It’s like the world is trying to punish me by keeping me here.
I asked Phoebe if she could recommend a hotel in Klamath Falls. She gave me the name of one, and then I called a cab.
The cab arrived fifteen minutes later. I hugged Phoebe and thanked her for everything. Then, I climbed into the cab, and it took me to the hotel.
I checked in for a single room. Took my case up to the room, sat down on the bed, and stared at the wall.
I knew I was going to cry again. After years of never crying, my eyes were sore, and I felt drained. I knew I wouldn’t cry in front of people, so I got up to go outside, and I started walking.
I wandered around for a bit and then headed back in the direction of the hotel, but the thought of being in that room alone made my footsteps start to slow.
So, I went into the diner a few doors down from the hotel.
It was empty, bar the waitress. But it would do.
I sat down in a booth by the window and ordered coffee and a piece of pie. That was about an hour ago.
I’ve just finished my second cup of coffee, and the pie sits, untouched.
Charlie Puth’s “Dangerously” is playing on the radio. I’m listening to the lyrics and staring out the window.
“Another refill, hon?”
I move my eyes to the waitress. She has a coffee pot in her hand.
“Sure.” I push my cup toward her, using my fingers.
She refills it.
“Thanks,” I say.
I get some creamer from the pot and pour it in before adding some sweetener.
I notice she’s still hovering, and dread passes through me that she recognizes me. My face has been plastered all over the Internet since the news of my “affair” with Vaughn broke.
“Hey, are you—”
“No.” I shake my head, cutting her off. I know I’m probably coming off as rude, but I just don’t care at the moment.
“Oh. Get asked that a lot, do you? ’Cause you sure do look like her. But then I did think, What would someone like her be doing in Klamath Falls?” She chuckles to herself.
“Who?” I ask, curiosity getting the better of me.
The bell on the door behind me rings.
The waitress looks up at whoever just entered. She smiles. “Take a seat, hon. I’ll be right with you.” Then, she looks back at me. “Gigi Hadid. You know, the model who’s dating Zayn. You’re the spitting image of her.”
Gigi Hadid, huh? I wish.
I smile at her. “Thanks for the refill and the compliment.”
“Gigi Hadid,” a familiar voice says, making my whole body freeze. “Nah, you’re way prettier than her.”
Vaughn.
I’m almost afraid to turn in case it isn’t him. I think the disappointment would finish me off.
But I do turn. And it is him.
He’s here.
My heart starts to beat triple time.
He smiles, and my heart breaks.
“Hey, Pins.”
I can’t speak, so I just sit there, mute, while he takes the seat across from me.
“What can I get you?” the waitress asks him.
“Coffee.”
“Sure thing, hon. Anything to go with that coffee?”
He shakes his head but doesn’t take his stare from me. He hasn’t once looked away from me since I first locked eyes with him.
Well, he might be able to look at me for an extended period of time, but I can’t look at him. Staring at Vaughn right now is like staring at the sun. My eyes are starting to burn and sting and fill with tears.
I suck in a breath and stare out the window.
“I’ll be right back with your coffee,” the waitress tells him.
Silence drags on between us.
He’s right here.
I never thought I’d see him again like this. Never be close to him again.
Don’t lose this chance, Charly, to have more time with him. You’ll regret it if you do.
I just wish I knew why he was here. I’m too afraid to let my heart hope.
I move my eyes back to him. All thoughts fall from my mind.
“You’re not saying anything, Pins. It’s starting to freak me out.” He gives me a tentative smile.
I lick my dry lips. “You’re here.” It’s the best I’ve got at the moment.
“Yeah,” he says softly, “I am.”
“Why?” I want to kick myself for asking, but it’s killing me, having him here and not knowing why.
I’m silently begging him to forgive me for lying to him. Begging for him to want me again.
The waitress brings his coffee over, interrupting us.
“Thanks,” he says, briefly glancing at her. His eyes come back to me.
Silence hangs between us again. The tension is agonizing.
“I spoke to Jack,” he says.
“Oh.” That’s why he’s here.
Jack probably wants him to make an official statement to the press about our “affair.”
“Tell the press what you need to, Vaughn. Tell them the truth. That you didn’t know I was married. You don’t need to be hurt in this any more than you have been.”
“Oh,” he says. “Well, I was kinda thinking that we’d tell them that you and Nick have been separated for a while now but still living together, as you couldn’t afford to move out. I’m guessing you’re in a two-bedroom apartment, that you haven’t gotten around to filing for divorce yet, as it’s another expense you couldn’t afford. You and Nick are on great terms. And he knew all about you and me. About our relationship.”
“You and me?” I breathe.
“Yeah, Pins. You and me.” He reaches across the table, taking my hand in his. “I shouldn’t have let you go earlier. I didn’t mean any of what I said. I was still angry and hurting.”
“You’re not angry anymore?”
“No.”
He smiles, and my heart soars.
“I’m just…”
“What?” I ask eagerly.
“In love with you. And nothing else matters but that. Everything else can go to hell, for all I care.”
Tears fill my eyes, and my lips tremble. “I love you, too. So much.”
He moves around the table and sits beside me. He takes my face in his hands. “What you said earlier, that you want me to have the best life, that you want me to be happy…the only way I can do that is with you.”
A tear slides down my face. He wipes it away with his thumb. Then, he presses his lips to mine.
Happiness sets my skin on fire. I wrap my arms around him, kissing him back.
He breaks off, pressing his forehead to mine. “Let’s get out of here.” He kisses me one more time and then slides out of the booth.
I follow out behind him. He pulls some bills from his pocket and drops them on the table, way more than necessary.
He stares down at me and holds his hand out for me to take. Heart full, I slide my palm against his. He links our fingers, and we head for the door.
We’ve just almost made it outside when the waitress calls us back.
“Hey,” she says.
We turn to her. She’s standing on the customer side of the counter. She takes a step closer, looking…well, staring at Vaughn. She’s made him.
“Can I ask…are you…Vaughn West?”
He chuckles softly and then looks back at me. “No,” he says. “I’m just a normal guy who’s in love with an extraordinary girl.”
He thinks I’m extraordinary.
That’s the most amazing thing anyone has said to me.
The smile on my face is so big, my lips are stretching. But, of course, me being me, I have to say, “Did you bang your head on the way here?”
He laughs loudly, eyes sparkling. “There’s my girl.” His fingers stroke softly down my cheek. “And, no, I didn’t bang my head. But I plan on banging yours. Hard. Against my headboard. It’s time you and I got reacquainted, Pins.”
I step close and brush my sm
iling lips against his. “I can live with that, West.”
I can live with that forever.
Four Years Later
Vaughn
This is it.
This is the moment I’ve been waiting my whole career for. The moment that will tell me if all my hard work has paid off.
Working on my last film, Five Knots to Nowhere, was amazing but hard as hell. I bled this film. I lived in the fucking desert and the worst places on earth you could think of for this film. I left Charly for three months while we were on location. I put up with Brandon again for this film. The guy was still needy as fuck, and he was at epic neediness level while doing Five Knots to Nowhere.
Surprised he wanted to work with me again? I’m not. The Lament did fucking brilliantly. We smashed it at the box office.
I look up at the stage where Natasha and Gabriel are standing, waiting to present the award to the winner, which they’re going to announce at any moment now.
I mean, they’re two of my closest friends. It has to be me. It’s fate.
Right?
Please, God, let it be me. I’ll stop cursing so much if I win this. Not altogether, of course, because that would be near on fucking impossible.
My heart is beating so hard in my chest, it feels like I’m going to crack a rib.
I haven’t been this nervous since I stood up at the altar, waiting for Charly to appear and walk toward me.
Thank fuck she did.
I rub my thumb over her engagement and wedding ring.
She squeezes my hand. I glance at her.
Her look is encouraging. You got this baby, her eyes are saying.
I pray to God that I do. Because I’ll suck at being a gracious loser. I’m not that good of an actor.
“And the Oscar goes to…” Natasha opens the envelope.
She smiles and shows it to Gabriel.
He grins. And looks at me.
Did he look at me? Or did I just imagine that?
For fuck’s sake, just say who the winner is, or I’m going to—
“Vaughn West!” he yells into the microphone.
Holy…fuck!
I won!
I motherfucking won! Sorry, God.
But I’m an Oscar-winning actor.
An. Oscar-winning. Actor.
I close my eyes in sweet relief, happiness coursing through my body. The audience is clapping loudly all around me. I feel someone pat my shoulder from behind.
Charly is cheering and nearly squeezing my hand off.
I look at her and grin. She grabs my face in her hands and smashes her lips to mine, kissing me hard.
I get to my feet, hugging Brandon and my costar Jensen Fletcher.
“Well done, man,” Jensen says in my ear. “You fucking deserve this.”
I head to the stage, jogging up the steps.
Gabe hugs me first. “You did it, West, you fucker.” He chuckles in my ear.
Natasha throws her arms around me. “I’m so happy for you!”
They step back, and I walk to the podium. I’m smiling like the Joker right now. My peers are still on their feet, clapping.
“Jesus, I’m feeling like I might cry here,” I joke—well, only half-joke. “And you can ask my wife, I don’t cry often. Only after sex.”
I get the laugh I was after. I look at Charly fighting a smile, shaking her head at me.
I stare down at the gold statue in my hand, shaking my head in disbelief. Then, I stand the gold statue on the podium in front of me.
“But, seriously, I’m man enough to admit that I’ve cried in my lifetime. Twice, in fact. The first time was when that beautiful woman sitting there agreed to be my wife. And the second was the day she told me she was pregnant with our child.”
Smiling up at me, her eyes shining, Charly rubs her hand over her huge bump where my son is sleeping soundly.
“And my third time crying will, without a doubt, be when I’ve drunk too much liquor, and it finally hits me that I’ve won an Oscar. I have to thank Brandon for trusting me enough to work on a second film with me. And my incredibly talented costar Jensen Fletcher. Thank you to my manager, Jack, who has been through thick and thin with me. My family—Mom and Dad, my sisters, and Gran—I love you all very much. Alex, my long-suffering assistant, whom I couldn’t get through a day without, and if I did, I’d probably do it without any pants on.”
The audience laughs again. I can see Alex sitting behind Charly, shaking his head at me.
“And, of course, my wife. My gorgeous, stunning wife, Charly.”
I look right at her. I can see her eyes glistening with tears. In this moment, no one else exists, except for her.
“Pins, we got off to a crazy start. After the stabbing incident, you made me a stellar piece of underwear, and then you yelled at me and called me a few choice words. I kissed you to shut you up, and I’ve been lucky enough to keep kissing you ever since. I love you. I literally couldn’t do any of this without you. You’re my strength, my heart, and my soul. No one—and I mean, no one—can make me laugh like you do. My life was good before you. Now, it’s beyond amazing. This”—I pick the Oscar up, lifting it high—“is for you and our unborn son.”
I look out to the audience. “Thank you, everyone, and good night.”
I step off the stage, and a glass of champagne is put in my hand.
“Congratulations,” the guy says.
“Thanks.”
I take a sip. Taking it all in, I look at the gold statue again.
I did it.
A minute later, I’m ushered out of the Dolby Theatre and into the adjoining Loews Hollywood Hotel where I do photographs and press.
The Oscars are over by the time I’m finished with the press. So, I meet back up with Charly in the limo. We’re heading to an after-party.
“Hey,” she says as I slip into the seat next to her. “Can I look?”
I hand the statue to her.
“Wow,” she murmurs.
“Right?”
We look at each other and then both let out yelps of excitement.
Charly throws her arms around me. “You freaking did it, Vaughn! I knew you would!”
“You never doubted.”
“Not a moment.” She smiles, handing me the statue back.
I put it on the seat next to me. I consider actually strapping it in with a seat belt, but that would be weird, right?
“So, that was quite an acceptance speech you gave.”
“You liked it?”
“I loved it. But I could’ve lived without you telling everyone that I stabbed you.”
“At least I didn’t tell them where you stabbed me.” I gesture to my cock.
“True. There is that to be thankful for.” She nods.
“And I didn’t tell them that the underwear you made was a cock warmer.”
“It wasn’t a cock—”
I cut her off with a kiss, like I always do when we have this debate, which has happened many times over the years.
“Warmer,” she murmurs.
“I love you,” I tell her.
“I love you, too.”
“How’s my son doing in there?” I press a hand to her bump.
“Our son is doing good. Sleeping now, I think. He was on the move when you were giving your speech. I think he was excited for you.”
“Not as excited as I am to meet him.” I lean down to talk to my son. “Three more weeks, and we get to meet, buddy. Your mom and I are so excited. And your gran and granddad, great-grandma, aunts, and cousins are all excited. There are a lot of people waiting to meet you, Elijah.”
We’re naming him after my grandpa. When we told my gran what we were calling him, her eyes filled with tears. She muttered something about needing a drink, and then she went into the kitchen to make up some cocktails.
I sit back in my seat and take hold of Charly’s hand.
“Happy?” she asks.
“I already was, Pins.”
Her eyes soften, an
d she smiles. Then, she leans her head against my shoulder.
The split in her gown has parted, showing me inches of one of her gorgeous legs. I put my hand on her thigh and squeeze. I take a glance down at her cleavage, too. Charly has always had fantastic tits, but since she’s been pregnant, they’ve gotten huge. And, I gotta tell you, I’ve had a lot of fun with them.
The gown is one of her own designs. She left the wardrobe and movie business and started her own clothing line. But not right away. The day after we got back together, Jack put out a press release, basically saying that Charly and Nick were already separated when our relationship started. Nick was fully aware that we were seeing one another, and blah, blah, blah.
After that, the media interest in Charly and me started to die down, as there was no great scandal for them anymore. And a few days after our press release went out, some squeaky-clean pop singer got high, stole a school bus—thankfully, it was empty—and totaled it into the side of a building. So, that kept the press busy for a while.
Charly came back to Vegas with me the day after the press release was issued and resumed her role in wardrobe while I finished filming.
She and Nick also started divorce proceedings. It didn’t take long for it to be finalized. And, shortly after, Charly was legally a single woman again. Well, she wasn’t single because she was mine.
And I made her officially mine a year later when we married in a small ceremony at the back of my ranch.
A few months after we were married, Charly opened up her own online clothes store, selling her designs. It got big fast. So, we had to expand and ended up opening up some stores—one in Portland and the other in New York.
We live permanently in Keno at my ranch. We also have another fixed member of the household—Jester. As soon as Charly moved in, so did he. There was no getting him away from her, but I understand that feeling. So, he lives with us and goes back to my parents’ when we’re away.
We also have an apartment in New York, as Charly needs to be there for her business quite often and, of course, to see Nick.
Nick lives in our apartment in New York, so we get to spend plenty of time with him when we’re there. It’s important that we do because he’s Charly’s family, and there is nothing more important than family. It helps that Nick and I get along great. He’s a cool guy.
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