Chapter Twelve
Eden
“I don’t get it. Where’s the cabins?”
One of the contestants looked at me, her blue eyes wide. She seemed genuinely confused by the fact that we were all going to be camping out on the ranch tonight despite the fact that it had already been explained earlier. This particular contestant had even given us a little soundbite about how excited she was to ‘get in touch with nature’ and ‘show Troy her outdoorsy side’, which made her current line of questioning that much more confusing.
“We’re camping, Bonnie,” I said, praying for the strength to stay patient. “In tents. There are no cabins.”
She put her hands on her hips. “I don’t understand. Where the hell am I supposed to plug in my hair curler?”
“You seemed really excited about camping earlier,” I replied, deflecting her question.
She let out a huffing sound. “I thought it was just part of all the fake reality TV stuff, kinda like the fake food they put on our plates during the one-on-one dates sometimes. I didn’t think you guys would actually make us camp!”
“It’s just for one night so we can get some nice outdoor shots and film a campfire scene where you all toast marshmallows and have fun,” I said in a soothing tone. “And I’m sure if you let Troy help you get your tent up on camera, you’ll get even more screen time than usual. That’d be great, right?”
To her credit, Bonnie saw straight through that attempt at trying to calm her down, and she pouted and flounced away, still looking grumpy. I sighed and went back to checking on the other girls to make sure they were coping without their creature comforts for the time being, and I almost ran smack bang into Glenn five minutes later.
“Sorry, wasn’t looking where I was going,” I said breathlessly. I’d just finished erecting a tent for one of the girls who’d outright refused to do it, and I was in desperate need of a stiff drink and a foot rub.
“No worries. But we need to talk,” Glenn replied. “Have you made any progress in finding out who our little saboteur is yet?”
I shook my head. “We still think it might be Anya, so we’re keeping a very close eye on her, but we can’t prove anything yet.”
“She was around when that saddle strap was cut earlier, no?”
I nodded. “She was, but so were a few of the other contestants. It’s not solid proof, which we need, as you know.”
He narrowed his eyes. “I suppose so, but we still need to do something about it. This is the second time they’ve tried to seriously hurt someone. You need to figure out who it is sooner rather than later.”
I nodded, not knowing quite what to say. Sure, we needed to find out who it was and cut them from the show, but I didn’t see why Glenn kept acting like it was entirely my job to do so.
He must’ve gauged what I was thinking from the look on my face, because he sighed and ran a hand through his thinning hair. “Look, Eden, I know I’ve mostly put this on you, but there’s a reason for that. I think you’re the best junior producer I have here on the show, so I’m harder on you because I think you’ll go the furthest. I just need to know that you can handle anything. That’s why I’m pushing you so hard on this.”
“Oh. Thank you,” I said softly.
“You always get amazing soundbites, and you have a killer instinct for drama. But like I’ve said before, not all drama is the right kind of drama.”
I nodded. “I’ll try to sort it out.”
“Good.”
With that, he turned and headed to the other side of the little camping ground we’d erected and began shouting orders at an intern about setting up portable toilets somewhere nearby. I was flattered by what he’d said to me a few seconds ago, but in doing so, he’d put a lot of pressure on me. What if I couldn’t do it? What if I wasn’t as talented in this line of work as he thought I was?
As serious as the matter was, I could barely think about it for more than two minutes, because Troy came into my field of vision, and my mind quickly flooded with images of that moment a few hours ago at the stables, when he’d saved me from falling off the horse and pulled me close to him.
So close…
His scent had been exactly as I remembered it from all that time ago—the perfect blend of masculine musk and cologne with a faint whiff of mint from the peppermint gum he liked to chew. The way he’d looked at me had been the same too, like I was the only woman in the world.
I caught his eye from across a few tents, and a grin spread across his perfect lips. That movement of his lips was potent to me, and I felt something resonate within my core. His eyes were stormy with lust, and his hungry gaze made me want to tear all his clothes off along with mine and go totally freaking crazy for hours and hours. Suddenly it occurred to me that I was staring at him way too much considering the fact that we were surrounded by cameras, and I abruptly turned my head away.
I got back to work, and three hours later, filming for the day was almost wrapped—tonight was going to be a rare occasion where it would stop before midnight. The last rays of the sun had come and gone, and it was finally starting to set. The sky was a beautiful mixture of orange, purple and pink as it slowly dipped below the horizon, and I watched it for a moment before detecting some movement out of the corner of my eye.
Troy was heading towards me.
I kept a nonchalant expression on my face in case anyone was looking, but my cheeks turned hot as he approached. His gorgeous eyes coasted over my curves, taking in every inch of me the same way my eyes had taken in every inch of his incredible body, and he finally came to a stop about two feet away from me.
“Gonna be a nice night for the campfire,” he said just loudly enough for a camera crew member to hear as he passed us by, and I nodded, pretending to be more interested in the clipboard I was holding. I didn’t dare risk being too close to him again, not after the suspicious looks Candice had thrown us earlier when Troy rescued me from the horse.
“In case you need to speak to any of the production staff later on, our tents are all over there, Mr. Ballard,” I said in a casual, matter-of-fact voice as I nodded towards the area where my own tent was set up, several yards away from the little camping ground that had been set up for the contestants.
“Great, thanks for letting me know,” Troy replied, keeping his own voice just as casual. “I probably will need a certain member of the crew….say, around midnight?”
He added that last part so quietly that only I could hear, and I suppressed a grin and simply nodded. “I think certain crew members could definitely make that happen.”
With that, I stepped away, unable to hide the smile that had crept onto my face now.
I could hardly wait till midnight.
***
I lay awake in my sleeping bag inside my tiny tent for a full two hours after everyone else went into their tents to get some sleep for the long day tomorrow, and I checked the clock on my phone every few seconds, silently begging time to speed up so that midnight would arrive. The minutes seemed to crawl by, but finally I heard a rustling sound outside my tent, and I slid over to the entrance and slowly unzipped it, being careful to make as little sound as possible. The closest tent to mine was Candice’s, and it was several yards away, but still, I was worried—sound could carry pretty far out here in the wilderness.
Troy was crouched outside, clad in black jeans and a bulky black jacket with the hood pulled all the way over his head, and I barely stifled a laugh at his appearance. He grinned. “What? I needed to blend into the night so no one would see me,” he said. “Can I come in?”
I nodded and moved away from the entrance, and he crouched down further and crawled inside as I lit the tent with the flashlight app on my phone. The tent was barely big enough for the both of us, especially considering how large he was, but neither of us cared. This was the first opportunity we’d had to be alone together and have a conversation since yesterday, and I was desperate for it.
“Sorry I didn’t come back and talk to you yesterday like I said I would,” I said, keeping my voice low. “I got caught up with Blair.”
He nodded and moved around a little, trying to get into a comfortable sitting position. “I figured. So what did she say?”
I filled him in on everything that’d transpired during my long chat with Blair.
“So yeah, I know it’s a red flag for our friendship that she kept something like that from me for so long, but she was a kid back then, and I guess I get why she felt like she couldn’t tell me,” I said, once I’d finished telling him most of it.
Troy raised an eyebrow. “A red flag? It’s more like she took the red flag, doused it with petrol, took a shit on it, then set it on fire.”
I sighed. “Yeah, but like I said, I can sort of see why she felt the need to do what she did. It doesn’t make it okay, of course, but I can see her reasoning, as much as it upset me to find out about the whole thing.”
Troy sighed and looked down at the canvas floor for a second, then back up at me. “Yeah, you’re right. I was a little shit back in the day, and that reputation of mine didn’t come from nowhere,” he said. “But I swear, Eden, you were different. You changed me. I would’ve never hurt you.”
I nodded slowly. “I know that now. But…” My voice trailed off. I didn’t know how to ask what I needed to ask next, because Troy’s life for the last seven years wasn’t really any of my business.
“But what?”
“I just wonder….well, all the things I see about you in the media…”
I still couldn’t find the words I needed, but Troy nodded anyway. “I think I know what you’re trying to ask. The DUI, the partying, all the women. Something to do with those things? You’re wondering how much you really changed me, if this is how I turned out.”
I nodded. “Yeah.”
“I don’t blame you for wondering about that, and look, I won’t deny that I’ve seen my fair share of women over these last few years. More than my fair share. But if I’m being totally honest, it was mostly all an attempt to numb myself from the shitty feeling of losing you so long ago. I know that sounds like a terrible fucking cliché, but it’s the truth. I kept thinking I could screw my way to distraction, and being an NFL player doesn’t exactly make it hard for me to pick up women.”
I gave him a wry smile. “As if it was ever hard for you.”
We both let out an awkward laugh, and then Troy’s face turned serious again. “And as for the DUI…well, I won’t deny that either. It was my own fault. I was a fucking idiot, no excuses. After it happened, I knew I was on a dangerous path to becoming like my father, which you know I never, ever wanted.”
I nodded. “Yeah, I remember,” I said.
“When I got arrested, the first thing I thought of was how disappointed you would’ve been if you were there to see me like that. I was so ashamed. I vowed not to do something that stupid ever again, and I haven’t. I won’t.”
“Okay,” I said softly. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t trying to be judgmental, I just—”
Troy cut me off by lifting one hand. “Don’t apologize. Some things should be judged, and you being concerned about all that just proves to me that you still care about me and my wellbeing. You always cared. I know that now.”
I nodded. He was right. I had always cared, as much as I’d tried to deny that over the years. Troy had always been a part of my life, even when he was gone for so long, and now that he was here again, there was no hiding from my true feelings—I still felt the same about him now as I had back then.
“Shit, Eden, losing you was the fucking worst,” Troy said, moving his hand close to my leg but not actually touching me. “I honestly thought you were gone forever. But then I saw your name on the credits for this show, like I told you the other week.”
“So you really came on it just to see me?”
“Yep. That boss of yours thinks he managed to score me all by himself, but believe me, there’s no way I would’ve agreed to all this if you hadn’t been here.”
I felt a tell-tale blush creeping over my cheeks, and I glanced down at my lap, embarrassed by how good it felt to hear Troy say those words. How many women were so lucky that they had a gorgeous, successful NFL player compete on a reality TV show just for a chance to see them?
“How’d you get into working in TV, anyway?” Troy asked, apparently sensing my awkwardness. He’d always been good at doing that.
I explained what I’d studied in college and how I’d scored my junior producer job, and the conversation soon turned to absolutely everything else the two of us had been up to over the last few years. It was almost as if nothing had changed between us at all; it was just so easy to talk to him, and I could tell he felt the same about me. Seven years may have passed since we were last able to hang out like this, but it honestly felt like I’d only been with him just yesterday.
“So what happens now?” Troy finally asked, gazing intently at me. “I know I can’t leave the show without breaking my contract, but you’re the only reason I came, Eden. If you’ll still have me, I’ll break the damn contract and pay whatever I need to.”
I chewed on my lower lip as I contemplated his words. “Don’t break your contract,” I finally replied. “If we lose our leading man this far into filming, then it will really screw things up.”
“How so?”
“Almost everyone will be benched and out of a paycheck for a couple of weeks until they find a new Stud—and that’s if they even find a new one at such short notice. If they do, the season will be rushed and stressful for everyone while the first few weeks get re-shot, and if they don’t find one in time for the show to start actually airing on TV, then it could all be canceled, and everyone would lose their jobs until next season. And I don’t even need to mention the strife I’d be in for stealing the Stud all for myself.”
He nodded and slapped a hand against his forehead. “Shit, yeah, of course. I just don’t want to do the whole proposal thing at the end of the show, when it’s not like I want to be with any of these women, let alone claim to want to marry them.”
“I know, but you know it’s all faked for ratings anyway, right? The couple from last season who got married only did it because a magazine offered them half a million dollars for a big interview and exclusive access to their wedding. They actually can’t stand each other, and they’re planning on having the marriage annulled in six months.”
“Jesus. I knew it was all fake, but not that fake,” he replied.
“Yeah, it’s pretty sad,” I replied quietly. I quickly thought back to the days when I’d believed in true romance—I honestly used to be one of those girls who believed shows like The Stud were real. Nowadays I was different. I’d become sad and jaded, just like the showrunners of The Stud, and I’d lost that belief in love, but it was slowly creeping back thanks to Troy’s re-entry into my life.
“Speaking of sad, I know most of the contestants just want to promote themselves for whatever reason, but I still feel bad, like I’m leading them all on when all I want is you,” he said.
I nodded. “I know you feel bad, but honestly, Troy, in the whole history of the show, you might be one of the only people who’s ever come on it looking for…um…a relationship. Even if that relationship isn’t with a contestant. So don’t feel too bad. All they expect is for you and one of the women to pretend to like each other for the cameras for a few weeks, really.”
“I want a bit more than a relationship with you, Eden,” he replied, lowering his voice to a murmur as his hand crept closer to my right thigh.
I felt giddy with excitement at those thrilling words, but I tried to keep calm. I had to do the right thing, and getting embroiled in a secret, scandalous love affair with the Stud on the show I worked for would not be a good idea for either one of us.
“I think the best we can do right now is wait it out until the season is over,” I said, pulling away from his hand. “And hell, we waited seven years to be in this place again…I’m sure we can wait a couple more months, right?”
Troy hesitated for a moment, and then he grinned. “That’s true. I don’t want you getting in any trouble with your boss, so I’ll try to keep my hands to myself and play the part of the Stud until filming is wrapped. And then I’m taking you out on a proper date.”
I smiled. “God, I can hardly wait,” I replied.
“It’s gonna suck not being able to be touch you until then.”
“We’ll manage,” I replied.
“Yeah, we will.”
Our mutual resolve lasted exactly five seconds from the moment Troy uttered those last words. He leaned closer, I leaned closer too, and then he was all over me; his hands, his lips, his tongue. I returned his embrace with equal fiery passion. For a moment, I was lost in our kiss, my mind unable to comprehend the sheer joy it was to have his lips on mine again.
Time slipped away, and the kiss went on and on. Heat and fire flooded my belly, and my entire body was awash with sensation. My craving for him was like a fever, and I thrust my body closer, feeling his thick hardness pressed up against my belly as his hands fisted through my hair. We knew someone could wake up and possibly stick their head in my tent to catch us, but in this moment, neither of us cared. We wanted each other too much, and we were going to have each other.
Right now.
Troy broke away for a second to slightly adjust our position in the cramped tent so we could be a bit more comfortable, and I had the good sense to quickly turn my phone light off so that no one would be treated to a pornographic shadow show if they happened to wake up and glance at my tent. Then Troy pulled me in for another tight embrace, and he slanted his lips over mine. The slow burn in my body soon flared into an inferno, and he pressed his lips against me, hard. I met his tongue with mine in a bold stroke, and a loud groan rumbled from his hard chest. He pushed me down to my sleeping bag, deepening the kiss, and I clung to his broad shoulders. His taste was intoxicating, and my insides were a ticking time bomb of arousal.
He moved his mouth to my neck and swept his lips over my delicate skin, and I moaned, my nipples growing stiff under my pajama shirt. I ached for release, and flames of desire licked at me, adding to the intense urgency I felt in my core. My panties were damp from how slick I was, and I slid my hands around his waist and raked my nails across his back as he tore at my pajamas. The heat from his body engulfed me, and I felt the same giddiness I had on the first night I’d slept with him, back when we were still high-schoolers. Taking deep breaths, I sighed as oxygen pounded its way into my lungs.
Even so, I was still breathless.
My mind ceased to think of anything but Troy, and pure instinct drove me as I let him settle his weight over me, grinding himself against me in slow motions. I ran my hands down to his waist again, then slid to grasp his hard cock. I fumbled with his belt a moment later, and he pulled back and quickly stripped everything off. With the light off, it was dim in the tent, but my eyes had adjusted enough to be able to see him, and I drew in a sharp breath, my eyes widening as they encountered the utter splendor that was a naked Troy Ballard. The cut of his hips was perfect; hard lines of definition that pulled my eyes down to his cock, big and proud.
I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move. I just stared.
“I guess it’s been a while since you last saw me like this,” he said, correctly interpreting my wide-eyed expression.
“Um, yeah…”
“Don’t be nervous, Eden,” he murmured, leaning down and planting another kiss on my face.
I raised a hand to touch him, stroking his hard shaft. Grasping him tight in my hand, I pumped my fist up and down, and once I had reached the tip, I wet my thumb with the pre-cum from his slit and rubbed it around the head. I leaned forward, wanting to take him in my mouth, but he grabbed my head and twined his hands in my hair, making me look up at him. He shook his head and moved down the bed, pressing his hands to my thighs, and then he pushed my legs wide open.
“You first,” he murmured.
I slid my fingers into his thick hair, gripping him tightly between my legs. He reached his hands up and cupped at my breasts before moving to my nipples and pinching them roughly, and the ache between my thighs grew ever stronger at his touch. I wanted and needed him to fill me with his cock. Now. If I didn’t have him inside me soon I honestly thought I might explode.
He slid his lips down and gently nibbled on my inner thigh, and the bite shot electric jolts from my clit all the way up to my nipples. His hands continued playing with my breasts as his mouth moved closer and closer to my clit, and the sweet torture only intensified my desperation.
“Please, Troy…fuck me!” I moaned.
His breath caressed the lips of my sex, and I spread my legs even wider, displaying it for him. Every inch of me burned with need, and right when I thought I couldn’t survive another second without his touch, he gently lapped at my swollen clit, so softly that I moaned at the sweet torment.
He chuckled from between my legs, and the vibration from his mouth made my thighs tremble as he pulled them onto his shoulders. Splaying his tongue flat, he swiped it up and down my folds, and there was no stopping my moans and whimpers. He rolled his tongue over my clit and then down to my tight, slick entrance, and then he slid one finger inside me, massaging the sweet spot inside me as he lapped at my clit.
My climax crashed over me without warning, and wild waves of pleasure crashed over me, making me scream with pleasure. More and more explosions rocked me, and my legs shook on his shoulders. When my muscles had finally stopped convulsing, I sat up on the sleeping bag and met his gaze. His eyes were burning with passion, and I pushed him onto his back, straddling him as I leaned in for a kiss that made my breath catch in my throat. He held my lips captive, driving his tongue into my mouth with a wild aggression that sent my mind into another tailspin of wanton need, and all rational thought went out the window.
He tore his lips away from mine a moment later to pepper my face with kisses, all the way down to my neck. The heat of his mouth encased my stiff nipples a moment later, and he sucked on them, grazing them with his teeth and making me cry out.
“Do you have any condoms?” he asked, his deep voice husky with need.
I nodded. “In that backpack behind you. Front pocket. Hurry!” I replied, my own voice filled with urgency.
I heard him rummaging through my bag, and the sound of foil tearing filled my ears a moment later. He rolled the protection over himself, and then he leaned down over me again. He ran his lips slowly down my neck, nuzzling the skin, pushing aside my hair with his nose. His mouth opened, and I shivered, the scrape of teeth against my shoulder, then the hot, wet flick of his tongue. “You want me to hurry?” he said, his tone teasing me as much as his tongue.
“Yes,” I replied, my voice breathless. “I need more.”
He growled, the sound low in his throat, and I felt the twitch of his thumb against the outside of my left thigh. He shifted, keeping one hand flat, and lifted the other, sliding it gently up my leg, his fingers spreading across the skin, his head dropping to watch its movement. My heart skipped a beat when his fingers hit the most ticklish, sensitive part of my upper thigh, and I could feel every single finger and its movement, the anticipation heightening the arousal, my breath hitching as he whispered my name, his kiss suddenly soft as it landed on my collarbone, then the hollow of my neck, then my chin.
I tried to stay still, tried to contain the sound in my throat, but I finally let out a whimper, unable to hold it back. He was teasing me too much. The last time I’d felt like this had been exactly seven years ago….the last time I’d been with him. I was filled with it; the hot, pulsing need, the urge to grind myself against him, my body trembling, my mind racing, every thought reduced to the primal instinct of wanting more. Wanting him.
“Please, Troy,” I whimpered. “More.”
He pulled his hand away, and with a single thrust of his hips, he was finally pushing inside me. In an instant, it was the sweetest, hottest pleasure I’d ever known, and I bit my lip to stop the loud moans from spilling out. I’d never felt like this with another man, and I’d missed this so much. Too much. I cried out Troy’s name over and over, writhing underneath him, everything in me sharply focusing on that perfect sensation of being totally and utterly filled.
It was strange how so many parts of our body could be touching in this second, from our fingertips to our toes, the length of him above me, his weight supported by his hands, and his lips on my collarbone, and yet the only thing I felt, right then, was his cock inside me.
“Harder, Troy,” I begged. “Please.”
He let out a growl, his hips shifting, each and every pump of his hips sending me to a new level of delirium. My toes dug into the sleeping bag, my knees pointed at the roof of the tent, and I lost my mind completely as another climax hit me. Every conscious thought, every concern, every question—gone, just like that, as pure pleasure filled my head.
“Fuck….I’m gonna cum,” he groaned, slamming inside me again.
“Do it,” I gasped out in response.
I watched his eyes close as he let out another groan, and my fingers gripped the sleeping bag beneath me as he plunged inside me one last time before pausing and pulsing inside me.
“God,” I murmured a moment later when he’d finally rolled off. “I’m so glad we didn’t wake anyone up with that.”
Troy propped his weight up on one elbow and grinned down at me. “Yeah. We’d both have a bit of explaining to do.”
I sat up and stretched my tired muscles. “So…obviously we just needed to get that out of our systems, and now we can get on with the show. Nothing needs to happen again until the season is over,” I said.
He nodded. “Yep. That was just a little slip-up. We can control ourselves for another few weeks. I wouldn’t want you losing your job.”
“And I wouldn’t want you getting any more bad press, which you’d definitely get if word got out that you were sleeping with a junior producer on this show, seeing as you’re meant to be dating the contestants.”
“Exactly. So we can keep our hands off each other for a while, and it’ll be fine.”
Once again, I knew we were both totally full of crap as we tried to convince each other that we could resist hooking up again until filming had wrapped. There was no stopping this. There was no more resisting, no more pulling away and hiding from our true feelings.
I was really his again. And the best part about that?
He was mine.