Chapter Twenty
Doug hadn't been kidding- his house was enormous. It was ostentatious, all gilded chandeliers and marble walls, but nice if you ignored the tackiness. Doug and his wife certainly weren't shy about showing off their wealth. The house had twenty-eight rooms, a pool, two kitchens, a sauna, and a movie theater, which was the only thing in the house that I didn't find to be overkill.
Dayna and I had stopped at Brixley's house to drop Lauren off for the night, and by the time we got to the party, it was already humming with activity. The booze was flowing, the DJ was mixing up some tunes, and ties were getting loosened. It was the second time that night that something in Hollywood matched up exactly to my expectations.
Dayna and I got drinks at the bar together, then parted ways after she saw some old friends that she wanted to reconnect with. I found myself a quieter, unoccupied room, and settled onto the couch. I sipped my drink, studying the unabashed opulence of the sitting room. My phone buzzed, giving me a welcome distraction, and I dug it out of my purse to see who it was.
Kat: Enjoying Hollywood Babylon?
I chuckled before responding.
Olivia: It's a little less lurid than you'd think. No one's having sex on the front lawn yet.
Kat: Give it time. ;-) Call me when you're done schmoozing!
Olivia: Okay. I'll probably leave right after this drink.
I signed the text with a smoochy face and put the phone back in my bag.
"Oh." Someone bumped into the table at the entrance to the room, causing the table to wobble noisily. I looked up at the source of the sound and was face to face with a slightly inebriated Tyler, his eyes piercing mine. My heart flopped over at the sight of him so handsome in his suit, so cold towards me. So many emotions swirled within my gut- anger, betrayal, lust, desire, love- and I hated myself for wanting him so much.
"I'll leave." He turned to exit, then seemed to think better of it. "You know what, no. You go." He crossed his arms over his chest and stood in the doorway.
"Why do I have to go? I was here first," I said, confused.
"Okay, then I'll go," he said, turning on his heel again.
"No!" I was surprised at the force of my outburst. I hadn't meant to seem so desperate. "Can we...talk?"
"I can't imagine what we'd talk about." He hovered in the doorway nonetheless. Why was he being so aggressive with me? If anything, I should be the angry one, not him.
"How, uh, how's Vanessa?" I fiddled with my cup as I stared just to the left of Tyler's head.
"She's great. Making out with some production bigwig as we speak," Tyler replied casually.
My eyes widened. "And you're okay with that?"
He shrugged. "I don't agree with her choices, but I don't own her. She can do what she wants, why would I care?"
"Wow." I processed this. "That's very progressive of you."
"What?" Tyler looked at me stupidly, alcohol glazing his eyes over slightly.
"Letting your girlfriend hook up with other men seems pretty progressive. I didn't think you were one to share," I said. You just expect women to share you.
"I'm not," Tyler growled. "Vanessa isn't my girlfriend."
My eyes flew to his face. "She isn't?"
"No." He snorted. "She's just a good friend. We have been hanging out a lot and didn't bother to correct the tabloids when they made that assumption."
"So you guys have never..."
"No. Like I've told you over and over, we're just friends. She was there for me when you went psycho and ghosted me after we had sex for the second time." My heart snapped at the disdain in Tyler's voice, but I hardened myself as I remembered exactly why I'd "gone psycho."
"You were sleeping around," I said. I didn't need Tyler gas-lighting me into the bad guy here. "I didn't go psycho. I just found out what you were up to and removed myself from the situation."
"No, I wasn't. I haven't fucked a single woman since the day I met you. I told you that. You chose not to believe me," Tyler said bitterly. He seemed sincere, though why wouldn't he? He was well-versed in the art of tricking women into thinking he's a good guy.
"If that's true, why did you have so many nude texts on your phone?" I challenged.
"That wasn't my phone. If you'd listened to me instead of running away, you'd have known that the phone you found was my friend Eric's. I'd let him use my hotel room for the weekend while I was skiing, and he forgot his phone there."
"What a convenient story," I said, though my resolve was weakening as I observed Tyler's vulnerable face, the way his hands clenched at his sides and his eyes ached with pain. I was so tired of being angry with him, and I was starting to feel like maybe I'd overreacted without thinking.
"Here." He pulled his phone from his pocket. It was an entirely different model and color than the one I'd found on his floor. More evidence that Tyler hadn't been lying. Fuck. I had been so awful to him. I realized with no surprise that I believed him. Maybe I'd believed him all along but had been all too eager for any excuse to run.
"Tyler," I said, clearing my throat. I stood up and made one step towards him. "I'm sorry."
"You're sorry?" he asked, shoving his phone back in his pocket and taking a long swig from his drink. "Sorry for what?"
"I believe you," I said, all the anger and disappointment melting away. I did believe him. I had been too wrapped up in my baggage that I'd been desperate to find any way to make this perfect man the villain.
"How nice of you. The point is moot now. We've moved on. This is old news now," Tyler stated, his piercing eyes pinning me to the spot. "Right?"
I swallowed, nodding. "Right. You're right." I lowered my gaze, not able to look him in the eye as I lied straight to his face.
"Wrong." In a flash, Tyler went from being in the doorway three feet away from me to holding my face in his hands. "So wrong." He gazed at me, eyebrows furrowed, before bringing his mouth down to mine.
Tyler's kiss was harsh, punishing. It was penance for all of the mistrust, for everything I'd put him through, for projecting my issues onto him. It was also salvation from all of the ugliness of the past. "Fuck, Olivia," he growled. "I'm angry at you." He broke the kiss, leaning his forehead against mine.
"I'm sorry," I whispered.
He let me go and walked back to the doorway. I despaired, sure he was going to leave me here on this couch, wanting him with every fiber of my being. I looked up at the sound of the lock clicking in surprise. He was standing in front of the closed and locked door, tugging his tie off.
"What are you-"
"Strip," he commanded, taking his shirt off.
I did as I was told. I kicked off my heels first, then slid my slinky black dress off my shoulder to the ground. I stood in front of him in only underwear, grateful for the changes that running had wrought in my body. Tyler's sharp intake of breath spurred me on, and I reached to take off my bra.
"No. Leave it." Tyler grabbed me by the hips and turned me so that I was facing away from him. His hands slowly worked their way to the juncture between my thighs, where I was dripping for him. He pushed the insignificant bit of lace aside and slid two fingers in easily, wasting no time.
I moaned and leaned forward against the fancy table Tyler had knocked into earlier. Tyler worked his fingers in and out of me, his movements rough and unrelenting. His thumb joined the mix, asserting pressure on my clit and intensifying my pleasure. He unzipped his pants, and I squirmed, eager for what was coming next. I wanted it with an intensity like nothing I'd ever felt before in my life. Tyler removed his fingers from me and poised himself at my entrance.
"Look at me." His voice was hard, clipped. I turned my head to look at him. "If we do this, you're mine. No more games. I need to know that you trust me. I love you, Olivia, and I'm not going to go through putting myself back together again if you bail on me. I'm going to walk away, and you'll never see me again."
I turned to face Tyler, my vision clouding as tears filled my eyes. I touched his face gently, wishing I could erase all the hurt there and start over with a clean slate. But I couldn't. All I could do was forge forward and prove to him that I wanted him forever and I would never abandon him again. "I love you, Tyler. I trust you. And I'm going to do whatever it takes to prove that to you."
Tyler's face changed as soon as I said I love you. It was wiped of all the hurt and mistrust, replaced now by hope and love. He pulled me in for another deep kiss, this time softer, gentler, one of possession. He started to pull a condom out of his pocket, but I stilled his hand. "I've been on the pill for like fifteen years."
"Don't have to tell me twice." I laughed at Tyler's eagerness, and he lifted me easily and placed me on the sturdy table, ripping my thong off and flinging it to the side. He entered me in one motion, filling me to the hilt.
I leaned back against the wall, my senses overwhelmed by the sudden invasion, giving him full access to my clit as I rode out the storm. Tyler drilled into me, drawing my orgasm out of like a hurricane. When I came, it was swift and sudden, pressure and tiny bright lights swirling in my head so that I had to close my eyes to keep my balance. Tyler came right behind me, the vibrations from my orgasm milking his from him, swirling in one passionate release that had us both slumped over from the effort of it.
Spent, I leaned into Tyler's arms. He used his pocket square to clean me up, then tossed that in the trash. He pulled on his pants, then slid my dress back over my shoulders. "How's my hair?" he asked seriously.
I burst into laughter. "What are we going to tell people?"
"That you're an idiot," Tyler kissed my forehead. "But you're my idiot now."
"We live on opposite coasts," I pointed out.
"I live in hotels. I'll just move to Maryland. Now we don't live on opposite coasts," Tyler said simply.
"You'll move to Maryland?" I asked incredulously.
"Yeah," he said easily. "I'll just get an apartment near you. Or move into your house."
"Don't you think that's a little fast?" I asked. "And what about your career?"
"You've wasted enough of our time. I'm okay with moving fast. And I can always fly out to Los Angeles whenever I have a job. If you want, we can take it slow. I'll stay in a hotel. Or in your parents' basement. Your mother loves me." Tyler grinned cockily.
"We'll figure it out." I grabbed his hand and walked back to the party with him. Truthfully, I didn't care that he was moving so fast. I had never had something that felt this right, from the very beginning. I'd just been too stubborn to accept it. Now I was ready to fall face first into being with this man. I loved him.
We walked back into the party hand-in-hand, greeting various people who waved to us but staying lost in our happy little bubble. Tyler led me to the less-crowded backyard, and we settled into a pair of empty Adirondack chairs with a couple of beers. I decided against my own chair, instead cuddling up on Tyler's lap, to his delight.
He kissed me softly, then pulled back. "What are you smiling about?"
"I'm just happy," I said simply. "No more games. No more jealousy. Just lots of sex and cuddles and arguments about driving too fast." I took a drink from my beer, still feeling guilty, and kissed the tip of Tyler's nose. "I'm really sorry for how I've acted. I think I wasn't ready to believe that someone like you would want someone like me."
Tyler shook his head gently, pulling my mouth back to his. "You're everything I want. I'm glad you believe that now."
I nodded. "I believe it. I have to call Kat, she’s going to freak out."
Tyler chuckled and continued to kiss me.
"Oh my GOD, I'm going to vomit." I twisted in Tyler's lap to see Vanessa, facing us with a grimace on her face and champagne in her hand.
"Hey," I said sheepishly. I was a little nervous about what Vanessa would say after being so nasty to me earlier. I knew her viciousness had come from a place of friendship, and I also knew it would be a while before I got back in her good graces.
"Hey," she replied archly. "Do you guys have to be all over each other like sixteen-year-olds at homecoming? It's off-putting."
"You just had your tongue down a fifty-year-old's throat and a hand down his pants," Tyler reminded her as he readjusted me to sit more firmly on him.
"Yeah, but we weren't doe-eyed and proclaiming our love for one another," Vanessa said. "Besides, we were in an unoccupied room, not a public outdoor space."
"We're just making up for lost time," Tyler said.
"You could've had a lot more time if this one hadn't had her head up her ass," Vanessa said smartly.
Tyler gave her a warning look. "Everything worked out in the end."
"It's okay," I said. "She's allowed to give me shit. I put you through some crap. I deserve to do a little penance. Vanessa is just a good friend."
Vanessa smirked. "Damn right." She sat in the chair next to us. "So what did you think of my Emmeline?"
I smiled, ready to tell her how much I loved it.
"It was shit," Pierre said acidly, approaching us with a martini glass in hand. "The whole movie was shit."
I frowned. Why was Pierre even allowed in here tonight? "Hello, Pierre. I'm sorry you didn't like it."
"I don't see how anyone could have liked it. Do you call that art? There was no vision there, only peddling to the unwashed masses," Pierre spat out. "Enjoy your average lives."
He placed his martini glass on the table next to us before leaving. Vanessa and I looked at each other, shocked, and Tyler started laughing uproariously. "What's so funny?" I asked Tyler.
"What a tool. That guy's name isn't even Pierre. It's Pete," Tyler said. He frowned at the concerned look on my face. "Don't worry about him, Liv. You can't please them all."
I shrugged it off, deciding to take Tyler's advice. I may not like it, but I have learned that you really can't please everybody. All you can do is try your best and hope that's enough. I curled into Tyler's embrace, leaning my head against his chest as I looked over at Vanessa. "What's next for you, superstar?"
Vanessa shrugged. "More photo shoots, more films, more press. The usual." She stood up. "I'm going to find Doug and make him lavish me with compliments. Don't get too handsy while I'm gone- this is a public place, after all."
I smiled into Tyler's shoulder as she left. "What's next for us, then?"
Tyler smiled down at me. "I have no idea, love. But I'm sure going to have fun finding out."