Senior Year Box Set

“You just said I was a slut. Like you, it’s easy for me to hook up. I suspect that if you wanted to, you could have any guy you chose. The girls tonight weren’t interested in me other than how I looked, and possibly because of my celebrity; I was simply another notch in the lipstick case. Mind you, I would be the last person to say that no-strings sex doesn’t have a certain appeal. There’s a reason I’m a slut,” I said.

“Still not seeing the downside of dumping Phil,” Jill said.

“No, I get that,” I said and chuckled. I wasn’t explaining this very well. “You want to know the best sex I ever had?”

“Rumor has it it was Adrienne,” Jill offered.

I thought for a moment and smiled. She might have me there.

“I will not confirm or deny that we’ve been together. But you’re right; if we had, it would be special,” I said and gave her a faraway look of longing.

Jill punched me in the chest. She could tell I was teasing her.

“Where was I?” I asked, acting confused. “Oh, yeah, why you shouldn’t dump Phil. The happiest I’ve ever been was when Brook and I were together.”

“Even when you dated Pam, Halle, and Zoe, too?”

“It got even better once we committed to each other. I never realized that sex with someone you loved would be so much better than just sex until I experienced it. Not once did I ever regret any of the time I spent with Brook. I can’t say that about some of the people I’ve hooked up with. If I had it to do all over again, I probably wouldn’t cast such a wide net,” I shared.

“Honestly?” Jill asked.

Jill looked earnest; she wasn’t just giving me a hard time. She really wanted to know.

“Okay, some of that was BS. My dick talks me into doing stuff. For the most part, I’m okay with that for now. It’s not such a big deal for a guy to be called a slut. What I don’t want for you is to be thought of like Lisa Felton was. Remember how everyone treated her? Guys were constantly hitting on her, and no one had any respect for her. I don’t want that for you,” I explained.

She considered what I’d told her. Then our eyes locked. Uh oh.

“I wouldn’t be considered a slut if I dated you.”

I’ll give her credit; she didn’t give up. That tenacity would serve her well, I predicted. She would need it if she became a model.

“What’s so wrong with Phil?” I asked to deflect her.

“He has no idea what he’s doing in bed,” she reminded me.

“That can be fixed. I’ll have my brother Greg talk to him, plus you have to help him.”

“How?”

“Open your mouth and give him directions. He wants to please you. Believe me,” I said earnestly.

Her shoulders slumped.

“Okay, I can tell you’re not going to cave. I’ll take him back,” Jill said, not sounding happy.

Phil might be better off with someone who didn’t consider him a consolation prize. It would have been like me dating Peggy Pratt when I first started high school. I would have been with someone way out of my league. I couldn’t begrudge my brother his chance to date his dream girl, even if she wasn’t entirely into him. He wouldn’t care even if I did tell him, so I filed that away.

“Oh,” Jill said, perking up. “I forgot to tell you. You and I are doing a gig tomorrow.”

My head snapped around, and I found Tyler and Adrienne. Their expressions told me they both realized that Jill had just informed me that they’d snaked me into another job. The evil duo knew I would help Jill get started. I just wished they’d asked me first.

“Who with?” I asked.

“Jade. They said you do work for them and I would get some experience. I expect they want to see how I handle everything before they sign me,” Jill said, suddenly sounding well beyond her years.

Mrs. Lacier came over.

“Time to go,” she said, pointing at her watch.

It surprised me when Jill didn’t fight her mother about staying later. She still needed her mom’s approval to model, so she played nice.

◊◊◊

After Jill and her mom left, Adrienne and Tyler decided to call it a night. They’d had a couple of stressful days with a difficult client. Donna and the other models followed their lead and went home as well. That left Tony’s and my groups.

Kevin and I found a couple tables and ordered more drinks.

◊◊◊

“What were you thinking, going off to the bathroom with Kendra and Donna?” Ashley asked once we had a moment alone.

“Wow! You sounded exactly like my mom. The boys don’t stand a chance with you,” I predicted.

“I’m going to make one observation and shut up. You seem to have been a little free with your favors on this trip,” Ashley said.

“You know what? I’m glad you feel comfortable enough to say that. I need someone like you in my life. Usually, I hear the opposite. My friends tell me I don’t go out and have enough fun,” I shared.

“I realize that sounded bad, and I understand that you need to have your fun now,” Ashley continued. “It’s just … I don’t know. It seems like when you do something, drama ensues. I hope one or both of them don’t go out and make a press release like that actress in LA did.”

I couldn’t really argue with that.