I had never anticipated it would ever include something really precious to me, to my heart. I didn’t want people to see me broken up about Ryan. I wanted to be strong, but as I put the phone to my ear and heard my mom answer I burst into tears.
“Honey?” my mom said. “What in the world is going on?”
“Ugh. I got my damn feelings hurt,” I sobbed. “They flew Ryan’s best friend in, who is a total asshole, and we all went out for drinks. Well, while we were there he just went into this monologue about what a player Ryan was. I didn’t like it, and instead of sticking up for me, Ryan told me to just deal with it, so I left and went home. On top of that, Miles made me feel like I was nowhere even close to being Ryan’s type. It really made me feel like I was nothing more than another one of Ryan’s conquests.”
“Oh sweetie,” my mom said, with a comforting tone. “So, before all that, you and Ryan were doing better?”
“Yeah, really good,” I said, sniffling. “We had really started to bond, and I thought he actually cared about me. I thought that his feelings were real, but it looks like they were just an act for the cameras. I fell for it, thinking that he actually cared.”
“And I bet he still does,” she replied. “Men can be weird sometimes, they act aloof and uncaring around other men. They are much kinder and gentler without that influence and all that testosterone. I bet he still has feelings for you, he is just afraid to show that in front of his friend, especially if he is the asshole type. I’m sure once the friend is gone, things will go back to the way they were.”
“But why would I want them to?” I asked. “Why would I want to be with a man that can’t
even stand up for my feelings?”
“You could always walk away if you have to,” my mother said.
“I know, but I don’t want to,” I sighed. “Things were clicking for us, and I want to see the six months out so we both win.”
“I’m proud of you for sticking with it, but don’t ever feel like you have to,” she replied. “You don’t owe him anything.”
“I know,” I said. “Would you mind if a car came and got you and brought you to dinner tonight? I don’t want us to be alone with Miles again, and I’m pretty sure if you are here he will mind his p’s and q’s. Plus, I really want to see you, I miss you a lot.”
“Of course,” she cooed. “I would love to come to dinner and see your sweet face.”
I finished the conversation with my mother and got off the phone, patting Harrison on the shoulder as I left. When the guys got up, the cameras were all pointed at them, so I took the opportunity to put on a one-piece bathing suit and go for a swim. I loved swimming and it was always something that helped me get out my stress, relieve anxiety and just get my heart pumping. By the time I was finished I felt quite a bit better and snuck upstairs past the guys to get a shower in. I wanted to avoid them as much as I could while Miles was still around. Besides, maybe it was good for me to take a step back and get some perspective, so I used the distraction of Miles coming to town to get in some quality me time.
The rest of the day was pretty quiet and lazy, and most of it I spent lounging out in the sun reading a book. I knew it wasn’t exciting and it wasn’t what Evelyn wanted, but I couldn’t deal with any more drama, not in that moment. I just wanted some peace and quiet before I started making dinner.
That night, after I had finished making the lasagna and Ryan had set the table, we all sat around, including my mom, listening to stories from the childhood years that Ryan and Miles had shared. Miles was on his best behavior, obviously showing respect for my mother, but not for me. I tried not to let it bother me and just went on with the night, trying to wait it out until Miles was back on a flight to Indiana — the one thing guaranteed to make me feel better.
