Chapter 5
Olivia
Past
I was out of breath and sweaty from running when I shoved open the gymnasium doors. I slipped through the screaming fans and made my way to the bleachers to get a view of the floor.
I hope I'm not too late.
I sat down just in time to see Bastien get flipped onto his back. I cringed at the painful-sounding thud. His opponent was so much bigger than Bastien, how was that allowed? Or even possible? Maybe that was how it was done? I didn't know the first thing about wrestling. It still seemed super unfair to him.
What am I doing here exactly? I don't even like sports.
Bastien glanced up and saw me. My heart raced at being picked out of the crowd. That's why I'm here...
Bastien slid out from beneath the larger boy, and with lightning quickness latched onto his opponent's neck. Everyone in the audience gasped at the unlikely turn of events. The large boy thrashed making it look like Bastien was riding one of those mechanical bulls.
They eventually collapsed onto the mat. Bastien rolled off the large boy and was declared the winner. It must have been an important match, because when Bastien's arm was raised by the ref, the crowd went crazy.
I thought about joining the rush of people on the floor congratulating him, but decided against it. I didn't mind crowds when I performed before them in plays, but I couldn't stand them otherwise.
I texted him instead. “Good job beating that guy up lol.”
When he found out that I went to his sporting events he started calling me his good luck charm. He told me that if he lost and I wasn't there, that it would be my fault. I'd asked him what I'd get out of that deal. Without skipping a beat, he said that I'd get to see him in his spandex onesie.
Bastien was the most flirtatious guy I’d ever met. Usually I didn’t go for that sort of thing, but with him I couldn’t help myself.
I remember scoffing at him when he said that, but looking at him now, he was right. He looked ridiculously good in his red skintight singlet. It had a big, U-shaped opening at the shoulders, which exposed his toned arms and most of his chest. The fabric was so snug that it showed off his every muscular curve and ridge.
My neck flared with heat as I let my eyes roam down his abs to the bulge in his crotch.
Stacy and her clique of popular girls stole glances at him, too, when Bastien's attention was pulled in another direction. They swarmed like brightly colored vultures, swooping in to take selfies with him.
I seethed with anger at the sight of them.
I didn't know why it bothered me so much. Bastien and I weren't dating. He also wasn't dating any of them, but that was because Bastien didn't date anyone. That didn't stop him from screwing his way through that whole group and who knows how many other girls.
Bastien was an experience. He was hands down the most popular guy in school, and you had to marvel at how confident he was. When Bastien set his sights on a girl...I swallowed hard.
Why was I jealous? We were just friends.
It was still tough seeing him surrounded all the time by pretty girls. He had this, I'm-here-so-impress-me attitude that drove all the other girls crazy. He didn't ignore me at school or anything, he was just always surrounded by so many people that I never felt like approaching him.
I didn't want the looks I'd get from the other girls, the ones that told me I didn't belong there.
But I had something they didn’t. We walked to school together every morning. That was enough for me. I'd never tell him, but they were the best part of my day. We talked about music and movies and our families.
Being around him made me feel accepted on a level I didn’t get anywhere else.
I watched the girls giggle and bounce near him. Bastien didn't look for Stacy or the other girls when he wrestled, he looked for me. I was his good luck charm, not them.
The thought swelled me with pride. At least I had that.
My phone buzzed, “UR late. Almost missed it.”
I searched the mob on the mats and found him again. He was looking up at me; his mischievously smiling face had a slight blue glow from the text he just sent me. He didn't look at any of the other girls like that.
“I was busy,” I lied. “My world doesn't revolve around you.”
“Yes, it does,” he replied immediately.
My reply cursor blinked, as if it was Bastien himself, daring me to say otherwise. I typed half a dozen replies, all of which I erased before sending.
What a cocky prick!
Still, I couldn't wipe the grin from the corner of my mouth. How did he do that to me?
I looked up just in time to see him wink at me, before he turned away and headed into the locker room.
Present.
Smooth, Olivia, I scolded myself after escaping out into the hallway and leaning against the wall.
A full body work out.
My heart was doing a drum solo in my chest, there was no way in hell I'd be getting back to sleep after that interaction.
I walked down the hall back to my room and grabbed my robe.
I needed a shower to clear my head. A very, very cold shower.
What the hell was I thinking? I knew what was happening, it wasn't like a robber would break in here and use my damn gym. I knew he was working out. I should've just ignored him like I did every other night. All my walls were sound deadening, so it wasn't like he was being too loud.
I thought about why I went into the gym. I needed to try to get along with Bastien, being that I was stuck with him until all the threats stopped. It wasn’t like I could afford any other kind of protection now that my bank accounts were frozen. I didn’t like Bastien, but the thought that someone somewhere wanted to hurt me…
That terrified me.
The lights turned on when I walked into my bathroom. I wish they hadn't, I could mess with the features, but I hadn't gotten around to it. It took me a month to figure out how to heat the tiles on my floor to the right temperature.
I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. My hair was poofy and parted stupidly, there were bags under my eyes and my PJs might as well have been picked out by a third grader.
And I walked in on him looking like this? Ugh...
I'm a movie star! It's my job to look good and to be confident. And then Bastien comes around and I turn into that shy, silly teenager again.
Bastien, of course, looked incredible! He was the epitome of rugged, manly and handsome with his five o'clock shadow and his rippling muscles and tattoos. It was too dark to make out the individual designs, but his arms and chest were covered in them. They made him look so dangerous in so many ways.
And those boxers... Jesus! He looked great when we were younger, but this wasn't even fair! He looked like a Men's fitness magazine, not just the cover, but the whole damn thing!
Think about something other than your bodyguard!
I stepped into my shower and pressed the button to turn it on, closing the glass door behind me. It was only when I got in that I remembered the glass wall still wasn't working right. It functioned as a wall and door just fine, but it was supposed to turn opaque when the water was turned on. Instead, it turned on and off randomly.
I'd been meaning to have maintenance come up and take care of that for a while now, but kept forgetting because it was usually such a non-issue. I had several bathrooms and rarely ever had anyone over.
Now, being broke, I didn’t even have the option to fix it.
But that was the least of my worries with Bastien around tempting me like the devil. I just needed to stay strong and remember the consequences.
Because of my widely publicized, yet brief and turbulent relationship with Samantha, my father refused to help me find work. He nearly publically disowned me when a late-night talk show host blindsided him with questions about it.
Weirdly, the last day or so I started getting more invitations to interesting and rewarding projects. Come to find out it was because of my relationship with Samantha that people were starting to see me in a different light. Despite being cast in the blockbuster trilogy The Burning Game, I loved the deeper, more artistic scripts I’d been offered recently.
One in particular made me extremely excited. It was the film Velvet Intentions, with an actor and director combo I utterly adored, but hadn’t had the chance to work with yet. The thought of having to turn that down just because my father was holding me financially hostage disgusted me.
I didn’t want to do frivolous roles anymore, and this was my chance to work on a project that really mattered. More than that, I was tired of living under Dad’s heel. I needed my own life and career, I didn’t want him making my decisions for me.
It wasn’t a done deal. I was only being considered, but I wouldn’t turn down the opportunity for an audition even if I had to scrape by to do it.
My agent, Kelsey, told me just how much my marketability was directly tied to how I presented myself in my private life. That’s why she recommended that I be seen at model and sex-symbol Persephone’s party tomorrow night.
Normally, given the current circumstances, I’d have skipped this one, but considering how fleeting public opinion was in this industry, I couldn’t let this opportunity pass me by. Kelsey told me to get a few flirty pictures of me with Persephone for social media. She encouraged me to find more romantic relationships like Samantha.
“It doesn’t matter who you are deep down,” Kelsey told me when I admitted that I was just experimenting with Samantha and hadn’t completely switched sides. “Producers like to put actors into certain boxes when they’re selling movies to specific audiences. If you still want to be cast in Velvet Intentions you’d better stay gay.”
She also specifically warned against getting involved with people like Bastien. Drugs, fighting, a criminal record longer than my arm and now basically a hired thug; the hyper-masculine Bastien was literally the one person that could sink my whole career.
I was having trouble finding straight leading roles since Samantha and if rumors got out that I was sleeping with a guy like Bastien now, I might alienate myself from both audiences.
Samantha was fun and energetic and adventurous, but she couldn’t give me the connection I needed. As always, when hot water jets from the shower streamed down my inner thigh, my mind turned back to Bastien. Tingles bubbled up my stomach.
He was the first person I’d ever fallen in love with.
I worked the detachable showerhead down my stomach. I pushed my palm into my breast, then rubbed over my perky nipples. Have they been this hard since I saw him in the gym? I disregarded the thought, pinching them lightly.
We'd gotten so close at the end. If only he hadn't disappeared. I thought he was actually going to ask me out. My mind flickered to the new image of him just moments ago, snapping at his underwear. His long cock perfectly outlined. I didn't know if it was just my imagination, but it seemed like it was getting longer and harder before I fled into the hallway.
My hands, that I imagined were his, brushed between my legs to where the heat was flushing. I pulled in long drags of air and worked my fingers over my clit, dreaming up scenarios where touching him was actually alright. What if he didn't abandon me and we became lovers instead of just friends?
I've had a thousand different fantasies of him over the years, and that was before I saw him all jacked and tattooed up. He made the Bastien of my memories feel like just a handsome little boy by comparison.
I slid two fingers into my slick opening with a rougher touch than usual, because his hands were much bigger than mine. My stomach crunched forward just a bit. Pretending that they were Bastien's fingers was really doing it for me.
My mind lingered on the scent of masculinity from his workout. The fresh sweat, the glossiness of his slick skin from the diffused city lights, all of it gave me a heady rush. I pushed my palm into my clit and was teetering on the edge of climax. One hand pushed hard circles into my pussy, the other squeezed my breast tightly, almost to the point of pain.
“Olivia...” The back of my imagination conjured Bastien's voice like it had so many other times. This time it was deeper and even manlier sounding to go with the older image of him in my head. I moaned in response, wishing for the real thing, wishing for him. I closed my eyes and saw his strong features staring back at me.
“Olivia?” The voice came again, but it was far too loud, far too real. And it had a hint of a smile in it somehow.
My eyes snapped open wide enough that it was a wonder they didn't roll out of my head. Despite the steamy heat, my shock made the shower feel like it rained chipped ice down on me.
You have got to be kidding me!
Bastien stood by my freestanding crescent bathtub clear as day. He was stripped of everything, but a long white towel that carelessly hung over his shoulder, barely obscuring his... Oh my God. His cock was so huge!
“Fuck! Bastien?” I clutched my naked body and turned my back to him. I immediately thought of my piece-of-shit shower wall that wasn't opaque.
“Didn't mean to interrupt,” he said so smoothly that if his words were physical things they'd have been made of silk. Any normal person would be embarrassed, or at least apologetic for just walking in on someone, but not Bastien. The world was here for him, what did he have to be bothered by? “Don't stop on my account.”
I slapped my head into the tile wall, fucking mortified. I wasn't nearly as timid as I was in high school, but I still wanted to die of embarrassment. “There's five bathrooms in this condo!”
“And you usually use the one in your bedroom,” came his easy reply. “I figured it was free. Or that you wanted me to come in.”
Oh, my God! He was right; I haven't used this bathroom since he's been here. It wasn't even on my bedroom's floor! I wasn't thinking straight earlier, I had just woken up and... Was I hoping this would happen?
“It's my house!” I was in full defense mode; it was the only thing that kept me from crying. “I get to use whatever bathroom I want!”
Right when I thought it couldn't possibly get any worse, Romeo yelped and trotted in to see what the commotion was all about.
Of course.
“C'mon, pup,” Bastien said to Romeo, patting him on the side. “We should go before I do something really stupid. Like fuck my client.”
Woah, hearing the words out loud shot firecrackers through my skin!
I shivered at the thought of him turning back toward me and pushing my wet, naked body up against the wall and fucking me like I knew we both wanted.
I desperately tried not to glance back at him as he left, but my eyes betrayed me. He looked just as good from behind, with his broad, colorfully tattooed back and his tight, meaty ass. My body ached for his touch. I wish I had the nerve to tell him to stay.
I snapped my eyes back to the wall when I saw him look me over one last time before leaving.
“You look damn good, Olive,” he said. “You leave too many doors open and I might not be able to control myself.” Bastien closed the door behind him.
The glass shower wall kicked on and turned opaque.
Later that morning.
Wearing the thickest, most unflattering sweater I could find, I slid a written document across my kitchen island to where Bastien was sitting drinking his coffee. It was a titanic effort to leave my room this morning at all. The old me wanted to waste away and never come out, the new me... also wanted to waste away and never come out.
But somehow, here I was.
He eyed me with a mix of amusement and what I kind of hoped was attraction, despite myself and everything that happened. I still couldn't believe he saw me like that!
“House rules,” he read, a slow smile creeping along his face. He cleared his throat and corrected himself. “Fifty-seven house rules.” He flipped through both pages. “Seriously?”
I put on my sternest face. “Seriously. You are my employee and if you're going to be staying in my house, there are rules.” I had to deal with so many contracts over the course of my career that he was lucky I was able to pair it down to just fifty-seven.
Bastien snorted, “Sure thing, Ma’am.” He scanned the papers. “'Both upper and lower garments must be worn at all times... Fabric must not be further from the wrist or ankle by more than three inches...” Bastien tossed the papers onto the island dismissively. “This is a bit much, isn't it?”
Now that I heard some of it out loud, maybe I did go a little overboard on the list. Getting back to sleep was laughable, so I needed something to keep my brain occupied. Or else I was going to lose my mind over what happened.
“Why don't we just talk about what happened?” Bastien walked over to my side of the island and leaned on the counter top, inches from me. I could feel the heat wafting off his body, tempting me.
“I only saw those perfect tits of yours, Olivia,” He leaned closer, his breath a hot whisper on my neck. “It's not like I buried my face between your legs and made you come until your eyes crossed.”
A heady rush threatened to unravel me at the seams. God damn him for putting that image in my mind! I could almost feel his stubble grazing my inner thighs. My nipples hardened beneath my thick sweater.
Was I really wet again, already?
“Nothing happened, Bastien. And nothing ever will happen.” And I sure as hell was not going to discuss it, ever. I stormed off back to my room. He was the one person I never stopped thinking about and he was here in my house! For my own sanity, I needed to be mad at him right now.
Otherwise, I was going to explode and make every bad decision possible.
“At least read number forty-three for the party tonight.” I shouted back at him from the stairwell.
There was a pause as he checked the sheet. “What party?”