Newly Exposed Read online

  A pure laugh escaped my throat as I thought about little Adam trying to choke down the made-up concoction.

  “Serves you right; not everyone can be a turtle.”

  “You got that right. When I was young, I used to spend nights in the barn, waiting for rats to pop up, so I could ask them if they knew Master Splinter.”

  “You did not,” I laughed and shoved his shoulder.

  He held up his hand and crossed his heart. “I swear! I would sneak out at night, run down to the barn, and wait for Master Splinter to come along and recruit me. Never did happen.”

  “Yeah, Splinter was probably only trolling the streets of NYC for little boys to join his clan.”

  “If only I didn’t live in Nebraska,” he replied in a far off voice.

  “Yes, if only,” I said, playing into Adam’s dream life.

  “What about you? Did you ever have any hopes or dreams?”

  “Like becoming a Ninja Turtle?”

  “Something like that,” he smiled.

  I thought about it for a second, while Adam waited patiently. His posture was relaxed and it baffled me that such a strong and attractive man could be so down to earth and funny. He didn’t care about making a fool of himself, and he was so incredibly easy to talk to that I felt myself wanting to learn more and more about him with each passing second. And even though he was easygoing and normally smiling, there was something about the lines around his eyes that aged him, like he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, and with one wrong move all his walls would crumble down.

  “Come on, there has to be something,” Adam said, as he brushed a wisp of hair off of my face, making me melt on the spot.

  “Oh, there are things, I’m just trying to think of which one is the least humiliating.”

  “Please tell me there is some kind of Star Wars fantasy in there.”

  “You know there is,” I laughed.

  Smiling brightly, he said, “You have to tell me.”

  “I don’t have to tell you anything,” I said defiantly with a smile.

  “Come on, Solo. You can’t leave me hanging like this.” His bottom lip pouted and he scooted closer, while pulling me in at the same time. His hand ran along my hip, sending tingles all through my body. “Pah-wease.”

  “Ugh, you’re annoying.” I pushed him away, but he grabbed my hands and pulled me even closer. His hand went to my hair and lightly grazed my head with the soft tips of his fingers. My breath hitched as I tried to regain my composure from his close proximity.

  “We’re sharing, muffin; embrace it.”

  I rolled my eyes and turned my body so I was looking up at the sky. I could feel Adam’s heated gaze on me, but I chose to ignore it.

  “Fine, if you must know. I used to put twenty five cents outside every night, under the welcome mat for the cinnamon bun fairy.”

  “The what?”

  “My dads used to have milk delivered to our door step…”

  “Like in the fifties?” Adam interrupted me. I turned toward him again and pressed my fingers against his lips to quiet him. He kissed my fingers and I pulled them away in shock, as if he just lit them on fire. “Watch yourself, muffin. Get that close again and I might not just kiss your fingers.”

  “Don’t call me that,” I huffed. “And, yes, like the fifties. But they used to say the dairy fairy came; little did I know they were talking about the gay milk man who they were friends with. I found that out later.”

  “Okay…” Adam drawled out.

  “So, I thought if I put twenty five cents under the mat, the cinnamon bun fairy would come by and leave some buns for me.”

  “Why would you want buns?”

  “Well, at the time, I had a problem with scissors. I thought it was fun to cut things, you know, pillowcases, carpet…hair.”

  “Whoa, you were a little Edwina Scissorhands,” Adam joked while making motions with what I could only assume were his fake scissor hands.

  “Pretty much, and it was a crime in a gay household to, not only chop my hair off, but to cut up my dads’ thousand count Egyptian cotton sheets. As a punishment, they left my hair all chopped up and short until I learned not to cut my hair anymore.”

  “Is there evidence of these younger years? I’m going to need proof.”

  “Stop,” I laughed, while shoving him again.

  “I would pay to see that.”

  “Can I finish?”

  “I don’t know if my heart can take all the cuteness; you’re already filling it up, but please, continue.”

  My breath seized from his compliment. The other guys said corny things to me all the time, but with Adam, it was one hundred percent genuine, and it was slowly starting to eat away at me. He was too good.

  “Like I was saying, my hair was all kinds of crazy messed up, and this was right around when my obsession with Star Wars happened, so I wanted nothing more than to look like Princess Leia…”

  Adam covered his mouth with his hand and said, “Oh shit, no you didn’t…”

  I nodded my head. “Yup, I wanted cinnamon buns for my hair, so I could look like the princess.”

  Adam threw his head back and wholeheartedly laughed as he held his stomach. I watched as his strong shoulders shook with glee and he wiped tears from his eyes.

  “God, that is so damn precious.” He looked back at me and cupped my face. “You’re too much, Solo. Too much for the heart…you fill it right up.”

  I just shrugged my shoulders, not really knowing what to say. His thumbs stroked my cheeks as he drew me in closer. I knew what he wanted, hell, I wanted it too, but there was a reason why I couldn’t, and it was the reason he was here. He was a Teeg model, I couldn’t go there.

  Pulling away, I sat up and grabbed my computer.

  “I should get going; it’s getting late and I have a long day of paperwork and getting your consultations set ahead of me.” I peeked over at him, smiled, and said, “Thanks for keeping me company for a little bit. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  I got up and Adam did the same, but stood in the way of my path.

  The jovial look that once caressed his face was gone, and its replacement was confusion.

  “Solo…”

  “No, Adam. Please, just friends, okay?”

  With reluctance, he nodded his head and stepped to the side to let me go. A part of me wanted him to put up a fight, but the other half of me was grateful he didn’t, because I knew if he did, I would give in easily…that was how fast I was falling for the man.

  Chapter Nine

  Adam

  The smell of fruit and the sound of a blender greeted me in the kitchen in the morning after one of the most comfortable sleeps of my life. I was pretty sure the bed I slept in last night was made of some kind of magical cloud, because it literally felt like I was floating on air. Although, it was hard to sleep because Solo kept running through my head, but I was damn comfortable not sleeping.

  If I didn’t know it already, last night would have confirmed the strong feelings I had already developed for the beautiful little muffin that I wanted so desperately to bite into. She was everything I would look for in a girl. She was beautiful, inside and out, funny, exciting, and could take a joke. She was everything I could ask for, and it was killing me that she wanted nothing to do with me…romantically.

  It was probably better that way anyway, given the fact that the last thing I needed was to juggle around a girlfriend with everything else on my plate.

  “Smoothie?” Scout asked, as he held up a glass filled with purple liquid.

  “What’s in it?” I asked, as I sidled up next to the kitchen counter.

  “A little bit of this and a little bit of that.” The smirk on his face told me there were some nasty ingredients in there that he was masking with blueberries.

  “Yeah, I’ll pass,” I laughed, as I grabbed an apple from the counter and walked toward the front door. “I’ll catch you later, man. I have to head to the studio for my rundown.”<
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  “I’ll be on set all day, but how about some tacos tonight? I’ve been craving some for a while, but haven’t had a chance to get out.”

  “Sounds good.”

  I was about to walk out the door when Gunner and Nikko came through the front door, sweaty and shirtless. I could see how this house would be a woman’s dream; everywhere you turned there were men surrounding you. This was going to get old pretty quick.

  “Where you off to?” Gunner asked, adjusting his crotch.

  “Studio. You two just get in from a run?”

  “Yeah, we go every morning, when we can that is,” Nikko interjected.

  “Cool, think I can get in on that? I love running.”

  Nikko and Gunner looked at each other and then clapped me on the shoulder. “Don’t be bitching to us when we burn your ass tomorrow morning.”

  “I take that as a challenge.”

  “Six in the morning, meet us here.”

  “Deal.”

  I walked out to my car, feeling a little bit lighter. Last night wasn’t the best night of my life. The guys seemed like they wanted to get to know me, but they also were acting very weird. This morning, they seemed more welcoming, which was nice. They were terrible at first impressions, I’d give them that, because after last night, I considered them all to be egotistical douche bags who I would never find myself hanging out with, but it looked like things might change.

  The drive to the studio wasn’t terrible, given the fact that I was driving with all the morning commuters into the heart of LA. There were enough back roads to keep me away from the heavy traffic, which I was grateful for, making my trip in not as hectic as I was worried about.

  I parked in the back of the studio, where I found a parking spot specifically marked for me. That was new, kind of made me feel like some kind of celebrity, which I knew wasn’t true at all. I was just a guy hoping to make ends meet. Luckily, Meryl was willing to take a chance on me.

  With a new breath of life, I walked into the studio and was instantly greeted by the minions, who had been in the interview or casting, whatever they called it in this world.

  “Oh, my God! It’s Axel James!” one of the girls squealed, as she rushed to my side and leaned on my arm. “Can I get you anything…water, coffee? A protein shake?”

  Was this girl for real? I shook her off and looked around. “Is Solo here?”

  “Yeah, she’s in the back. Do you want me to give you a tour?” another one of the girls asked, as she came up to my other side.

  “No, that’s okay. I think I’ll just go find Solo.”

  “We can help you…”

  “Girls, get off,” Nolly appeared out of nowhere and snapped her fingers at the girls, who quickly dispersed.

  “Thank you,” I said with relief.

  “No problem. Come with me. Solo and I are in the back setting up some social media accounts for you and getting your phone set up.

  “I get a phone?”

  “Yeah, how else would you take selfies?” Nolly said, as she opened a door to a spacious room where Solo was sitting in the middle on the floor with her legs crossed Indian style and her head bent over looking at a phone. She was wearing white skinny jeans, purple Keds-like shoes, and a yellow shirt that had a picture of the Fresh Prince on it. Her tongue danced with her lip ring as she concentrated on her task. Fuck…she was too cool for me.

  “Selfies?” I asked, looking at Solo. Her hair was up in a messy bun that I wanted to release to watch her hair flutter over her shoulders, just the way I liked it.

  “Are you listening to me?” Nolly asked, as she pushed my shoulder.

  “Uh, what?” I asked, while putting on my best smile and looking at her.

  She rolled her eyes and said, “For what it’s worth, I’m Team Adam. She needs to give you a chance. I’ll leave you two alone.”

  I would have kissed Nolly just now if it wasn’t for the fact that I was so infatuated with her best friend. I thanked Nolly, and once she was out of the room, I walked over to Solo, who was completely oblivious to my presence.

  “You’re such a nineties kid,” I said, referring to her shirt. Will Smith was the shit back then, he still was.

  “You’re late. Primping yourself before coming in?” she asked, while playing around on the phone, not looking up at me.

  “I’m not late. I got here right on time. Sorry that you’re so engrossed with your phone that you didn’t notice my arrival.”

  “It’s your phone,” she said, looking up at me and handing it over. Her brown eyes tore through me as I reached for the phone. I purposely skimmed her fingers, which she delightfully was affected by. I didn’t care what she said or how much she tried to push me away, she felt the same thing I felt when we were around each other; the only problem was, I wasn’t denying my feelings and she was.

  “Thanks. Is this the new iPhone 6?” I asked, while thinking about the one in my pocket that was a couple of generations old.

  “Yeah, be careful with it, though. A lot of the guys love leaving their phones in their pockets during photo shoots, which normally involve water…well, you understand what happens after that. Any replacement phones come out of your paycheck.”

  “Yikes, I don’t need to foot that bill,” I said, while pushing the home button on my phone. A picture of Darth Vader popped up and I laughed out loud. “Amazing wallpaper.”

  “Thought you might like that,” she said with a sly smile.

  “I would have enjoyed little Solo with cinnamon bun hair more, though.”

  “That picture, unfortunately, doesn’t exist.”

  “Such a shame,” I shook my head.

  “Alright, let’s get this over with. I have a lot to do today. Help me up?” she held out her hand and I gladly took it in mine, lifting her up to a standing position.

  “Seriously, where did you get that shirt?”

  “Thrift store find.”

  “Wow…that is quite a treasure.”

  “I know, right?” Solo said with excitement in her voice. “I couldn’t believe my luck. Thrift stores out here are awesome, because all the rich people just get rid of their stuff and they barely wear it. We should go some time, that is, if you’re into that kind of shopping.”

  “I don’t really shop all that much, but if you find fucking awesome shirts like that, I’m game. Thrift stores in Nebraska are more like taking a trip back in the past. I think they are more for Halloween costumes than anything.”

  “I can see that,” Solo laughed, as she guided me to a table that had some papers on it and two computers. “Here,” she handed me one of the computers. “This is yours.”

  “What? For real?”

  “Yes,” she laughed. “It’s so you can keep up with your fans.”

  That comment garnered a guffaw from me.

  “Yeah, okay. We’ll see about that.”

  Solo put her hand on her hip and said, “You know, it hurts my feelings that you think so little of my talents.”

  “What are you talking about?” I asked.

  “I’m in charge of spreading the word about you, introducing you to the world, and making sure that you are pimped properly.”

  “Pimped, really?”

  Solo held up her hand and said, “See this?”

  Laughing, I said, “Yeah, it’s quite the little hand you got there.”

  She shook her head and said, “It’s not just any old hand. It’s a strong pimp hand that is going to make you an overnight sensation.”

  A burst of laughter escaped me as I saw the petite Solo holding up her small hand and telling me how it was her pimp hand. This girl would never cease to amaze me.

  “Noted,” I said, as we both opened the laptops.

  “Now, I already have your social media accounts set up for you. You’re on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. All very important. Your handles are Axel James and your password is ‘I am Jabba,’” referring to Jabba the Hutt, the fat blob in Return of the Jedi.

  I quirke
d an eyebrow at her, “Really, are you trying to give me a complex?”

  She laughed and said, “Just trying to keep you grounded.”

  “You make it seem like I’m going to blow up the social media world. No one knows about me.”

  Solo smiled while she looked down at her computer and then turned it to face me. “I beg to differ.”

  The screen in front of me showed a Facebook profile with my head shot from the casting, and the cover photo was my name, well my model name, etched in grey on a black background and some kind of bad ass tribal graphic spread along the sides, but what really caught my attention was the number of likes my page already had…that page that I had no clue existed.

  I looked up at a smiling Solo in shock. “Three thousand likes, are you kidding me?”

  She blew on her fingers and then started typing, “Told you. I’m kind of awesome like that.”

  “How did you, I mean…what the fuck?” I laughed.

  She patted my shoulder and said, “You can just admit it, Adam. I’m bad ass at my job. Strong pimp hand.”

  “Obviously,” I shook my head in disbelief. “Seriously, how did you do it?”

  She was clicking away on her computer when she said, “Teeg Models has a website and Facebook profile with over a million likes; I just post a little picture of you on our profile and asked the ladies to give you some love. Simple as that.”

  “Well…shit,” I said, as I looked at my profile and then noticed on the picture Solo posted of me there were already several comments. “People commented on my picture?”

  “I guess so,” she said, not really paying attention.

  Out of sheer curiosity, I clicked on the comments so they all dropped down for my viewing, and I started reading them.

  OMG, Axel is my new Boyfriend

  Hey, honey, come give me some love

  <3 I think I’m in love. Look at those gorgeous eyes <3