Changing His Game
Chapter One
My car has become my only companion the last three days. The drive from South Haven, Michigan, to Los Angeles is a long one. My GPS estimates it as a thirty-two hour drive, but with stopping for food, gas, and sleeping at random motels, I've been driving for three days.
I'm on Sunset Boulevard looking for the next street to turn on. Tawny told me she lived in Los Angeles, but the GPS tells me her address is in Beverly Hills. I have no clue if Beverly Hills and Los Angeles are the same place or two different towns. I've never been to California before. Hell, I only left the state of Michigan once, and that was to attend my aunt's funeral in Indiana.
My friend Tawny moved out to California two years ago. She left with dreams to be an actress and star alongside actors like Robert Pattinson and Chris Hemsworth. So many people in our small town gave her crap for leaving. They told her she'd never make it. I envied her. She had the guts to leave the small town life, while I was planning to get married and build a life there.
I'd been dating Brock Richardson since my freshman year of high school. I know what you're thinking; Brock is such a pretentious name. I hated his name and almost everything about him, but our parents were friends and in their eyes, we were destined to be together.
I first started dating Brock out of obligation to my parents, but I soon started to enjoy it. People paid attention to me because I was with him and I became sort of popular by association. After a while I started to really fall for Brock, too. He could be really romantic and do some of the sweetest things. It never crossed my mind to leave him, and he never left me.
After four years of high school I went on to Michigan State University to get a degree in teaching, and Brock stayed in South Haven to learn the family business. His dad was the biggest contractor in the area. The plan was that when Brock and I got married, Brock was to take over the business.
MSU is only two hours away from South Haven so I saw Brock every chance I got. By my junior year of college, I was engaged and Tawny had moved to California. We kept in touch through social media and she seemed to be doing well. She told me she was getting jobs here and there, but she hadn't gotten her big break yet.
Three months ago she sent me her address, telling me I should come visit her over the summer. I never planned on taking her up on the offer, that is, until three days ago.
I had finished my finals last week and was officially a graduate, but I wasn't set to walk for my degree until this Sunday. My family, Brock, and Brock's family were all going to come up to MSU and watch the ceremony. I was getting antsy and had no desire to stay on campus for another week, so I packed my bags and decided to drive home and surprise Brock, maybe spend a few days with him before heading back to MSU for my graduation ceremony. When I got to his apartment complex I went straight into his apartment. I had a key and I wanted it to be a surprise, and it was a surprise all right. Just not for him.
I got the surprise of a lifetime when I walked into his bedroom and caught him fucking Lexi Sanders. Lexi was a year younger than us in school and I knew she had always had a crush on Brock, but I never thought I had to worry about her. He was devoted to me. When his eyes landed on me in the doorway, he got up and tried to explain, but I wouldn't let him. I didn’t even wait to hear his excuse. I stormed out of his apartment, climbed into my Toyota Yaris, and started to drive.
I didn't know where to go at first, but I knew I didn't want to go home. I didn't want to have to explain everything to my parents and sister. I also didn’t want to risk the possibility of my parents defending Brock to me.
I didn't really understand what I was doing, but one minute I was so upset I thought I should pull over, and the next minute I picked up my phone and logged into Facebook. I got Tawny's address from our private messages and plugged her address into my GPS. I started to drive and never looked back.
My phone was going crazy with missed calls and texts, but I ignored them all. I finally checked my phone that evening when I checked in to a motel in Iowa. I called my little sister and let her know I was okay. I didn't tell her where I was or when I'd be home. I just told her I'd call her in a few days.
Now I'm in California, looking for the next street I'm supposed to turn on to. A few minutes later my GPS leads me to a gated community.
"This must be some mistake," I whisper to myself. "There is no way Tawny can afford to live here."
There is a security tower to my left and an older man walks over and knocks on my window. I roll it down, preparing to let him know I'm lost.
"Name?" The security officer asks. I'm caught off guard.
"Um... My name is Autumn, Autumn Adams."
He looks down on his clipboard and back up to me.
"I don't see an Autumn Adams on the list."
"That's okay, sir. I actually just think I'm lost," I pull my GPS off my dashboard and hand it to the security guard. "My friend Tawny lives in this neighborhood. I'm having a hard time finding the street."
He looks down at the address and hands me back my GPS.
"You're at the right spot, honey. You're looking for Jared Reynolds' place. I'll open the gates. Just drive up the hill and turn at the first street on the right. His house is at the very end of the block. You can't miss it with the party he's throwing tonight, and the houses being so far apart."
I want to question him and ask who Jared is, but he's already left me and opened the gate. I drive in and follow his directions. The homes in this subdivision are enormous. Something I've only seen in a movie.
How can Tawny afford to live here?
I make a right at the top of the hill and pull up to the last house on the block. I cut the engine and stare up at the house in front of me. I'm hit with floor to ceiling windows on every floor. It looks to be about three stories tall and the U-shape driveway leads to a six-car garage. A few minutes go by before I realize I'm just staring.
I get out of my vehicle and stretch my legs; they're aching from three days of limited mobility. I pull out my duffle bag from the backseat of my car. That's one of the benefits of my impromptu road trip; I still had my bags in the car from when I left MSU. I leave the rest of my luggage in the Yaris.
I head up to the house and reach a set of dark wooden doors. I find the doorbell and ring it, anxious to see my friend. I'm looking around the outside of the property as I'm waiting for someone to answer the door. The landscaping is impeccable. Every bush is perfectly trimmed, the lawn is cut to perfection, and the flowers are in full bloom. After a minute with no answer I ring the doorbell a few times in a row. It's probably obnoxious, but I need to get someone's attention over the loud music coming from inside the house. There is still no answer and I'm about to just walk in, when a woman in her late twenties opens the door while lighting her cigarette.
"Hi," she slurs as she trips over the threshold.
"Hi... um... is Tawny home?"
She looks over at me questioningly, "And you are?"
"Oh, I'm so sorry, how incredibly rude. I'm Autumn, Autumn Adams, and I'm a friend of Tawny's," I reach my hand out to shake hers and when she doesn’t return the gesture I feel like I should explain a little more. "She said I could come visit her whenever I want. She even offered to help me find work if I wanted to move out here."
After the words leave my mouth the stranger's face lights up.
"I'm Kelly, Jared's assistant," she pauses to take a drag of her cigarette. "Tawny's not here, but you can crash in her room. Go to the second floor and make a left, her room is the first door on the left. Drop your bag off and come party with us. Jared's parties are legendary around here."
Kelly is no longer slurring her words, but her eyes are bloodshot. I thank her and head inside. The music instantly assaults my ears. It's definitely not something I would willingly choose to listen to. Techno music isn't my thing.
I look around the open space, hoping to find the stairwell somewhere in the sea of people. The women surrounding me are scantily dressed and almost all of them are surgically enhanced. Two women are up on tables in just thongs and tassels to cover their breasts, while they dance provocatively. I try to avoid making eye contact with anyone and I finally spot the stairs at the other end of the large room.
I squeeze my way past the crowd, being pulled into a hard chest or two by some eager hands. Luckily, I am able to keep walking. I pass the kitchen on my left while I make my way to the stairs and see a group of people doing shots. I also see two women cutting what I assume is coke, before snorting it up their noses.
I reach the bottom of the spiral staircase and make my way up to the second floor. When I reach the top I look down to the open area, hoping that my friend is here somewhere. I know Kelly said she wasn't, but Kelly was also drunk off her ass and possibly high.
As my eyes take in the scene below, my heart feels like it stops. In the corner of the open space is possibly the sexiest man I have ever seen. I watch him as he moves to the beat of the pounding rhythm. There is a woman in front of him dressed in a short mini skirt, and what looks like a bra three sizes smaller than what she should be wearing. Her bleach blonde hair is down past her shoulders, and she is grinding against his leg while kissing his neck. The brunette behind him is wearing a pair of bootie shorts and is topless. She is rubbing her silicone breasts against the guy's back.
I've never seen anything like this before. I'm not completely naive, I've seen a few drunken threesomes in my college days, but these women are throwing themselves at him in public, and they're practically naked. I should look away, but I can't. The blonde in front of him removes her lips from his neck and pulls his t-shirt over his head.
Sweet mother of...
His body is a masterpiece. His arms are perfectly sculpted and his abs perfectly chiseled. He's not too bulky; I'd compare his body type to Ryan Gosling. Every inch of flesh on his chest, back, and arms is covered in tattoos. I have an impulsive urge to lick him.
Get it together, Autumn. Those girls beat you to it.
The blonde in front reattaches her lips to the man's neck as she continues to dry hump his thigh. The woman behind him is now rubbing her breasts up and down his back while kissing between his shoulder blades. I watch as her hands reach around his body and dip into the front of his jeans.
Okay, I've seen enough.
I'm about to look away when the guy's eyes meet mine. I'm too embarrassed to move. He's caught me watching the show the two girls are putting on. I should walk away and find Tawny's room, but I can't. It's like his eyes have captured mine and I need him to give me permission to be released. The blonde’s mouth moves to his and he opens for her, but his eyes never leave mine. He's turned on from me watching.
I'm turned on by me watching. I can feel my panties getting wet and my hard nub looking for some attention.
I'm frozen in place and don’t know what to do. Thankfully he breaks eye contact first. The brunette’s hands start to unbutton his jeans and he looks down to see what she is doing. This breaks the invisible hold he has on me, and I run down the hallway to Tawny's bedroom before I accidentally look at him again.
I walk in and shut the door behind me, locking it so no one comes in.
I shouldn’t have come here. I've been in the house for ten minutes and I've already seen more than I've ever seen before. It was like watching a live action adult film downstairs, or at least I assume that's what an adult film consists of. I've never seen one.
I turn on the bedroom light and look around the room. I see pictures of people I recognize from back home with Tawny and a picture of the two of us together. My hair is shorter in the picture, and colored red for Halloween because I was Lindsay Lohan that year. I smile at the memory of that Halloween. It was the only Halloween I wasn’t forced into a couple's costume with Brock.
I plop down on her bed and bring the duffle bag with me. I'm so tired from the long drive, and it's finally catching up to me. All I want to do is go to bed.
Well, that's not all I want to do. A part of me wants to go back downstairs and look for that hot guy. Something about him is so appealing and it might feel good to hook up with someone after what Brock did to me. I mean I've only ever been with Brock. I could be missing out on something spectacular.
No. No, I need to be clearheaded and reasonable.
I change into a pair of white cheer shorts and a tank top. There is a connecting bathroom to Tawny's room so I quickly wash my face and brush my teeth before coming back into her bedroom. I turn the light out and lay down in bed. The noise from the party would usually keep me up, but I'm so tired it doesn't bother me and I fall asleep within a few minutes, dreaming of the mystery man downstairs.
★★★
I wake up to the bright sun coming through the floor to ceiling windows in Tawny's room. It takes me a second to remember where I am and why I'm here. I stretch out my arms and legs and look around the large bedroom. I'm a little shocked Tawny's not here. I figured she would have come in late last night.
I pick my duffle bag up off the floor and quickly brush through my long dirty blonde hair. I'm nervous to leave the room and find Jared. That's the name Kelly told me, right? I wasn't sure if Kelly told him I was here or if he was going to kick me out, so I want to make sure I don't have bed head when I meet him.
I'm not a knock out in the looks department, but I'm not unlucky either. I have long, wavy, dirty blonde hair that goes down past my shoulder blades. My green eyes have a hint of yellow and blue circling around each pupil. I'm average height, one hundred thirty pounds, and my legs are muscular from cheerleading and soccer. I have full C-cup breasts and I also have a nice booty, but luckily it isn't too big.
Guys seem to like the way I look and I was hit on all the time in college, but I always ignored it because I was with Brock. Now I’m going to have to see what kind of guys my looks will attract.
I know I should be more upset about the whole Brock thing, but I'm not. I mean I'm upset that he cheated, but I'm not upset that it's over. I had love for Brock, but I never got that butterfly feeling, I had never fallen in love with Brock.
I think I was more hurt that he cheated on me. I think cheating is pretty shitty. You should just break up with your significant other if you want to sleep with someone else. Now I'm going to be second-guessing our entire relationship. Was he cheating the whole time? Do I need to get an STD check?
I decide to stop the internal debate running through my brain and leave Tawny's bedroom. My first stop will be the kitchen where I'll hopefully find a brewed pot of coffee. My second stop will be to find Jared.
I leave the bedroom and start to make my way down the long hallway when the sounds coming from across the hall stop me. I hear a woman moaning and the sound of a male grunting. It's hard to make out, but I think I hear a hand slapping flesh and a woman's playful scream. They obviously don't care who can hear them because they are choosing not to be quiet.
"Yes... right there, don't stop. Don't stop. Don't stop," the girl's high-pitched voice is almost unbearable. How a guy can think that is sexy is beyond me. When the second female starts talking I'm completely shocked.
"You like that, baby? What do you want me to do to her while she rides your cock?"
The male's voice is too low to make out and I don't want to hear anymore. I'm definitely not in Michigan anymore.
I make my way down the stairs and into the kitchen. It's a modern style kitchen with stainless steel appliances. The cabinets are white with a lot of detail in the wood, just like almost everything else I've seen in the house, and the counters are black granite. The kitchen is surprisingly spotless. An outsider would never know a party had gone on here just a few hours ago.
I look around for the coffee pot, but I can't find one anywhere.
"Please tell me they drink coffee in this house?" I say to myself.
"I do, so you can imagine my surprise when I come into my kitchen to brew a cup of coffee, and all I see is a half dressed woman, I know I didn't fuck in my bed last night, standing in my kitchen."
I turn around mortified, prepared to apologize to whom I assume is Jared when I gasp. The man I was mesmerized by last night is standing in front of me, in the kitchen, Jared's kitchen. Did he say it was his kitchen? Oh God, he must be Jared.
"I- I'm sorry. Kelly said I could stay here and I was just looking for some coffee."
"Kelly said?" I can hear the anger in the tone of his voice.
"Yes, I spoke with her last night," I say softly.
"Funny, this isn't Kelly's house so she can't dictate who can stay and who can't."
I'm about to apologize and get my things to leave when I hear the clanging of heels on the staircase. We both turn in the direction of the noise, as the two girls who were mauling him last night make their way into the kitchen to join us.
The brunette looks at me and smiles, before giving Jared a kiss. The blonde joins in and I watch as three tongues touch and lick each other.
"Bye, baby. I'll see you on set in a few weeks," the blonde says, before the two girls turn and leave the kitchen. I watch as they make their way to the front of his house and walk out the front door. For such a big house, this open floor plan lets you see everything. When I turn back to look at him his eyes are already on me.
"Like I was saying, Kelly doesn't decide who can stay in my house, and I really don't appreciate other people fucking under my roof, on my beds, so if your fuck buddy from last night hasn't left yet, I suggest you tell him to hit the road."
"Excuse me?"
Jared moves past me and into his kitchen. I watch as he opens a cabinet and pulls out a coffee mug. He moves to one of those single cup coffee machines where you put a single serving plastic cup in and it brews the coffee.
"You heard me. You and your man have got to leave."
"I think there has been some kind of misunderstanding."
I watch as he turns around and leans against the counter. He moves his muscular arms across his chest. The sun is shining through the skylights of the kitchen and I am able to get a better look at him.
Wow.
His golden tanned skin looks so soft. His tan helps make the gray of his eyes pop. He has black plugs in his ears and it's the perfect touch to his bad boy image. He's covered in tattoos from the waist up, but I can’t see most of them because his white wife beater is covering them.
I know wife beater is probably not the politically correct term for a Californian, but that's what we call them in Michigan.
"What did I misunderstand?"
"I didn't hook up with anyone last night. I crashed in the first bedroom on the left. I think it's Tawny's room and Tawny's actually why I'm here. She told me I could come visit whenever I wanted, so here I am."
He looks at me skeptically and then drags his eyes up and down my body. It's then that I realize I'm wearing my white cheerleading shorts that barely cover my ass and a tank top that fits like a second layer of skin. I'm instantly self-conscious and I want to run back to Tawny's bedroom and change.
"Here's the thing, sweetheart, Tawny doesn't live here at the moment. She's off in Italy with her Italian boyfriend. She's spending his money and he's snorting coke off her tits that I paid for."
"My name's not sweetheart, it's Autumn, and when did she leave? I talked to her three months ago. She said I could stay with her."
"A lot can change in three months," he says arrogantly. "I'll make you a cup of coffee and then you can get your things and leave. I have no way of verifying you are who you say you are, so you can't stay here."
He has a point. Without Tawny here I just look like some pathetic girl looking for a place to crash.
Jared gives me the first cup of coffee and gestures for me to sit down at the table in the eat-in kitchen. He joins me a few minutes later and we sip our coffee in silence. I want to say something, but I have never been good at starting conversations. What would I say? Hey, I heard you bumping uglies with those two chicks this morning. Is that your normal morning routine?
"So how long have you and Tawny known each other?" Jared asks me.
I look up into his gray eyes and almost forget to answer him.
"We grew up together in South Haven. It's a small town, so everyone knows everyone."
"And you just decided to visit?"
This is going to be a little harder to explain. If I were close with Tawny, then I would have known that she's in Italy and not in California.
"Well, I haven't talked to her in three months, but the last time I talked with her she sent me her address and told me to come visit. She said if I liked California she would help me find a job."
"A job?"
"Yeah, I never took her offer that seriously, but recent events had me jumping in my car for a visit. I should have called first and I'm sorry to be such a burden to you this morning. If I knew she was in Italy I would have never crashed here last night."
My hands are in my lap and I start turning my engagement ring around my finger. It's the first time I notice I'm still wearing it. That is going in the trash as soon as this conversation is over.
"It's fine. When you have a life long friend, one that's seen you through bad decisions like dressing up as Lindsay Lohan, I'm sure you figured it was no big deal to drop by."
I start to nod my head in agreement when realization hits me. My head pops up and my eyes meet his beautiful gray ones.
"You lied," I say a little louder than I originally intended to.
"And what did I lie about?"
"You said you had no way of verifying who I am so I couldn't stay here."
"Right..."
"But you just referenced the picture of Tawny and me that's sitting on the dresser in her room, so you do know who I am."
He almost looks a little embarrassed, but he quickly hides it.
"So I knew who you were when I saw you last night, that doesn't mean I'm going to let you stay in my house."
"Jared!"
A woman yelling his name from the front door startles me.
"I'm in here, Kel," Jared yells back from the seat in front of me.
I watch as Kelly from last night joins us in the kitchen. She's dressed business casual and her short brown hair is styled to perfection. She's wearing big sunglasses, I'm assuming to hide her eyes and the look of being hung-over.
"I've got bad news. Vivica-" she stops mid-sentence to look at me, just realizing it isn't just her and Jared in the room. "Who are you?"
Jared looks between the two of us, obviously confused since I told him Kelly was the one who let me in the house last night.
"You don’t remember her? She's Tawny's friend. You let her in and told her she could crash in Tawny's room last night."
"Jeez, I don't remember. I was so buzzed last night, you're lucky I'm even here."
"Classy, Kel."
"Like I was saying, I've got bad news. We need to leave in ten minutes to drive to the shoot and Vivica just called to cancel. She can't be your co-star today because she's in the hospital with a bad stomach bug."
I have no idea what is going on, but Jared doesn't seem worried.
"No big deal, call one of the other girls to shoot with me today."
Kelly huffs in frustration, "All the girls that are contracted under your company are already shooting today. We've got no one else."
This gets Jared's attention. "What do you mean we've got no one else? I don't shoot every day anymore, Kel. My subscribers are going to want new material."
"I know, now do you see why I'm worried?”
I watch Jared as he stands up from his seat and moves to put his coffee cup in the sink. He turns back around and our eyes meet. It's almost as if I can see the wheels turning in his head.
"You."
I'm puzzled by his determined stare.
"Yes?"
"You said Tawny was possibly going to hook you up with a job, do you want one?"
I hadn't really thought about it too much, but I guess I'm planning on staying in California so I do need a job. I'll be lucky if the nine hundred dollars in my bank account lasts me two weeks.
"Yes, I need a job."
"Do you know what kind of work Tawny was doing out here?"
She came out here to be an actress; everyone in my town knew why she was out here.
"Yes."
"Are you willing to do it?"
"By it, you mean..."
"Do you want to be my co-star today or not?"
Oh. My. God. I'm going to be in a movie!
"Yes, of course I do." I'm trying to play it cool on the outside, but the child in me is jumping up and down. I might finally be catching a lucky break. I can’t believe I'm saying this, but I'm glad his co-star got sick.
"Go upstairs and take a shower, throw some clothes on, and meet me down here in ten minutes. You don't have to worry about your wardrobe, hair, or make-up, we'll take care of that on set."
"Okay," I say giddily and start to run up the stairs.
"Oh, and Autumn, when you're in the shower make sure you're cleaned up... everywhere."
I nod my head and make my way into Tawny's bathroom. I'm not sure what Jared meant by that last comment, but who cares. I'm going to be in a movie!
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