HDU #2: Dirt (18 page)

He gave himself
another few seconds of gazing at her in only her shorts before pulling her into
him by the pockets.
 
She thrilled
in feeling her nakedness against his as he buried his face in the crook of her
neck.
 
As his tongue drew a hot
line up to her jaw, his hands pulled at her already torn jeans, as if he
intended to tear them the rest of the way off.
 
It didn’t seem impossible considering the loud rip that
sounded after one of his harder yanks of the shredded cloth.
 
Eyes closed, a wide smile spread across
Amanda’s lips when she felt and heard him laugh into her neck.

Her legs wrapped
around his torso, she couldn’t remember when he had lifted her and brought her
up the stairs.
 
By now, her head
was dizzy with the same electrifying pleasure that pulsed between her legs and
compelled her to pump her thighs every time she felt the flicker of his tongue.
 
Her body barely hit his mattress before
her own hands tore at her shorts.

Kneeling on the
bed in front of her, Liam watched her writhe out of the shredded denim, his
eyes gleaming at the sight of her utter impatience.
 
Once she was fully undressed before him, he simply watched
her with that smirk of his, relishing in the need that pinched her brows.
 
He kept still until she arched her back
and groaned, one hand twisting a handful of sheets in irritation as the other
reached for the pillow behind her.

She was pinned
down before her arm could swing it at him.
 
Liam grinned, intertwining his fingers with hers and
bringing both hands above her ahead as he knelt over her.
 
Lowering his face to hers, he kissed
her again, flicking the hot tip of his tongue over her lips, pressing his
midsection against hers when she wriggled with anticipation.
 
The weight of his body easily subdued
hers.
 
Amanda let out another groan
from under him — a longer this time.
 
If this is what he
felt like for the past two months, I have no idea how he did it.

“
Liam
, please,” she finally breathed
against his mouth in desperation.

Liam let go of
her.
 
Immediately, her hands flew
down between their bodies, slipping beneath the elastic of his boxer briefs to
grab hold of his length and wrap firmly around it.
 
Amanda’s jaw fell slightly open as she watched Liam’s reaction
to the long strokes she gave.
 
It
was fascinating to see him overwhelmed with pleasure, to see his eyes squeeze
shut and his arms buckle as they pressed against the mattress above her.
 
Suddenly, it was no longer in his
interest to draw things out.
 
In no
time, he’d snatched a condom from the drawer of his nightstand, tearing its
gold wrapper off before fully shedding his boxer briefs.
 
Holy
shit
.

Amanda’s eyes
feasted on the sight as Liam slid the condom onto every last inch of
himself.
 
Heat flared in her
cheeks, her limbs, between her thighs as she watched his long, muscular frame
hover over her, one hand above her head to balance his weight on the mattress,
the other gripping the base of his erection.

Wrapping her
arms around his neck, Amanda pulled his lips to hers again, opening her mouth
for his tongue again, wrapping her bare legs around him.
 
Her moan was short and breathless when
she felt Liam rub his tip against the part of her that throbbed the most,
running it slowly up and down until she couldn’t take it anymore.

Luckily, neither
could he.

Liam’s growl was
thick with pleasure as he sunk himself into her.
 
Holding tight onto Amanda’s waist, he watched her back arch
with each of his long, deep thrusts, her moans joining every one of his lustful
grunts.
 
When her arms reached out
for him, he took her cue, lowering himself so that she could once again wrap
her arms around his neck and press her lips against his, filled to the brim
with ecstasy and too overwhelmed with pleasure to wonder when they would even
get to be this close again.

Chapter 10

LIAMANDA “BREAKS UP,” LIAM SIGNS
ONTO “THE LEGENDS”

The Pop Source

July 20
^th

It’s been a strange 36 hours
but after being outed as a fake couple, Liam Brody and Amanda Nathan have
announced this morning that they have “broken up.”
 
While emails between the two indeed revealed the false and
premeditated nature of their relationship, some voices —
 
including that of publicist to Nathan,
Wendy Krentz — are claiming that while the romance began as fake, it
eventually developed into one of real feelings.

If that is indeed the case,
it appears as if Brody and Nathan were unable to make it work anyway.
 
This morning, a joint statement was
released quoting the following:

“Liam and Amanda are no
longer together because of the stress that was put upon their relationship in
recent days, however they wish the best for one another and will remain on good
terms.
 
They appreciate the public’s
respect of their privacy and do not wish to speak of recent incidents, rumors
or their past and present relationship.
 
Thank you.”

Meanwhile, it seems Brody’s
career hasn’t taken a hit following the scandal as he confirmed recent casting
rumors and officially signed his contract to star in Terrence Rambis’s
The Legends
on Friday.
 
Via Twitter, Rambis stated the following: “Proud to have
completed casting of
Legends
with
true soldier, Liam Brody.
 
Warrior
mentality, unrivaled work ethic.
 
Looking forward to another masterpiece.”

MEGAN MAYER AND MERIT, MISSOURI
REACT TO THE FALL OF “LIAMANDA”

Pop Dinner

July 21
^st

Surprise! Liamanda was fake
and now the whole town’s a’talkin’!

Let’s be honest here —
between these two conspirators, the Hollywood newbie’s just a little more
screwed when it comes to career-salvaging.
 
Any predictions on how fast Amanda Nathan will end up back
in Missouri? If you’ve got none, let us provide you some from the people who
know best.
 
Besides, you know
you’re curious about what the fabulously bored and sassy folks back in Amanda’s
hometown have to say about the fall of their old friend.

So, who more appropriate to
start with than Megan Mayer? In case you forgot about the 23-year-old brunette
stunner, she’s the one who allegedly slept with Liam while visiting New York in
February, and she had the following to say about former bestie, Amanda:

“I very much got the sense
that something was strange when I visited her and Liam.
 
They were very stiff together and
didn’t share the chemistry that a real couple would.
 
They weren’t affectionate with one another, they never
really touched each other or kissed.
 
Those were definitely red flags.
 
The only reason I let it all go was because Amanda has always been a
very timid, nonsexual person.”

Regarding her alleged affair
with Liam, Megan added the following:

“It’s comforting to me to
know that what I shared with Liam can no longer be considered adultery as he
was obviously not in a real relationship.
 
Hopefully, this means people will stop sending me hateful messages and
calling me a slut or liar — I’m neither.
 
I’m a girl who submitted to her passion that night.
 
As an aspiring actress, I am a very
emotional, passionate being and I strongly believe that that was what connected
me to Liam that night.
 
I can
imagine that we’d make a blockbuster together if I ever had the opportunity to
be in a film with him — our energies simply cannot be contained when
we’re in the same room.”

My, oh my, Miss Mayer.
 
Looks like you thought about this
thoroughly! And now — a juicy round-up of the best quotes from the fine
folks of Merit, Missouri.

“This is the hard truth that
Amanda Nathan’s so-called fans deserve for what they’ve done to my
daughter.
 
Megan has spent months
receiving hate mail and even death threats on Facebook and the Twitter.
 
Amazingly, she has braved through it
all despite the stress of the extremely prestigious and strenuous acting
program that she is currently enrolled in.
 
For representation inquiries, please contact Megan’s manager
at
[email protected]
.”
 
— Alice Mayer

“Even as a child, Amanda was
very unlikeable.
 
I sincerely hope
this incident proves to the world that the liar here is and always has been
her.
 
In middle school, she
frequently forged her mother’s signature on poor test scores and earlier this
year, she struck me in public because I asked her why she didn’t have a
boyfriend.” — Tandy Mueller

“I watched Amanda grow up
next to my beautiful niece, Megan, and I always felt that she was a very
crafty, cunning and manipulative girl.
 
Now that her fake relationship is done, I fully expect her to be fired
from her job and living back home in no time.
 
I’ll give it three weeks.
 
She didn’t earn anything out there in New York City, it was
all given to her because of that boy, and now that she’s lost him, she’ll have
nothing but Merit again, soon.
 
And
she’ll be sorry for ever thinking she was better than anyone.” — Karen
Mayer Davis

“We all expected to see
Amanda back in Merit at some point, anyway.
 
She isn’t Hollywood material and without the Liam guy, she
can’t survive.
 
I look forward to
seeing what she has to say for herself when she comes home.
 
She made her bed, now she’s gotta lie
in it.” — Brad Mueller

AMANDA NATHAN: LOVABLE GIRL NEXT
DOOR OR LYING WANNABE ACTRESS?

Celeb-o-Matic

July 21
^st

Well, relationship aside,
the Nice Girl act was obviously a sham now that we’ve read the email that
Amanda sent Liam back in January, which includes such terms as $1500 weekly
fees (housing not included) and romantic outings in plain view (makeup dates
available in the case of paparazzi no-shows).

And here we were calling her
a shy girl-turned-fierce.
 
Nope.
 
Turns out the girl was fierce all along
— fiercely deceptive.
 
I mean
was she ever the shy girl who squeaked with fear when faced with a rolling
camera? The ball of insecurity who blogged about fashion woes and bloating? Was
she ever the nervous wreck who nearly passed out in fear while doing a little
dance on the stage of the LES nightclub Roue?

Not so much.
 
It was all an act.
 
Why? Because —
shocker alert!
— the girl’s a wannabe actress, just
like 90% of the other folks who get famous for being famous.
 
Put the below pieces together and it’ll
all makes sense about our former friend:

* HDU
moderator/celebrity-obsessed

* Blackmailed Liam for
industry connections/flight to New York/publicity

* Included in contract:
Requirements for Liam to take her out to be photographed

* Played a little too
perfectly into the everyday girl next door role

* Cleans up a little too
well/Quickly opted to ‘Hollywood-ify’ her looks (hair straightening perm, dye
job, probable teeth whiteing, etc)

* Best friends (or former
best friends) with fellow aspiring actress, Megan Mayer

So there you have it.
 
Amanda Nathan was never the underdog,
the inspirational, feel-good Cinderella story.
 
She was just a
story
—
one that she wrote for herself, built from a web of lies mean to warm your
heart.
 
She is an aspiring actress
whom we loved not just because we wanted to but because the girl was darned
near a professional when it came to playing a part.

And to think we called her
America’s Sweetheart.

Three months.

That was the
last time she had been forced to do this.
 
As she sat numbly in the corner of the bed, pressed into the corner of
her wall, Amanda couldn’t help thinking how that really wasn’t a long enough time
ago.
 
She sincerely hoped this
wouldn’t become some sort of quarterly ritual from now on — holing up in
her apartment for two to three consecutive days while hoping for even a little
bit of scandal to blow over, all the while forcing herself to stay away from
the Internet or any TV channels featuring gossip news.
 
And of course, eating three meals of
greasy delivery with the shades drawn to avoid having cameras pointed into her
windows.
 
She was on the second
story but the paparazzi had found ways past that before.

And now, with
the bombshell of her fake relationship revealed, they were trying harder than
ever to get their pictures somehow — even if it meant sneaking into her
apartment disguised as her pizza delivery boy.
 
Since her actual delivery boy never made it, Amanda could
only assume that a paparazzo had paid him to scram.
 
Or they killed him for
his uniform,
she thought to herself with a dark laugh as her phone rang
with the alert she had assigned for Ian’s text messages.
 
Since the bombshell had dropped, she
had gone through her contacts and designated a personalized sound for each of
her friends and family, just so her heart no longer stopped with every ring of
the phone.

Hey, we have your lunch.
 
I’m sorry it’s from Agno… Harper said
you need antioxidant foods because stress can cause inflammation in the body
(?). If I don’t text to be buzzed in within five, the paparazzi trampled me.

Despite the
utter numbness she felt — and had been feeling since her last night with
Liam at his apartment — Amanda managed something resembling a snort.
 
Though he probably meant it as a joke
to lift her spirits, Ian’s text actually wasn’t that far from what could be the
truth.
 
Camped outside her building
for the past three days was a paparazzi crowd so large and shameless that
Amanda wondered how it was legal for them to do what they were doing.
 
They littered her sidewalks with trash
from eating all their daily meals outside her building.
 
They shouted insults and questions at
her from the sidewalk at all hours.
 
Through her window, Amanda could hear them getting acquainted with one
another during down time, chatting about sports and movies to pass the
hours.
 
Only once did they clear
out — after Amanda’s upstairs neighbors had called the police in
irritation.
 
But most of them ended
up staying on the block, several of them simply hanging out at the deli across
the street until the authorities left.
 
Then it was back to camping out.
 
It seemed that they took the day and night shifts so as to ensure they
catch her eventual exit.

But there was no
exiting.

Her hibernation
had been ordered by Wendy while she spoke to her husband about Amanda’s job
with
Leadoff
at ZINC.
 
Miraculously, Wendy was still intent on
fighting for her.
 
Amanda couldn’t
quite understand why but she certainly didn’t care to question it.
 
With or without Liam — though
now, it mattered much more since she was without — Amanda needed her job
on the
Leadoff
writing staff.
 
Rent money was one thing and probably
the most immediately important thing.

But sticking it
to the entire town of smug doubters in Merit was another.

And getting
revenge on Casey was the last but to her, by far the most important.
 
Thanks to her, Amanda had literally no
idea when she would next see Liam.

On the day that
they had been set to release their statement announcing the breakup, they’d
both woken up at 5AM so they could enjoy a long breakfast together.
 
Rising so early had never been so
easy.
 
Circumstances aside, they
had passed out hard the prior night.
 
It wasn’t a huge shock considering their thorough bedroom workout
— the one that had brought Amanda to various realizations, the first
being that she wasn’t in fact the “conservative” and “nonsexual” being that
Megan and Brandt had both described her as in the past.

She just hadn’t
known good sex until a couple days ago.

Since her night
with Liam, the thought of being in his bed again had yet to leave her mind,
which said something considering the other things she had to worry about.
 
But she simply couldn’t stop thinking
about him — about their fight, the sex, the way he’d kissed her in the
morning and talked about anything besides the breakup while cooking French toast
in the kitchen, just so they could enjoy a halfway decent meal together and
pretend that things were normal before they had to be the opposite.

And she couldn’t
stop thinking about her regret, since her second realization of the morning was
how damned much she loved her boyfriend.
 
She had known before but she hadn’t quite realized how much she wanted and
needed him until she knew he’d soon be gone — and all because of a single
person whom she’d made the mistake of trusting.
 
Back when she’d been foolish and a complete stereotypical
newbie.

So sad for you, doll
, Casey had dared to
text after the release of the breakup statement.
 
Because when she aimed to infuriate, she enjoyed doing so in
the fewest number of words possible.
 
Amanda imagined that it was a demonstration of her pure evil.
 
She didn’t need many words to ruin
someone’s day, just like she barely had to lift a finger to ruin someone’s
life.

Recalling a few
old words of Casey’s, Amanda had come to her final realization that morning.

“You haven’t arrived till you’ve gotten
fully screwed.
 
So welcome to the
game.”

Congratulations, me
.
 
She had finally come to know the real
Hollywood.
 
Having been so
thoroughly screwed by Casey, Amanda figured she couldn’t be more officially in
the game.
 
And if that was the
case, it was probably time to start playing.

And playing to win
, Amanda noted.

“Holy Jesus,
dude, I thought they were going to figure it out for a second.”

Ian sucked in a
long, deep breath the moment Amanda let him and Harper into her studio.
 
He hadn’t even needed to text her upon
his arrival — she had heard the crescendo of buzz outside her window from
the near two dozen photographers who swarmed like bees anytime someone neared
her door, even if it was merely some other resident of her building.
 
Luckily, they had mistaken Ian and
Harper for just that.

Both dressed in
a disguise of Amanda’s suggestion — she had seen the upstairs couple
leave for their daily jog about an hour ago — Ian and Harper arrived in
the same cheesy, low-worn visors, pastel zip-ups and running pants that her
neighbors usually wore out.
 
She
had texted them a description of the gear down to the brands and colors,
promising to reimburse the purchases for their clothing and her lunch —
and, since Harper seemed to take it upon herself to give her disguise a full
hundred percent, the wig as well.

“I’m a platinum
girl and you said she was strawberry blonde,” Harper reasoned.
 
“They would’ve noticed the
difference.”
 
It was possible,
considering that strange paparrazo who had noticed the specific days on which
Amanda had worn a pair of plain black heels.

As Harper set
the food from her restaurant on the miniature dining table, unpacking and even
plating the raw foods in the same way the restaurant’s kitchen did, Amanda
pointed at her, flashing Ian an inquisitive look.

“Uh, yeah, she
knows everything.
 
I told her,” he
said aloud with an apologetic cringe.
 
Amanda let her shoulders slump, flashing him a “way to follow my lead”
look.
 
Since rehab, he had
developed a compulsive need to tell the truth at all times.
 
It was fitting considering his newly
adopted lifestyle of being completely and utterly clean.
 
Maybe
that’s why he stays away from most people these days
, Amanda thought, he’ll
tell them anything if they ask.
 
She stood around awkwardly as Harper turned around, holding a squash
blossom stuffed with cashew cheese and pomegranate.

“I won’t tell
anyone that it was Casey.
 
Behind
his whole thing,” she nodded toward Ian, “Or your whole thing.
 
I know that she only gets crazier when
you try to challenge her.”

Amanda cocked a
silent eyebrow.

“She went to The
Cabot School with Casey,” Ian explained, referencing the Upper East Side
private academy known as the stomping grounds of baby socialites from
kindergarten to twelfth grade.

“You did?”
Amanda rushed instinctively to Harper.
 
“And? What do you know about her?” she asked, only realizing how desperate
she sounded once the words were out.
 
Harper shook her blonde head with disapproval.

“There’s no
getting back at Casey Mulreed if that’s what you’re thinking,” she said.
 
“And revenge does the body no good anyway.
 
Karma, girl.
 
Ian and I were just talking about karma with my Pilates guy
today.”
 
Harper looked to Ian for
confirmation.

“Yep,” he
nodded.

Amanda clenched
her jaw.
 
“I wasn’t thinking of
getting back at her,” she lied.
 
“I
just want to know everything I can about the girl who has decided to devote her
life to screwing with mine.”

“If it makes you
feel better, she isn’t devoting her life to yours.
 
Just this year of it.”

“I’m so
relieved.”

“What I meant is
that this has happened to other people before,” Harper said, washing her hands
at Amanda’s sink before sprinkling a handful of pomegranate seeds over a
dish.
 
“If Casey wants something,
she stops at nothing to get it.
 
She’ll ruin careers and reputations for something as small as a specific
venue on a specific date for some random party.
 
She’s been like that since she was a sophomore.”

Amanda paused
for a moment to imagine Casey as a teenaged girl.
 
The mere thought of going to high school with someone like
her sent chills down her spine.
 
Squinting, she cocked her head at Harper who handed her a glass of Kombucha.
 
“Since sophomore year? What was she
like freshman year?”

Harper shrugged,
gathering her hair around her shoulder.
 
“Normal for a teenager.
 
Catty like the rest of us but maybe a little bit less, actually.”

“Was she… a drug
addict then?” Amanda dared to ask.
 
Harper laughed.

“She smoked weed
but that was it.
 
She didn’t even
really drink and I’m pretty sure she didn’t touch coke.”

Both Ian and
Amanda raised their eyebrows with surprise.
 
“You sure?” Ian asked, scratching his head of flat hat
hair.
 
Harper smirked.

“Trust me.
 
I knew who partied then and who
didn’t,” she said, reminding Amanda that her addiction issues had famously
begun even before her teen years.
 
“Casey was actually pretty chill until sophomore year.”

“At which
point…?”

Harper eyed
Amanda’s full cup of tea.
 
“Drink your
Kombucha.”

Damn it
.
 
Wrinkling her nose, Amanda took a sip of what tasted like
vinegar.
 
“I drank it,” she said,
feeling five years old.
 
“What
happened to Casey sophomore year?”

“You’re the gossip
site moderator, don’t you remember? By the way, your site published some
cold
stories about me back in the day,”
Harper teased.
 
Amanda felt her
face flush instantly red, her stomach preparing for a somersault until Harper
cracked a smile.
 
“Not that my
drunk ass didn’t deserve it.”
 
She
heaved a sigh at the sight of Amanda’s still-red cheeks.
 
“Sorry.
 
Had to.
 
Especially since you totally fake-drank the Kombucha just now.”

“I drank it,”
Amanda insisted.
 
Harper’s blue
eyes glimmered with amusement as she watched Amanda attempt another drink.
 
Her laugh was something close to a
giggle now, which was surprising to hear.

“Fine.
 
Well, you know how Casey’s acting thing
started taking off around the time she was like, fifteen.
 
That was when she started being just…
insane.”

“Insane? How
so?”

“I went to
school with fifty other little heiresses who were convinced that every element
of the world existed to serve them — myself included.
 
We were a million times more entitled,
bitchy and conniving than the average teenaged girl but trust me when I say Casey
Mulreed put our shit to shame.”