Chapter 11
There wasa knock on Aires’s trailer door as someone on the stage crew shouted, “You’re needed on set in twenty minutes!”
“Okay!” I yelled back for him, slapping my hand over my mouth immediately after. “Shit,” I murmured, leaning against the wall by his bed.
Aires chuckled. “Now that’s how you get rumors started.”
“You think they’ll tell?”
He shrugged. “Money always talks louder than words.”
“Great…”
“What are you so worried about?”
“Ha ha,” I remarked. “Easy for you to say.”
He sat up on the bed. “Are you worried I’m going to taint your perfect reputation?”
“Taint?” I mocked. “Isn’t that the same thing as chode?”
He bursted out laughing.
“Those are funny words.”
“Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing?” he challenged. “You’re trying to distract me from answering my question.”
“Not entirely for the reasons you think.”
“Enlighten me, then.”
“How would you like me to do that without hurting your feelings?”
He threw a pillow at me, but I caught it.
“I’m serious. You know how much I hate confrontation. This conversation alone is already making me feel like I’m going to break out in hives.”
He smiled. “I don’t know whether to be offended that you don’t want to be linked to me or flattered that you don’t want to hurt my feelings. It’s a hard toss-up.”
“Come on, don’t be like that.”
He jumped off the bed. “It’s whatever.”
I grabbed his wrist, halting his footsteps. “Are you mad?”
He shook his head with a serious expression.
“Are you lying?”
“We have the live press announcement for the movie. We should go before we’re late. I wouldn’t want to ruin more of your image.”
“Aires…”
He pulled his arm away and left. I stood there for a second, caught off guard that everything blew up so quickly. I wasn’t expecting that to happen. After I changed into the dress my stylist picked out, I met them on set where the press had set up to ask us questions after officially announcing we were filming a movie together.
Aires sat in the chair with his name on the back of it while I sat beside him in mine. We were on the island with the gorgeous view behind us as the reporters sat in front of us.
The temperature wasn’t too bad that morning, or I’d be freezing. We were a week into production, and B. Night wanted to start the hype as we filmed to give the media a behind-the-scenes look at making this movie with us. Along with content to post on our separate social media accounts.
“You look pretty,” Aires rasped under his breath, making me smile.
“Thank you.”
It was obvious he was hurt, and I hated that I was the one who inflicted it.
Once we were ready to go, the first reporter asked, “Aires, how does it feel to be in a movie with America’s Sweetheart?”
If that question didn’t add insult to injury, I didn’t know what would. The press didn’t mind their own business on a normal day, let alone on an occasion like today when all eyes were on us. Question after question was about to be thrown in our faces. The more personal it was, the more people would want to tune in to hear what we had to say.
Our PR teams had already planted rumors about us possibly starring in a movie together. This was literally going to break the internet if the response we’d received thus far was any indication of how this was going to turn out. These interviews could be frustrating, to say the least. Strangers invaded your privacy as if they had the right to know all your deepest, darkest secrets.
Lights.
Camera.
Action.
With no end in sight.
“I’m honored to be working with the one and only Bailey Pierce-McGraw.” Aires winked at me, making the journalists lose their minds. “I’ve been in awe of her acting abilities since we were kids,” he added, continuing to focus on me.
“That’s right!” another interviewer exclaimed. “You guys have known each other most of your lives. Your relationship started when you were young in The Kids Club, right?”
Aires nodded.
“What can you tell us about that experience, Bailey?”
“It was actually really surreal to experience that degree of fame so quickly and at such a young age, but it was great to have someone by your side to go through it with.”
“Are you saying you developed an off-screen friendship during filming?”
“Yes,” I stated. “We were the only two on set who were the same age, and since this was the first time we were behind the camera, we bonded over that.”
“That’s beautiful,” another journalist commented. “Is it true that your first kiss on set was your first kiss in real life?”
I nervously chuckled. “Yeah, it was.”
Aires softly smiled, reminiscing right in front of my eyes. “It will always go down as one of my favorite memories.”
“Aires…” I breathed out, loud enough for him to hear me.
“Her lips were so soft, and she tasted like a chocolate donut and cherry Coke.”
I smiled, amazed he still remembered that.
“I gravitated toward Bailey without even realizing it. I have always been completely captivated by the beauty of this woman.”
Our eyes connected as if we were the only two people in the room when the space was filled with reporters. There was something about the way Aires was staring at me.
With so much appreciation.
Value.
Love.
Our friendship was something neither one of us could understand or refuse. It was something neither one of us could control.
The electricity…
The connection…
The intensity…
It was constantly wavering and waiting for either of us to make the first move. All we had to do was look at each other, and sparks flew.
This was no different.
It was everything.
It was us.
With the way he was gazing at me, there was no way I’d escape him. Somewhere along the way, my boy turned into a man, and I couldn’t resist his charm and charisma. I loved that about him. The way he could command a room, a set, an interview…
Aires was never afraid to be himself, and, in turn, that made him more confident in everything he did. At times, he was arrogant, but when you had the world at your fingertips, you would be too.
I listened intently to the way he responded to each and every question. To an outsider looking in, he seemed nothing but professional, but to me, he was purposely flirting with me in front of them. Probably to prove the point that he could do whatever he wanted, whether I wanted him to or not.
“Aires, what’s it feel like to spend the night in jail?” a rude reporter spewed.
I opened my mouth to respond for him, but Aires beat me to it in replying, “It was humbling, and I’ve learned from my mistakes. I’m so thankful to be starring in a movie with B. Night as the director, and I don’t think it can get any better than that. Adding Bailey into the mix was just icing on the cake.”
“A lot of people don’t think you deserve a second chance. What do you say to them?”
This asshole.
As always, Aires was the epitome of cool, calm, and collected while I wanted to tackle the reporter like we were out in the wild. The nerve of that man.
“I say mistakes are what make us human, and I’m still evolving into the best version of myself that I can be.”
His team must have prepped him for these questions which I couldn’t be more relieved for. For the next hour, all I kept thinking about was getting the hell out of here.
“How does it feel to be known as such a bad boy, Aires?”
“Aires,” another journalist called out. “Do you think you’ll ever settle down?”
The same columnist from before questioned, “Do you ever see yourself getting married someday? Starting a family? A son who could possibly carry on your legacy?”
I could tell Aires resisted the urge to tell him to go fuck himself.
“Have any of the models you’ve dated over the years caught your attention enough to possibly become a girlfriend?” another reporter asked, bringing my attention over to her.
Aires grinned in a mischievous way. “I don’t have time for any distractions that include anything more than no strings attached.”
“So there’s no special woman out there who you’re hiding from the world?”
Aires arched an eyebrow, playing every bit the part he’d perfected over the years. “Not just one.”
Everyone laughed, and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.
“Bailey, how about you? Any special someone?”
I lied with a smile. “None that I can think of.”
“I’m sure your father must love that, given his reputation before his wife came into the picture.”
“My father was a saint.” I smirked.
“Any news if he’ll be releasing a new album anytime soon?”
“I don’t speak for my father.”
“Are you still close with your family?”
I nodded. “Very.”
“Can you tell us about that and how they feel about your successful career?”
It went on and on until it was finally over. On our way back to our trailers, Aires playfully bumped into my shoulder.
“That was brutal,” I admitted, bumping his shoulder back.
“Eh, I’ve had worse.”
“How do you stay so calm when they’re blatantly being snarky with you?”
“They can’t say anything worse than what my family has already said to me.”
I grimaced. “Well, I wanted to tackle them to the ground for you.”
“Do you want to take your frustration out on me instead? I don’t mind.”
“You’re such a gentleman.”
“I do what I can.” He tugged on the piece of hair in front of my eye. “Meet me in my trailer in five so you can use and abuse me?”
“As long as I’m on set in an hour.”
“It’s cutting it close.”
“Is that right?”
There was no hesitation in his tone as he spoke with conviction. “You and I both know you can’t ever get enough of me.”
And the truth was…
He was right.