Chapter 2
To his dismay, Blake is kept from interacting much with Paxton over the next couple of hours, though the moments they do share together are no less charged than the first. After filming intros, the crew makes an attempt to fade into the background as the cast is set loose on the property and left to their own devices.
The only instructions they’re given are to return to the beach area around eight, dressed for “a party.”
Blake’s suspicious.
Once freed from the producers’ clutches, everyone stands around a bit uncertainly, probably not wanting to be the first to cross any proverbial lines. Thankfully, Vincent steps up to the plate and gets things moving again — suggesting they all go and check out their sleeping accommodations.
Whatever Blake was expecting there, it isn’t anything remotely like what they find.
Despite the fact that everyone here has the potential to be attracted to anyone else, Blake still assumed they’d be separated when it came to actual bedrooms. Maybe they each wouldn’t be given their own rooms, per se, but probably roommates, or at least girls in one room, boys in the other.
Apparently, the show’s production team has forgone that idea completely, sticking them all in one big space, furnished with eight queen-sized beds.
Four on the left and four on the right, all facing a middle walkway.
The beds themselves are nice, with cushy mattresses and lots of pillows, but Blake’s slightly confused.
The premise of the show is one thing, and it’s pretty clear his cast-mates have very little reservation about hooking up on camera, but…
they’re supposed to do it here?! There’s no privacy at all.
Does the production team think they’re all totally cool with hooking up at the same time, in the same room?
Or is it going to be up to them to develop some elaborate sock-doorknob system and time-share schedule?
At the very least, the bathroom is separate. With a close-able water closet for the toilet, a giant freestanding bathtub, a wide and deep granite sink, and a shower that looks like it could fit half of them inside it at one time, it’s not unimpressive.
It’s just a lot of shared space.
“They really are hoping for orgies,” Blake muses out loud, letting his palm drift down the smooth, expensive marble that makes up the shower’s walls.
“Plenty of space to get washed up for them, anyway,” a deep voice responds from behind him. Caught off guard, Blake spins around to find Paxton leaning against the sink, his arms crossed over his open shirt and partially bare chest. Have mercy.
“You into that kinda stuff?” Blake asks casually, trying to look cool by mimicking Paxton’s pose and instead losing his footing and nearly falling head first into the water closet.
He recovers by grabbing hold of the pocket door, which rewards him by sliding out and being absolutely no help at all in regaining his balance.
Cheeks burning, Blake straightens up to the sound of Paxton laughing, but the look on his face has Blake smiling too.
What kind of soulless monster could ever regret making such a gorgeous man look like that?
“I am,” Pax says coyly, wandering closer and into Blake’s space once again with absolutely no reservation.
“Very much. However…” Here, he pauses, his fingers walking shamelessly from Blake’s belly button up the middle of his chest before reluctantly slipping away, back into Paxton’s fist. Blake shivers, feeling like his body is on fire standing so close to this man, but he resists making a move.
The last thing he wants to seem is desperate.
The green light is very clearly being flashed his way, though.
“Something about you,” Paxton muses, his eyes tracking from Blake’s chest up to his face when Pax tips his chin up just so, and now Blake feels like his body is disconnecting from his brain.
There’s more than pure attraction flowing between them.
Whatever it is, it’s powerful, strong, and — well, something is right.
“I think you could hold my attention all on your own. It’s been many years since I’ve met someone who—” Paxton cuts himself off abruptly and searches Blake’s eyes, making his breath come short and fast, which Blake fights to hide.
Kiss me, he thinks, but Paxton doesn’t, just scours him down to his soul with that piercing gaze.
“Think about it,” Paxton says, before pulling away and stepping backward towards the door to the bedroom.
“I’d love to find out.” He disappears into the chaos of the shared sleeping space, leaving Blake behind to fumble for his brain cells and to try and jam them back into his non-functioning head.
Paxton is fucking weird, that’s for sure, but it’s a weird Blake is drawn to like a damn magnet.
He wants him, wants more of him, in a way that feels terrifying in both its novelty and its strength.
It makes Blake want to run (swim?) screaming from this bizarre place, as much as it makes him want to follow Paxton blindly wherever he might go.
That’s crazy, he reminds himself. You just met the dude.
Blake shakes himself off and decides there’s a simple answer here. He badly needs to get laid. Sounds like Pax is up for that, anyway, and Blake is going to make it fucking happen. Tonight.
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After they’ve all settled in and claimed beds, everyone takes turns freshening up and changing from beach-wear into party clothes.
While the bathroom is full to capacity with dudes showering and girls straightening hair and putting on makeup, some of the cast slips away to explore the grounds.
That includes Blake, though he doesn’t seek out a buddy to explore with him.
Instead, he keeps to himself, mainly out there to finally grab a quick dip in the pool.
The mics are waterproof, so Blake leaves his on, as instructed. He plunges in without hesitation, diving smoothly under the glass-like surface with barely a splash to mark his presence.
The water is cool and refreshing compared to the air, and Blake makes no bones about relaxing down into it. After a few laps back and forth, he drapes himself over the side, arms soaking in warmth from the sun-heated pavers.
Early evening here is quiet and peaceful, the just-setting sun a perfect backdrop for Blake to take a moment and get out of his own head.
He exhales intentionally and tries to ignore the mishmash of confusing feelings this day has provoked inside of him.
The liquid around Blake’s body buoys him gently, finally relieving some of the stress and tension, as well as cooling his overheated skin.
While he’s floating there, Blake can’t help but notice something interesting.
Down on the beach, maybe thirty yards away from the pool, Vincent and Amber are splayed out side-by-side on lounge chairs.
Despite feeling like a creepy voyeur, Blake watches intently as they close the space between them and launch into a very enthusiastic make-out session.
Well, Blake thinks — as he also watches a cameraman capture the whole thing from the POV of Vin’s feet — at least if he and Pax get down and dirty later, they won’t be the first.
Back in the shared bedroom, there are clothes and accessories strewn everywhere as everyone scrambles to look their best for tonight.
In Blake’s opinion, that translates more closely to club-ready than upscale party, but he’s not complaining.
Not an upscale bone in his body, that’s for sure.
The girls especially come out looking hot as hell, and Pax does too.
He keeps the linen pants from earlier but trades out his collared shirt in favor of an obscene white tee that puts his nipples on full display.
Blake does his best not to drool, what with the way the cotton clings to his muscles and dampens with sweat spots almost the second Pax steps outside the heavy bedroom door.
The hell is wrong with him? Pax is just a dude. A hot — okay, really hot — dude, but that’s it.
Expectations low, Blake reminds himself.
Pax is here for the same reason as everybody else — to hook up and have fun, no strings attached.
Eyes on the prize. Break some headboards, shake some floorboards, go so hard everyone involved is walking funny the next day — that’s the name of the game. Don’t you fuckin’ forget it, Lawrence.
For his part, Blake keeps it simple where it comes to his look — second-skin jeans that show off his best assets combined with a black t-shirt.
Fresh gel in his hair after a quick shower, since the sea breeze, pool water, and sun seem to have melted his morning style away and left his skin tacky and gross.
Satisfied, Blake winks at the mirror before joining the rest of the group outside their room.
There’s a palpable tension in the air — equal parts unsure anxiety and sexually-charged anticipation for what’s to come — and that energy invades their casual conversations.
Even Ariana is distracted and giddy when Blake engages her as they wait to head to dinner, lingering next to the hot tub.
She continually looks past him, smiling dopily at that Dani chick and glaring at anyone who so much as dares to talk to her.
It’s pretty cute, Blake has to admit.
Leah chatting up Pax, on the other hand, her fingers flirtingly squeezing his bicep and then trailing down his forearm — not so cute, and Blake is surprised at the possessive irritation he feels bubble up in his stomach at the sight.
Even more so, he has to cope with the fact that his jealousy is over Pax, not the bendy, busty co-ed who would probably not be opposed to getting in between them (Blake’s guessing).