Newly Exposed

  Knowing Zia was in the other room, I kept my distance. “There’s some pool party event in Vegas. She wants to take me and some of the other guys, and I need swim trunks for it.”

  “Oh,” Solo said, her face not showing any emotion. “Let’s get you fitted into something then. Follow me.”

  I followed her to the back where there was a closet full of clothes and walked inside of it with her. I shut the door and pulled her into my chest.

  “Come on, I have to get you your swimsuit, and I can only imagine that I have to start booking flights and hotel rooms,” she said, pushing away.

  “Hey, stop trying to distance yourself.”

  “I know that this is fun for you, but I do have a job I have to do,” she snapped at me.

  Her tone made me release her and step back. She was clearly mad, and I wasn’t doing a good job putting out the fire that was building up inside of her. Instead of pushing my luck, I sat back and watched her rifle through drawers, looking for a pair of swim trunks. She tossed aside a lot of Speedos, which inwardly made me laugh; clearly she didn’t want me showing up in a tiny scrap of fabric.

  I could see the tension in her back as she finally pulled out a pair of white and blue striped board shorts.

  “Here,” she tossed them at me. “Try these on. I’m going to go see exactly what Zia wants.”

  “Solo,” I grabbed her hand and made her look at me. “Please, don’t be mad at me.”

  “I’m not,” she said, as she let out a frustrated breath. “Just, let me figure this out, okay?”

  I nodded and let her go.

  I had a perfectly good pair of board shorts at home, but when I started this job, I was told we had sponsors and we needed to wear their clothing during photo shoots and appearances, so the trunks in my hands must have been from a sponsor.

  I tried them on and they actually felt kind of amazing. They rode low on my hips, which apparently was the look. Unfortunately, it wasn’t because the workout and diet routine that Anzel had me on was trimming me up. Well, it was trimming me up, but not to the point that a medium wouldn’t fit me anymore.

  Needing to make sure I looked alright, I walked out to Solo’s desk and saw her just returning from Zia’s office with a pad of paper and a pen in her hands. When she looked up, she stopped in her tracks, taking me all in.

  I continued forward and said nervously, “Is this alright?”

  I could visibly see her gulp as her eyes scanned my body with heat pouring out of them. She wanted me, and at that moment, all I wanted to do was clear her desk and take her, give her what she wanted.

  “Yes,” she cleared her throat. “That should be fine. I’ll, uh, make sure to schedule you to get your hair touched up before you leave. It’s a little long.”

  “I thought you liked it long,” I smiled, trying to pull her out of her funk.

  “It doesn’t matter what I like,” she said, sitting down at her desk, shutting me out.

  Growing frustrated, I turned around and went back to the closet to change. She wasn’t in the mood, and I wasn’t about to push her. I knew this was hard on her, but she didn’t need to shut me out.

  Once I was changed, I grabbed my stuff, and headed out toward the front. I walked past Solo’s desk, where she was hard at work and said, “I guess I’ll catch you later.”

  She just nodded, letting me know that I should just leave, so I did, even though my heart was heavy. I wasn’t about to beg her to talk to me, not when Zia was a couple of doors down. I would let her cool off, and hopefully, once she got home, she would want to talk.

  ***

  “Can you please tell me why you’re sitting here, sulking over a pile of vegetables and what is that…chicken, when Solo is home?” Scout said, as he hovered over my dinner.

  Solo came home two hours ago and had yet to text me back or come over. Call me stubborn, but I was pretty sure the ball was in her court now.

  “Giving her some space,” I said, while shoving a fork full of asparagus in my mouth. My pee was going to be real ripe in about an hour.

  “That doesn’t sound good,” Scout pointed out the obvious, as he grabbed a piece of asparagus off my plate and tossed it in his mouth. “Dude, is that chicken?”

  “Yes, and get your own fucking plate.”

  “What did you do to it?”

  I looked down at my half broiled chicken and said, “The grill got a little too hot.”

  “I’d say. Looks like the damn thing spent a week in hell.”

  “Don’t you have something else you can do other than bother me?” I asked, trying to chomp through my chicken. Fuck, it was terrible, but I needed the protein.

  “Nope, free as a bird.”

  “Lucky me,” I responded sarcastically.

  “You excited about Vegas? Guess who’s rooming with you?” Scout wiggled his eyebrows.

  “Thank fuck,” I responded. “If I was stuck with Ty, I was going to be pissed. I’m still surprised we don’t have our own rooms.”

  “They’re suites, but Zia does it so we don’t get caught up in all the women. She likes to make sure we keep an eye on each other.”

  “That doesn’t make much sense; we could just cover for each other if we wanted to.”

  “Yeah, well, she doesn’t know that,” Scout winked at me.

  Interested to learn more about these events, I said, “What happens at these things?”

  Scout grabbed a water from the fridge and sat down next to me.

  “Basically, these big party hotels like to have weekend pool parties. They hire a bad ass DJ, scatter bartenders every five feet, and pack the joint with attractive people. Guests and party goers come to have a good time, get a little naughty, and pretty much get wasted all afternoon. They’re fucking fun, man. We just show up, take pictures with Zia, strut ourselves for a few minutes, and then sit back on lounge chairs while babes in hot bikinis give us drinks and feed us. It pays mad cash and we’re done in a day.”

  I nodded my head as I tried to comprehend what I had gotten myself into. If it wasn’t for the cash, I would most likely forgo the opportunity, because all it sounded like was an opportunity for Solo to get supremely pissed at me. I just needed to convince her that, no matter what, she needed to trust me. That was, if I could get her to talk to me.

  “Let me guess, Solo is not too happy about you going?”

  “You could say that.”

  “Well, I can see why. The last pool party we went to that Zia actually attended, Ty cheated on her.”

  “Cheated on who?” I asked, confused.

  “On Solo…” Scout’s words cut off, as he realized what he just said. “Oh, fuck, you didn’t know.”

  Dots started connecting in my head, as I thought about the information Scout just let slip past his lips. Solo and Ty? Holy fuck!

  “I sure as fuck didn’t know,” I roared, as I stood up and grabbed my plate.

  “Dude, calm down. It’s not a big deal…”

  “Yes, it fucking is. Ty was with Solo and she didn’t tell me. That’s a big deal. I mean…does she still have feelings for him?” I tossed my plate in the sink, cringing from the clash of dishes, but I didn’t care too much. My hands went instantly to my hair and I started pulling on the strands, not knowing what to do with the rage that was building in my chest.

  “She doesn’t,” Scout responded, looking fidgety.

  “Oh, and what else do you know about my girlfriend that I don’t?”

  Scout looked around for a second, and then responded, “She doesn’t like cereal because it gets too soggy…”

  “Shut the fuck up!” I roared again, and stormed up to my room, feeling my heart beat heavily against my chest. I could feel every vein in my body pulsing with anger; I was so damn infuriated.

  Once in my room and closed off from the world, I pulled off my shirt because it was too constraining, and tossed it to the side. I flopped on my bed and rested my head against the headboard as I undid my jeans and left them open. I needed t
o fucking breathe. Why wouldn’t Solo tell me about Ty? Was it because she really did still have feelings for him? There was no way, she would never do that, tell me she loved me, while she still liked someone else.

  Then again, how well did I really know her? I thought I did, but our relationship was one big whirlwind. Was she hesitant about me at first because she was still trying to figure out what to do with Ty?

  My mind was spinning from all the possibilities this newfound information brought me when there was a small knock on my door. I could tell from the hesitance in the knock that it was Solo. I didn’t respond; I just looked up at the ceiling. I didn’t know what the fuck to think.

  “Adam,” her small voice came from the crack of the door that she opened. “Can I come in?”

  My throat was tight from anger, so I just kept silent, because I knew if I opened it to say something, I would regret whatever came out.

  Being brave, she let herself in without my permission and shut the door behind her. Her eyes scoured my body and she licked her lips in appreciation. My libido shot to the sky from the glistening of her little pink lips.

  No, I chastised myself for being so easily turned on.

  “What do you want?” I asked, trying not to sound like a bastard, but failing miserably.

  “Can we talk, Adam?” She pulled on her hands as she fidgeted in front of me.

  “What happened when I wanted to talk to you earlier and you wouldn’t even let me speak to you? Well, I’m not in the mood right now to fucking talk.”

  I saw her step closer, which only ignited the fire burning inside of me.

  “Is everything okay? Did something happen with your mom?”

  “What? Why would you ask that?” I said, looking over at her.

  “Because, you seem really upset…”

  “That’s because my girlfriend shut me out today when I did absolutely nothing wrong, and then, come to find out…” a maniacal laugh escaped my throat as I said, “my girlfriend fucking lied to me and never told me that she used to fuck one of my housemates.”

  Just as I suspected, Solo’s eyes widened, and she instantly looked guilty.

  “Yeah, didn’t think I would find out? Well, I did. Do you still like him?” I could feel myself losing control, being a giant ass, but after everything, I couldn’t stop myself.

  “No!” she said quickly. “Why would you even think that? You know I love you, Adam.”

  “Do you?” I asked, as I got off the bed and started pacing my room. “Because, in my experience, when you love someone, you don’t lie to them.”

  “I didn’t lie…”

  “You weren’t honest either, Solo. Don’t you think I would have wanted to know that you were with Ty at some point? I mean, fuck,” I raked my hands through my hair, and then looked up at her. “Did you fuck him?”

  “Excuse me?” she asked, now letting go of her vulnerability and becoming just as furious as me.

  “You heard me.”

  “You know, I came over here to apologize for the way I acted today, and I thought I would find my kind and caring boyfriend, but I guess not.”

  “Answer the question, Solo,” I gritted out.

  Her face scowled at me and she put her hands on her hips in a defensive position.

  “Fine, I fucked him. You happy?”

  No! I wanted to scream at her, hurt her like she was hurting me, but I didn’t. Instead, I turned away from her and went to my window seat, where I sat down, not really knowing what else to do with my body.

  Un-fucking-believable. It wasn’t like she fucked him when we were still together, but the mere thought of Ty’s hands all over Solo’s body made me have heart palpitations. I didn’t like it. I didn’t like that he was ever inside of her and touched her in places only I thought I touched her. Now, every side glance and smug look Ty ever gave me made sense; the mother fucker knew I wasn’t the only one who had been with Solo.

  “Adam…” Solo said as she came closer, seeing that I was in turmoil from the new information.

  I held up my hand and said, “I can’t, Solo. Please, just go.”

  “You can’t, what?” she asked with a shaky tone in her voice.

  I looked up at her and saw tears rimming her eyes; my heart shattered in a million pieces just from that one look, but my stubbornness held out as I said, “I gave you time this afternoon; give me fucking time now.”

  In understanding, she nodded her head and turned around. Just as she was about to shut my door, she turned and said, “I love you, Adam, more than anything.”

  With that, she walked away, taking my damn fragile heart with her.

  Chapter Twenty Seven

  Solo

  Sobs racked my body from my stupidity as I lay on my bed and thought about how Adam was leaving this morning, and I still have yet to talk to him. It’s been two days and he’s kept his distance.

  The night I walked out of his room, Nolly slept in my bed with me and held me as I cried myself to sleep. I hated that I was such an idiot and let my crazy mind get to me. It just gutted me, knowing that everyone got to see Adam so intimately. I hated every aspect of it, but like Nolly told me the other night, I needed to grow the fuck up and get over it, because right now, Adam was not in a position to quit his day job, and I knew that.

  I tried texting him a couple of times, but didn’t get a response. I didn’t think that me being with Ty was really going to bother him that much. Yes, Ty was an ass most of the time, and there was already a little feud between the two, but to stop talking to me altogether didn’t seem fair. Then again, not telling him about Ty was a big mistake on my part.

  More tears streamed down my face as I struggled to get myself out of bed and ready for work. I didn’t want Adam going to Las Vegas with the ever-clingy Zia while he was still mad at me. I didn’t want him taking his anger out on me by doing something incredibly stupid.

  Just the thought of something happening in Vegas had me searching for my breath. My chest heaved and my eyes burned as I tried to gather myself. I was going to be late if I didn’t pull myself together.

  I pulled on an oversized sweater that hung off my shoulder, showing my neon colored bra, and grabbed a pair of black jeggings. Yeah, it was a jeggings day. I threw my hair up in a bun, put a headband on, and brushed my teeth. While I brushed, I looked in the mirror and knew that this was as good as it was going to get today. I looked like a hot mess.

  I slipped on my sandals and walked out of my room, where I came face to face with Adam. His hair was styled in that perfect fauxhawk of his, he was wearing his black gauged-looking earrings and a tight fitting navy shirt along with his board shorts. He was ready for the party. He carried a backpack in his hand, most likely his overnight bag, since he would be flying home in the morning, and in the other hand was his phone. He didn’t look too happy, but then again, why would he be?

  “Hi,” I said meekly, as I looked up at him.

  He removed the gold tinted aviators off of his eyes, which made him dangerously sexy, and looked closely at me. He must have noticed I looked like a zombie trying to pass off as a human on earth, because his eyes softened when he got a closer look.

  Setting his stuff down, he grabbed my hand and pulled me into his chest. With the touch of his hands on my back, I broke down in an instant. Being in his warm embrace, in his loving arms, shattered me in half. I missed him, more than I thought, if that was possible.

  “I’m sorry,” I cried into his chest.

  He rubbed my back and cooed into my ear. He was soothing and comforting, just what I needed before I went to work to face the dreaded social media storm that was going to hit once everyone in Vegas knew Teeg Models were in town. I was dreading the pictures I was going to have to post; I knew it was going to be torture.

  “Hey,” he pulled away and lifted my chin. “I have to get going, but I just wanted to say bye before I left.”

  Wait, what? That was it? His exterior was still a little cold toward me, and I felt helpless; I
didn’t know what to do.

  “Adam, please,” a cry escaped my throat and a tear ran down my cheek, which I quickly wiped away. “Can you please just talk to me for a second? I feel like I can’t breathe knowing you’re mad at me. I’m scared…” I choked on another cry.

  “Solo, I really have to go…” he grabbed his things and started to walk toward the door.

  I could feel him slipping away. I couldn’t let that happen, so I chased after him and said, “What can I do? Please tell me what to do to make this better.”

  He froze and turned to face me. He shook his head and said, “It’s all me, Solo. I can’t get the thought of you and Ty out of my head; it’s driving me fucking crazy.”

  “There was nothing between us, Adam. He was one of the biggest mistakes I’ve ever made, seriously. He made me lose trust in every guy that came my way until you came along. You changed everything, Adam, and knowing that I can’t kiss you and hold you is seriously tearing me apart. I love you,” I cried again, this time unable to control myself. I fell onto the couch and cradled my head in my hands as I cried for the loss I was feeling.

  “Come here,” Adam said next to me, as he sat down on the couch and pulled me onto his lap. I willingly allowed him to hold me into his chest. “I’m sorry, Solo. I didn’t mean to put so much hurt in your heart; it’s just hard. A part of me understands now what you feel when you read the comments on my Facebook posts. It’s not easy knowing the person that you love, that holds the damn key to your heart, could easily be with someone else.”

  “I would never be with him again,” I said quickly. Relief eased my chest from Adam talking to me, only temporary relief, but relief nonetheless.

  “I know, muffin,” he hugged me closer and kissed the side of my head.

  A small cry escaped me at hearing his pet name for me; it was the one thing that I knew if he said, then we would be okay. We had hit a little speed bump, but we were going to be okay.

  “I’m sorry, Adam. I really am. It’s hard for me to deal with you putting yourself out there, but I understand why you have to do it. It’s just going to take me some getting used to, but I promise not to shut you out because that’s not fair to you.”