32. Aspen
Chapter 32
Aspen
“ N ope, no way. What’s your backup option?”
“Grey, come on.”
It’s now the following Wednesday after work, in my trailer. Meeko is giving herself a bath on the counter next to us, completely oblivious to our argument or what it's about. It’s probably a good thing, because she’d definitely change her tune regarding Grey if she understood this conversation.
“No, I’m not going to walk your cat on a leash with you around Calabasas, Jordan.”
“Why not? It’s my turn to pick the date and I promise Meeko’s really good on a leash. We’ve been walking since she was a kitten.”
“Isn’t she still a kitten?”
“She’s a year and a half old. She’s just petite.”
Grey sighs exasperatedly. “Jordan. No.”
“Are you serious? You took me on a death trip along the PCH but you won’t go on a walk ?”
“It’s the principle of the thing.”
“Come on, walking an animal is the second most popular paparazzi-photographed date, right after going out to dinner. I looked it up.”
Grey crosses his arms across his chest. “If anything, that makes it worse. It’s so much more cliché—it’ll look like we’re faking it.”
“But we are faking it.”
“Exactly. I don’t like it.”
Meeko hops off the counter and rubs against Grey’s leg, wrapping her striped tail around it as she passes.
“See, she likes you! She wants to go on a walk with you so bad.” I pick Meeko up and speak in a high-pitched tone, moving her little paw in time with my words. “Please, Grey. Please go on a walk with me and my mom, I promise I’ll behave.”
Grey gives me a look that roughly translates to: Are you fucking serious right now?
I sigh and set Meeko back down on the floor of the trailer. “What will it take for you to agree?”
“Absolutely n—” He breaks off mid-sentence and a devilish smirk slowly forms on his lips.
“What?” I ask, hesitant at that look.
“I’ll go on a walk with you and Meeko if you use the toy you got from the sex shop while doing so.”
“No. We’re not doing that. No way,” I reply, backing up a step.
“Funny how the tables have turned. It would be fun.” He shrugs. “But, if you don’t want to do it, I guess we’ll just have to think of another date to go on. How about skydiving? I hear it’s the perfect weather for it this time of year.”
“Grey.”
“What?” he asks, raising his hands defensively. “You asked what it would take, and I told you.”
“The toy is at my house, hidden deep in my closet where no one will ever find it.”
“Then let’s go get it.”
“But that’s out of the way.”
“By like five minutes. It's up to you. We could always do something else instead. Like skydiving, as I so helpfully suggested.”
I sit down and pull Meeko onto my lap, thinking. To be fair, I did get a little thrill when Grey suggested the toy. And I think he knows that, because he wouldn’t be pushing so hard for something if he actually thought I’d hate it. But leaving him in charge of a vibrator while we’re walking and being photographed? That’s a dangerous game. Then again, there’s a good chance that he just said that to get out of walking Meeko. He knows me well enough to know that I wouldn’t agree to that…or would I? What if I say yes just to spite him? I’d love to see the look on his face then. And anyway, if I agreed to the vibrator, I’d be able to get off…maybe even a few times. Going on a mandated date and blowing off some steam sounds a lot like killing two birds with one stone. Everyone’s always saying I’m too prudish, too stuck-up, too polite. Why don’t I do the bad thing for once?
I look up and meet Grey’s eyes. “Fine.”
Surprise ripples across his face. “Fine what?”
“Fine. Let’s go get the vibrator.”
“You’re going to let me control your vibrator. While we’re walking. In public?” he asks.
“Yep.”
“Who are you?”
“I’m Aspen Jordan. Want an autograph?” I ask, smiling mischievously.
Grey shakes his head in awed disbelief. “What are we waiting for then? Let’s go.”
“Hey,” Phaedra greets me as I walk through the front door, Grey in tow. When she sees him, she’s on her feet immediately, approaching us. “Hi, fake boyfriend. I’m Phaedra, it’s nice to meet you.”
Grey looks at me, surprised. “You told her?” he asks.
“Lucky guess, but now I know.” Phaedra smirks.
The color drains from Grey’s face.
Phaedra and I both laugh. “She’s just kidding,” I clarify. “I told her. And my sisters. And Heena.”
“Heena Badahl?” Grey asks.
“Yeah. She’s best friends with my sister, practically a bonus-Jordan at this point.”
“I’m impressed, Jordan. We were explicitly told not to tell anyone, but you told half of Hollywood anyway. Who would’ve thought you’d be a little rule breaker.”
“It practically killed her to tell us,” Phaedra comments. “She was shaking; she was so nervous breaking the rules.”
“I was not.” I roll my eyes. “And I didn’t tell half of Hollywood, I told my close friends. You seriously didn’t tell anyone?” I direct the question to Grey.
“No. Now you’re making me feel like a loser.”
“You are a loser.”
Grey huffs a laugh. “As charming as it was to meet you, Phaedra, Aspen and I have a vibrator to find.”
Phaedra’s eyebrows jump to her hairline.
“ Later ,” I mouth to her as Grey and I walk past.
We walk up the stairs and down the hallway, finally making it to the master bedroom.
“Very cute,” Grey says, scanning my room. “I would’ve pegged you for a blue girl, not green,” he says, referencing the accent color to my otherwise neutral room.
“I guess I’m full of surprises today,” I reply.
“You sure are.”
I lead the way into my closet, headed for the pair of Ferragamo boots that I stuffed the vibrator in.
“Are you kidding me?” Grey asks, admiring the space. “This closet is bigger than most people’s living rooms.
“Half my family are models. They’d be horrified if my closet was any smaller. And anyway, I need the space. Unlike men, famous women have to wear a completely new outfit every time they’re in public.”
“You don’t have to.”
I turn to send him a challenging stare before lobbing the vibrator in the air for him to catch. Of course, he reacts perfectly, catching it in one hand. Show off. Grey turns the toy over in his palm, reading the back with the directions.
“It comes with batteries,” he notes. “One for the remote and one for the toy.” Then he opens the package and removes the contents, both bright pink. The remote is about the size of a house key, small enough to fit undetected in his pocket or the palm of his hand. The toy itself is a curved, slightly cupped thing, with a tapering point that I’m assuming goes on your clit and a little rounded bump that goes over your entrance.
Grey wastes no time in installing the batteries and clicking a button on the remote, making the toy buzz. He hits it again and it buzzes faster, then faster again, then in a pulsing pattern, then in a cresting and falling pattern, then in a heart-beat-style pattern.
“Six settings,” he observes. “Nice.”
“I need to wash that before I put it on,” I say, taking it from him. He follows me to the bathroom and watches as I pull a sex toy soap from under the sink and gently lather it with warm water.
“I’m surprised you even have that,” he says, motioning to the specialty soap.
“Are you?”
“On second thought, no. You probably have every kind of soap.”
“Correct.” I laugh. Then I wash the suds off with water and dry the toy. “So, are you going to stay and watch me put it on or…?” I ask, looking into his dark eyes.
“Is that an option?”
“No.”
“I’ll see you in a minute then,” he says, shutting the door on his way out.
I slip the toy into my underwear. It’s definitely noticeable, but I hope my brain tunes out the toy’s presence after a few minutes. When I re-enter the bedroom, Grey is sitting on my bed, playing with a little knit bunny I made a few weeks ago. I snatch it out of his hands. The thing sits on my bed; I don’t want his unwashed hands all over it. Or his outside clothes all over my bed, but whatever. Too late.
“Did you make that from the patterns you got at that farmers’ market?”
“Let me guess—it looks like something out of a haunted antique shop?”
His brows furrow. “No. I was going to say it’s cute.”
“Oh. Thanks.”
“So are you ready to go?” Grey asks, standing.
“Yeah, we just need to get Meeko all leashed-up, but I can do that in the car.”
“Perfect,” he says. Then I almost fall over because when I’m mid-step Grey hits the button on the remote to start the vibrator.
“Grey!” I protest. “Not until we’re actually on the walk.”
“Oops,” he says innocently, while simultaneously flashing a wicked grin.