Chapter 211: Epilogue

Jaymeson

Chapter Three

In all my years acting — which was literally around twenty, since my first commercial had been at three years old — I'd never felt this nervous.

I climbed up the side of the fake house and knocked on the window.

Pris's eyes widened as she reached for a blanket from the bed and covered herself, then very slowly she walked to the window and lifted it up.

“What are you doing here?” Her words were delivered perfectly. I even winced, feeling them all the way to my core.

“I had to see you.”

“Haven't you done enough?” she spat. “Leave.”

“Harley—”

“No!” she shouted, pointing her finger at me. “You don't get to say my name. You don't get to say it!” With tears brimming in her eyes, she shook her head. “Leave, Zach. Please.”

“I can't.”

“I'll push you out the window.”

I climbed fully into her room and stood in front of her, whispering, “You wouldn't.”

“Don't tempt me.”

“I already tempt you.” I placed my hand on her chest. “Tell me you don't feel the same. Tell me you don't burn.”

Pris took a few deep breaths, her lower lip quivering as she said hoarsely, “I don't. I never did.”

“Lies.” I gripped her face between my hands. “Why are you lying?”

“It's what you did,” she whispered, lifting her chin in defiance. “I'm just following suit. After all, you lied about everything, including who you were.”

“I didn't…” I shook my head. “I'm still me.”

“You chose your life,” she whispered. “You chose to pull away from your family ties — and you want me to do the same — for what? For a crush?”

“A crush?” I gripped her face harder. “Does this feel like a crush, Harley? Does this feel like it's fleeting?

“I'm scared to breathe, anxious for the sunrise, because I know it means one more day I'll get to see your face. I can't wait to open my eyes in the morning. You take that fear away.

“You take the anxiety away just by being alive. I don't have a crush on you, Harley. I'm in love with you. I love you. I want you. I can't live without you. I don't care what you say.

“Screw what your parents say. What do you feel?”

“I can't—”

“What. Do. You. Feel?”

Tears spilled over her cheeks. “Hopeless.”

“I can fix that.”

“Damaged.”

“I can heal that.”

“Used.”

“I'll make you feel brand new — just give it to me. Give yourself to me. Let me be your rock. Let me be your freaking tower. Just don't run.

The air was thick with tension.

And then Priscilla was kissing me, but she was Harley, but still Priscilla. Had I had a script in my hands I would have tossed it. She was improvising!

But it worked.

I was consumed by her.

I didn't even notice the people around us — something I always noticed when doing a scene like this.

With a grunt, I pushed her against the frame of the bed and then lifted her onto it, hovering over her with my body. In one fluid movement I removed my shirt then removed hers.

Her legs wrapped around my waist, pulling me close to her. With a groan of frustration, I pushed her back enough so I could slide off her shorts, revealing the sexiest damn underwear I'd ever seen.

Then Pris — or Harley — bit my ear.

Dammit. I winced as her hands scratched down my chest. Holy shit. Was this real?

How was I supposed to be keeping my feelings to myself when my girlfriend was showing me just how good she was going to be in bed? Shit. Shit. Shit.

I flipped her over so that she was straddling me, then pulled her bra free.

We'd agreed that she wouldn't go nude, so she had a tan-like bra still covering parts that I didn't want any other guy to see. Ever.

Pulling the covers over us, I waited for them to call a stop to the action. I mean, technically it was supposed to fade to black.

But no such call came.

So we kept going.

I kept kissing.

She moaned.

I grunted.

Pretty sure I swore a few times. Yeah, we were definitely off-script.

If they wanted a sex scene they were going to get one… even though clothes were still technically on, I went through the motions, hoping she would play along. Shit, she was too good of an actress.

Her head flew back against the pillows as her mouth dropped open.

Yeah, I was going to have to watch her to make sure she wasn't pretending to like what I was doing.

Sweating, I mumbled sweet nothings in her ear as I continued to smooth my hands over her body, allowing movie magic to do the rest.

And then, finally, I heard, “Cut.”

Lights went on.

Pris smirked knowingly at me.

And I was trying to think about an old wrinkly naked woman so I wouldn't have to stay under the blankets for the next two hours.

AJ walked up to us to refresh our makeup. I couldn't stop looking at Pris. She was beaming.

Damn, she was beautiful. And perfect.

“Well done.” Danny walked up to us and gave a solitary clap. “Sorry to make you improvise like that, but it just seemed so real that I decided to keep rolling.

“Great,” I said through clenched teeth, only managing a quick look in Alec and Demetri's direction.

Alec was cracking up, while Demetri had his hand over Danny's eyes like a pissed-off parent.

He was scowling. I swear the dude will probably put chastity belts on his own daughters.

****

Three hours later and I was actually literally dying. Okay, so maybe not literally, but a person can't just pretend to have sex for that long without being consumed by it.

It didn't help that I accidentally walked in on Pris showering, then met the wall with my face, almost chipping my tooth in the process.

The minute she walked out of the bathroom, I announced, “We're getting married, then having sex, then having more sex, and—”

“Whoa, there.” Pris laughed. “What's the rush to get married?”

I felt my face heat as I broke eye contact. “I can't have sex with you without marrying you.”

“Are you on drugs?” Pris approached me, her eyes skeptical. “Seriously? Or feverish?”

“No,” I grumbled. “It's just... You're different. I want things to be different, and your dad…” I swallowed. “That's what he would have asked of me.

“He would have sat me in your living room.” At that, I smiled. “He would have put the fear of God in me, and then he would have asked me to respect you — to respect him. And I would have said okay.”

I looked up to see a few tears cascading down Pris's face.

“He would have made me vow to keep our relationship simple, until it was time for something more serious.

Her eyebrows rose.

“Okay, it wouldn't have crossed my mind that much.” I sighed. “The point is, I want to get married now. I want to have all of you, right now. And I want to do things right.”

“Demetri's going to be mad.” She smiled. Demetri and Alyssa's wedding plans had been postponed again because they added extra dates to the tour.

Demetri had made me swear we wouldn't rain on their parade. Oh, look! A raindrop!

“He's always mad,” I argued. “Come on, what do you say?”

“We have two days.” Pris tapped her chin. “We could always take a quick trip to Vegas.”

I was out of the room before she finished speaking. I grabbed two suitcases and began throwing clothes in.

“Wow, you that desperate for sex?” Pris said, entering the room.

“No.” I stopped packing and turned around. “I'm that desperate for you.”

“I love you,” she whispered.

“I love you too.” I threw more clothing in. “And maybe we should wait until after we're married to tell Demetri, just in case he decides to try to stop us.”

“Good call.” She winked. “I'll just let Dani know she has the house to herself for the next two days.”

“No.” My hands froze midair. “She comes with us. She's family. You both are.”

Priscilla didn't answer. Instead, she gave me a loving smile and walked out of the room.

My definition of family had changed so much over the course of a few weeks. No longer was it about divorce or deception or even drugs and cheating.

I had that with Pris and with Dani as well.

I'd finally fallen, and in my landing, I'd found my security — my home.