24. Aspen
Chapter 24
Aspen
A fter we’ve had food-truck tacos and cinnamon-coated pretzels, Grey seems to be in a much better mood. I think he was hangry.
We go into a few clothing boutiques, and Grey waits patiently as I browse the racks, running my hands along fabrics and holding pieces up against myself in mirrors. And when I buy a top, he even takes the shopping bag from me, insisting he hold it for me. I’m touched for a minute, before I remember he’s doing it all for optics.
Still, it’s nice of him to have stopped complaining. Now he’s simply started following me around contentedly. In the fourth store, he picks a dress off a rack and shows it to me, telling me I’d look good in it. Of course, it's a hideous magenta taffeta thing. So I don’t know if he’s being sarcastic or not. His tone is earnest, but he’s a professional actor, so I don’t know. Either way, I didn’t buy it.
We leave the store and resume our path down the open breezeways.
“Can we go in there?” Grey asks, pointing to a darkly-decorated store called Wicked Wonders.
“Grey. That's a sex shop.”
“Yeah, I know. Can we go?”
I hesitate.
“Come on,” he prods. “You’ve chosen all the stores so far, it’s only fair.”
“Yeah, but that’s a sex store . That’s different.”
“How? Photos of us in there will definitely get the paps’ attention.”
“But is it the good kind of attention?”
“Jordan, we’re in a fake relationship. Any kind of attention is good attention. Come on, I’ll even take the lead so they think I’m the instigator.”
“You are the instigator.”
“If I’m remembering correctly, you were the one who dragged me into your trailer so I could get you off, then you begged to suck my dick.”
“Grey!” I squeal in a barely-contained whisper. “People are going to hear you.”
“And then they’ll what? Assume we’re together? Isn’t that the point?”
I glare at him and he takes a step closer to me. He’s so tall I need to tilt my head to maintain eye-contact. I fight to keep my schooled expression, but he’s so close and so goddamn attractive that I feel my heart speed up and a blush creep onto my cheeks. It doesn’t help that I’m remembering the way his fingers felt inside of me and how he groaned my name as he came in my mouth.
Grey smirks down at me, as though he can read my thoughts. Then he extends his hand to stretch the few inches between us, and for a moment I think he’s going to pull me into a kiss. My breath hitches, as his brown eyes continue staring me down in that smoldering way of his, and my eyelids flutter closed. They reopen with a jolt as I sense him move away from me, one of my pretzel bites in hand. He pops it into his mouth with an expression of mixed innocence and triumph. That bastard.
Then he begins strolling in the direction of Wicked Wonders, leaving me no choice but to follow him. I’ve never been in a store like this; though, not for lack of curiosity. I’ve always been too afraid of what people would say if they saw me in one—or worse, photographed me in one. But for some reason, I’m not so afraid now that I’m walking into one with Grey. Maybe it’s because we’re doing it explicitly for attention, or because I know Grey will seem like the debauched one, not me, or maybe Grey is just a bad influence on me. But in any case, I feel a taboo thrill of excitement as Grey holds the door open for me and I walk into the store.
Inside, it’s dim and smells strongly of incense. It’s surprisingly large inside, and filled to the brim with all sorts of adult items ranging from sexy costumes to dildos to penis-shaped candy. There’s a row of curtain-covered changing rooms lining the back wall, which is painted a cherry red color like the rest of the walls. This is accented by a black carpet, the sight of which makes me shudder. A carpeted sex store is about as off-putting as a carpeted bathroom. I try not to wonder how often they properly clean this carpet as I gingerly walk on it, following Grey’s path to the nearest corner of the shop. They probably chose black carpet because it would hide most of the stains. Although, I’d think the most common stains here would be white…
“Want to make this interesting?” Grey asks, breaking me from my thoughts.
“I’m not going to have sex with you in one of those changing rooms,” I blurt out.
“Dammit,” he curses sarcastically.
“What else were you thinking?” I ask impatiently.
He drops his voice conspiratorially. “We walk around the store together and whoever gets approached by a fan first gets to pick out something for the other one to buy.”
“So whoever gets attention first wins,” I clarify.
“Yes. And the loser has to buy—and walk out of the store with—the embarrassing thing of the other’s choosing.”
I look around the store, counting at least fifteen or so other people milling around. One of our guards is standing casually by the door with the others waiting for us outside. Meaning, they won’t be following us around and attracting attention toward either one of us in particular.
I extend my hand and Grey shakes it. “You’re on,” I confirm.
We begin to take a loop around the store, starting with the sexy costumes.
I’m struck by a mannequin wearing a full, black latex gimp suit, complete with boots, a mask, and red ball gag.
I point it out to Grey. “That’s what you’re going to buy.”
“Confident, eh?”
I smile smugly. “Yep.”
Then, I step out into one of the primary walkways and raise my voice. “By the way, babe, have I ever told you about the time I was on Fairview Ridge and my family—you know Isabelle, Robert, Willow, and Maple Jordan—came and surprised me on set? I thought I wasn’t going to see them until the Oscars that night, but they came to set and brought me lunch.”
Grey crosses his arms, following me out into the open. “Oh, are you talking about the 2023 Oscars? You probably saw me there; I was nominated for Best Actor.”
“No, I don’t think I saw you there,” I say, beginning to walk, trying to catch the attention of a nearby couple. “I was too busy talking to Zac Schwartz. You know, the actual winner of Best Actor.”
Unfazed, Grey begins to toy with a candy thong. “Oh, that’s right. I remember meeting him on the set of the Sexiest Man Alive shoot. He placed sixth. Of course, I placed first, I don’t need to remind you of that, darling.”
I try to ignore that the way he says “darling” in that damn accent of his makes me melt like butter in the sun. “Did you? I don’t remember that. I do remember, however, when my sister Willow and I shared the cover of Playboy .”
This seems to grab his attention. “Did you really?”
“No, you pervert.”
“I was going to say, I’ve never seen that issue.”
“What, do you get them delivered monthly or something?”
“No, I just see them from time to time at the dentist.”
I roll my eyes and am about to make a retort when a girl approaches us. “Excuse me,” she says, earning both of our immediate attention. We’re eager to see who she names first. “I can’t believe I’m seeing you guys in real life. Wow, I feel like I’m dreaming. So, is it true? Are you together?”
Grey wraps an arm around me like a doting boyfriend. “We are.”
“That’s amazing, good for you guys. Those are going to be some hot babies.” She chuckles awkwardly before continuing. “Sorry, I don’t know why I just said that.”
I try to contain my laugh. “No worries, thank you.”
“Can I get a photo?” she asks.
“Sure,” Grey answers. “Want to put down that dildo, first?”
The girl turns a deep shade of crimson and sets the item down. We take a selfie and then she skitters off, still blushing profusely.
Grey frowns. “She forgot the dildo.”
“Grey, why did you have to embarrass her like that?”
“I didn’t mean to,” he defends. “I just thought she’d be so mad at herself if the only photo she got with us was one where she’s holding a massive black cock.”
“I guess that’s true.”
“Holding a massive black cock is something better done in private, like in a trailer, wouldn’t you say?” he asks, clearly referencing yesterday’s little lapse in judgment.
“Massive isn’t the word I’d use.”
“It isn’t?” he asks, staring at me intensely with those deep brown eyes.
I change the subject. “What are we going to do about our little challenge? Neither of us won. She came up to us both.”
“Hmm. I guess we both have to buy something embarrassing.”
He looks at the dildo the other girl left.
“No,” I answer, knowing what he’s thinking.
“I wasn’t going to choose that. Seems boring. I think I could do better by you.”
“I’m scared.”
Grey chuckles and starts walking toward the proper women’s pleasure area.
I follow after him and grab his arm, pleading softly. “Please, play nice.”
“Like you’re playing nice with that bondage suit thing. But don’t worry, Jordan, I’ll play very nice. I plan on getting you something you could actually use. Lord knows you could stand to get off every once in a while.”
“Hey!” I object. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing. You’re just a little…high-strung. And anyway, if you were really my girlfriend I’d want to get something fun for you.”
We make it to a huge wall display, featuring a rainbow of feminine toys. There are butt plugs, vibrators, dildos, rabbits, roses, and some other things I don’t even know the names of.
“This,” he says decisively, picking up a small box.
“What is it?”
“A remote-controlled vibrator.”
“No way.”
“Well, I’m assuming you already have a regular vibrator.”
I give the smallest of nods.
“And I’m also assuming you don’t want to walk out of here holding anything too explicit.”
I nod again.
“This is a small, discreet box. The press will have a hard time figuring out what’s in here. And anyway, it sounds kind of fun.”
I narrow my eyebrows. “No way I’m letting you use that on me.”
Grey shrugs. “Maybe you will, maybe you won’t. Maybe you could have someone else control it, or you could just keep it to yourself. Really, I don’t know why you’re fighting this. I really think I’m letting you off pretty easily compared to what you’re making me buy.”
Admittedly, he has a point. “Fine.” I sigh, snatching the box from him. “Now, let’s circle back and get you one of those latex suits.”
By the time we exit the store, there are multiple paps waiting for us outside. Someone must have sent out a bat signal that Grey and I were spotted going into an adult store. The cameras start flashing and Grey moves in front of me to partially block me—and my box—from view. He reaches his left arm out behind him for me to grab onto as he guides us toward the mall’s exit. Even though he’s holding a bondage suit in his right hand, he still uses it to give the paparazzi a proud little wave. I cover my eyes, feeling my face flush at the wolf whistles we’ve garnered.