Newly Exposed (10 page)

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.”

“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 quirked 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

Such a baby face, what I wouldn’t give to lick it

I think he just impregnated me from this picture

The last comment made me step back and look up at Solo. “Uh, these ladies are a little…”

“Excited,” she finished for me.
 

“Yeah, excited.”

“The pregnant one make you feel uneasy?”

“Yeah, rightfully so, right?”