35. Cole
Chapter thirty-five
Cole
I think my little social media outburst did more harm than good.
People have been leaving comments on my old posts calling me a ‘cheater’, a ‘man whore’, a ‘fuck boy’, and anything else you can think of that would fall under the same category. They took my words and spun them to make me sound like Mara and I were a thing, but are no longer because I chose to be with somebody else.
They speculated that I was hooking up with all these women whose names I’d never heard in my life, but I ignored their baseless gossip.
Blocked it out.
I am thankful for the four hours of blissful silence on the plane ride back to Grangewood Creek.
It gives me time to watch every single episode of that stupid reality show, so the next time Jenna talked about it, I knew what she was referring to.
Tate attempts to hound me with questions, and I do my best to ignore him.
“Does your girlfriend find those photos suspicious?” he asks, and I keep my eyes glued to the screen, shaking my head. “If she hates you, does that mean she’s up for grabs?” Another shake of the head, but it has a different meaning than the first time. Because no, she is not ‘up for grabs,’ she will never be up for fucking grabs . “All I’m saying is that you and Mara looked hot and heavy in those photos. And if your little live stream told the public anything, it’s that you’re just trying to hide from the truth. The young girl’s comments are just looking for an excuse to get your attention. The news articles that are popping up left and right, though? They’re looking at it as a damn gold mine.”
“And what is the truth, Tate?” I spit back under my breath, completely aware of the eyes and ears surrounding us on our flight back.
“All I’m saying, brother, is that the two of you look like you fit well together.”
I level him with a look that I hope says I am done with the bullshit questions. He raises his hands in defeat, getting the message, and closes the partition between us, but not before he has the last say. “By the way…Mara is better for your image. As your brother, I want you to be happy. As your manager, though, I want your career to thrive, and Mara can and will make that happen.”
***
My brother’s words ring through my ears as I toss and turn to get comfortable.
Keeping Mara close would benefit my career. She’s the hottest, most wanted actress in the world right now. She took on this job as a favor to Jude, and I’m convinced it’s a role she could do in her sleep.
Is keeping her close really that good of an idea, though? I’ve never been the type of person to latch onto someone who I thought would help me go far in work and life. But I’ve also never been in a position to have it be an option.
Groaning, I pick up my phone and glance at the time, only to throw it back onto my nightstand when I realize I should’ve been asleep hours ago.
It’s late, and I’m fucking exhausted.
From an outsider’s perspective, we see actors on a movie set laughing and having the time of their lives in between takes, or on the red carpet looking lavish in their designer clothes, with expensive jewelry dripping off them, and a date hanging on their arms. All before they turn in for the night and head home to their mansions with chefs, cleaners, gardeners, and anything else that type of money could buy.
But doing this job isn’t lavish or luxurious, it’s fucking hard. The hours are long, but the days feel so short at the same time. It messes with your head.
I’m supposed to be spending hours and hours a day playing the love interest of a beautiful woman, so of course, everyone just expects you to fall in love and live happily ever after. But my time spent with her is doing the exact opposite, and instead, I’m falling for the girl who’s knocked me on my ass from the very first moment I met her.
Though, I don’t think falling is the right word, because that would imply that it’s still in the process of happening.
Fallen , would be the correct term.
We arrived on set earlier today hand in hand, talking about what we’d each had for breakfast. Once our contact broke, we barely spoke. She playfully rolled her eyes at me and chuckled when Mara curled up on my lap in between takes. I shoved her off quickly, but my co-star was too comfortable putting on a show for everyone else. She didn’t care what it could cost me. I’m just glad the woman that I want knows I want her, and doesn’t seem to mind.
At least, I hope she knows. I haven’t actually told her.
She even watched as Mara followed me to my trailer after I told everyone I needed five minutes to myself. Mara took that as an invitation to join me. I held the door open and asked for her to leave right as Jenna and Tahnee were on their way back to their trailer, right next door to mine.
Tahnee smiled at me innocently with a shrug, and Jenna winked at a visibly disgruntled Mara Scott.
While I knew she wasn’t believing all the things said about Mara and me online, I also knew that there was a part of her that wondered if it was true. She was putting on a brave face, and I know that now more than ever. Knowing Jenna the way I do now, I think she spent her whole life wearing a mask to hide who she really is, but she’s slowly peeling it off.
I’d tried to tell as many people as I could that Mara’s stunt was all for show to boost ratings, but no matter how many people I’d said it too, they all rolled their eyes and told me they didn’t believe me.
So, now I’m torn between embarrassing my co-star in front of our colleagues by asking her to just leave me the fuck alone, or begging—pleading—with the girl that I know wants nothing more than sex, to give us a real shot once this is all over.
But Jenna Rogers has never given anyone a shot, has she?
Why should I be the first?
I let the thought linger, rolling around in my mind until everything finally settles, and sleep claims me once and for all.
***
I think this cupcake is a peace offering.
No hard feelings and all that.
I’m not sure what else to call it.
I just can’t be doing…whatever this is, with someone the public thinks is dating someone else.
I’m sorry.
Snow.
Frustrated and confused, I bunch up the piece of paper and shove it into my back pocket.
The first thing I spotted when I walked into my trailer this morning was a fluffy cupcake with a white buttercream swirl on top and a coffee cup placed beside it. I knew immediately who they were from.
The note only confirmed my suspicions, and it fucking pissed me off.
For days , she’s been laughing off Mara’s advances toward me, and I thought she understood that it was all for show and all against my will.
But I guess it got too much for her, and I’m kicking myself for not doing anything to stop it.
It feels like she’s been distancing herself over the past few days, but I told myself she was busy.
Sure, we arrived to work together every morning, but aside from that, our contact has been limited.
I know this thing between us isn’t in my head, but I think what Mara’s doing has gotten inside hers.
We haven’t had sex since the night I dropped her off at home after Olive’s gig, but we have kissed.
And that kiss…man, I can still taste her every time I lick my lips.
Scooping the cupcake and the coffee off the table, I stalk toward her trailer, not bothering to knock before I burst through the door. “What the fuck is this?”
She thinks she doesn’t owe me a damn thing, but she does owe me an explanation.
“Tahnee, give us a minute,” she says.
I’m grateful no one else from the cast or crew is lingering in here and that her employee is the only person we need to remove from the situation.
“You got it,” Tahnee responds, rushing out the door without asking questions, slamming it shut behind her, leaving a stunned Jenna in her wake.
“A cupcake and a coffee, Snow, as a fucking peace offering?” I put them onto the makeup vanity beside me, crossing my arms over my chest. I try my hardest to keep my breathing calm.
She tilts her head to the side before straightening her posture, squaring her shoulders as if she’s about to go to war.
Does she realize that I’m not the enemy in this?
“It’s like the note said. No hard feelings. I get it. You have your job to do, and I have to protect mine. I’ve worked too damn hard to have it ruined because of a silly PR stunt.” Her shoulders drop slightly, her hands placed on her hips. “I won’t be seen as the woman who came between Hollywood’s new ‘it’ couple. I can’t .” She shakes her head, her face devoid of any emotion. But I can see the way her eyes shift to a darker shade of blue, and I know she’s lying through her teeth. That, and the way her mouth snaps shut to hide the tremble in her lips.
“I don’t know what else I’m supposed to do to make you see that I don’t want her. ” I run my hands down my face. “You are the only one I—”
“Don’t.” She cuts me off. “Don’t say whatever you were just about to say, Cole.” She breathes a shaky breath. “I don’t want to be the person who has to sneak around with you behind closed doors. And all for what, a release? It’s not worth it. Everyone’s eyes are on you and Mara in public.”
I know she doesn’t mean it, but it doesn’t make the burn sting any less.
“I’m giving you an out.” She raises her hands in defeat, giving up, and it only angers me more. “Take it.”
“I don’t want a fucking out , Jenna. How much clearer do I have to be?” I inch closer, forcing her eyes to lock onto mine, her refusal to back down from this fight obvious. “I want—”
“I don’t need you to be clear, Cole. I need you to not ruin your career over a three-month summer fling, and resent me for it later. Because that’s all this is, right? So, let it be over. You’re way too talented to let this job slip through your fingers because you were too busy thinking with your dick.” She brushes past me, the warmth from her body radiating onto mine, coating my skin with goosebumps, and my breath lodges in my throat.
“You really think this is a summer fling, Snow?” I whisper in her ear as I grip her wrist, pulling her body closer to mine, but she takes a step to the side.
“It’s what I know.” She takes another step away.
I don’t respond. Not with words, anyway. I turn away from her and head to the door of her trailer, locking the door to give us some privacy. “Jenna,” I begin, but she cuts me off.
“What are you doing?” she whispers, her hands fidgeting with the hem of her dress, eagerly wanting to escape this uncomfortable situation.
“I don’t accept your fucking peace offering.” I close the gap between us, my mouth crashing down on hers, her lips parting instantly, and a subtle groan escapes the back of her throat.
Her hands trace every inch of my chest, back and arms, desperate to hold me, while my hands cup the side of her face, my thumbs softly grazing her cheeks.
“What are you doing?” she asks in when my mouth breaks apart from hers, only to claim them again.
“I'm talking what I want.” I don't stutter. She might not want clarity, but I'm going to give it to her if it's the last thing I do.
“Here?” she whimpers as she rips her mouth away from mine, accepting that this is happening, and I nod before claiming back everything she’d just taken away. Everything I’d missed over the last…fuck I don’t even know how long it’s been, but I do know she’s all I want.
She’s all I see.
She’s all I need.
But she isn’t willing to give me what I want, and until she is, I’ll take whatever she is ready to give me.
“Here.” I nod, repeating her word without the question, kissing her again, but gentler this time. Deeper, slower and filled with a raw, aching passion.
Stepping backward, I take her hand in mine, leading her with me. My calves make contact with the couch behind me, and my knees buckle as I collapse on the couch. I lift her legs over my waist one at a time until she’s straddling me. Her hips buck, her pussy grinding against my cock, which strains against my jeans, waiting to be freed.
Her hands find the button and the zip, undoing them both before she pulls my dick out, stroking it with her fingertips. A growl rumbles through my chest.
Hiking her dress up, it sits over my lap and above her knees, and my hands snake higher up her thighs to slip her panties to the side. “Are you wet for me, Snow?” I ask in a low voice, and she nods frantically, moaning when my finger slides past her lips, circling the place I know she’s aching for me to touch. “That’s my good girl,” I whisper in her ear, and her whole body shudders.
“I want you, Cole.” She shakes her head. “I need you,” she corrects, and I feel myself fighting the urge to ask her, beg her to tell me she needs me in more ways than this, but it isn’t the time.
It will probably never be the right fucking time.
Gripping me by the base, she hovers above me while directing my cock toward her entrance until she slowly slides down, gasping for air, and digging her nails into my shoulders.
“Fuck,” I hiss as she moans. Our movements are slow for her to adjust to my size, and I know she has when her speed increases. “You’re exactly what I need,” she moans, running her hands through my hair, her legs bent into a sitting position so I can drive myself deeper inside her until she stops her movements all together. “Fuck,” she shouts, both of us halting with me still inside of her.
“What’s wrong?” I pant, chest rising and falling in sync with hers.
“Condom. I was so desperate to feel you inside of me that we forgot about a condom,” she panics, her face flushed bright red with embarrassment, and I reassure her right away with a shake of my head.
“I’m clean. Are you on the pill?” She nods. “And you’re clean, too?” She nods again. “Then we have nothing to worry about. We don’t have to make a habit of it, but fuck, Snow, I can’t stop now that I know what it feels like to be inside you with nothing in between us, no barrier, just you and me.” I kiss her, and she deepens it, rocking her hips back and forth against me while I thrust into her, accepting that this is how it’s supposed to be.
We keep a steady pace, sweat beads forming on my forehead, my stomach and arm muscles tensing as I feel myself on the brink of release. Slamming herself down onto me one last time, she sends us both over the edge.
She attempts a scream, but I cover her mouth with mine, capturing it until both of our breathing relaxes, her forehead resting on mine.
“I know that was a quick one, but I promise you, I will make it up to you.” I pepper kisses along her jaw before she slowly guides her leg over my waist. “I didn’t realize how badly I missed you.” She pauses at my confession, her cheeks burning red and I back track. “Missed feeling you.” I clear my throat. “Missed being inside you.”
“Get on set, Mr. Big. You’re needed.” She plants a kiss on my lips that lingers before sending me on my way. I know that while there may be no hard feelings on her part, there are definitely feelings in whatever this is.
And that right there just proved I’m not alone in it.