was on a role. Her attitude about men was typically that they were awful and you shouldn’t trust them, but tonight she preached the exact opposite. She was going soft on me now of all times that I needed her to be a hard ass.
My anger wasn’t far from the surface, but her words made me step back and think. If Jaxon had gone through that, he really could be terrified and lashing out because he’s scared of getting hurt again. I clutched the pillow to my chest. “Taylor, even if he is scared, he hurt me. It reminded me of Aaron. I won’t ever let someone rip me to pieces again while I sit back and do nothing. I’m not sure I can ever forget what he said.”
She hugged me close and ran a reassuring hand down my head. “No one said you had to, honey.”
Too exhausted to move from the couch after my talk with Taylor, I had covered up with a blanket and curled up while she went to the guest room. Stephen finally showed up around four in the morning. He tried to be quiet as he walked through the living room, but his foot caught on the coffee table as he walked by. I reached up and flicked on the lamp. He looked down at me sheepishly. When he saw my red, puffy eyes he sat down next to me.
“So your day was as bad as mine huh?” he asked.
“I’m sorry I didn’t call you earlier. I’m a shitty friend. You should get rid of me.”
“I’m sorry I pouted.”
“I know a text wasn’t enough, but I’m dealing with some stuff,” my voice shook and tears rolled down my cheeks again. I dug my face into Stephen’s shoulder as I sobbed.
“Hey, calm down. I was upset before, but not because you didn’t call and check on me. I’m fine, really. It‘s just a bump. I was being stupid.”
He stroked my hair softly as I cried. We sat there for a few minutes while I tried to pull it together. All I wanted was to go back twelve hours and change how I handled everything.
“Can we talk about it tomorrow? I need to calm down and get some sleep. If I tell you about it now, I’ll just start crying again. Tomorrow’s going to be a long day and I already know it’s going to suck.”
“Sure. Come on.”
“We’ve been so disconnected lately.”
“I agree. For some reason I feel like this movie is going to change everything for us.”
I followed him up to his room and climbed into his bed. He stripped down to his boxers and slid in next to me. My head rested on his chest and his arms wrapped around me; just having him near helped sooth me. We needed to talk, but it could wait until the morning.
No one would believe we’re just friends if they saw us like this, but Stephen and I had never once tried to push our friendship into something it wasn’t. I loved him like a brother, nothing more. The sound of his even breathing and the comforting support of his arms lulled me to sleep within minutes of lying down.
Luckily, I had a later call time than the guys. When I woke up, Stephen had already left for the day. I was determined to go onto the set with a good attitude. Unless I had lines to say with Jaxon, I planned to pretend like he didn’t exist. Offense was the best defense.
The next step in my plan of action was recruiting Amanda and Stephen to help keep Jax away from me. Amanda could tell there was something wrong, but she didn’t push for an explanation. Stephen threatened not to help if I didn’t tell him, but I put him off for a while by promising a full recap later. I debated how much to tell him while we were in front of everyone, because if he got mad it might get ugly. He frowned, but thank goodness he agreed to help.
It wasn’t a secret that I preferred to film with Jax, and as much as I tried to hide my discomfort at working with him today, the tension surrounding us was obvious. The beach scenes were supposed to be carefree and fun, but my mood appeared somber and pissy. Jaxon tried to keep making his way over, but Stephen and Amanda kept their word, heading him off at every pass.
My anger wasn’t far from the surface, but her words made me step back and think. If Jaxon had gone through that, he really could be terrified and lashing out because he’s scared of getting hurt again. I clutched the pillow to my chest. “Taylor, even if he is scared, he hurt me. It reminded me of Aaron. I won’t ever let someone rip me to pieces again while I sit back and do nothing. I’m not sure I can ever forget what he said.”
She hugged me close and ran a reassuring hand down my head. “No one said you had to, honey.”
Too exhausted to move from the couch after my talk with Taylor, I had covered up with a blanket and curled up while she went to the guest room. Stephen finally showed up around four in the morning. He tried to be quiet as he walked through the living room, but his foot caught on the coffee table as he walked by. I reached up and flicked on the lamp. He looked down at me sheepishly. When he saw my red, puffy eyes he sat down next to me.
“So your day was as bad as mine huh?” he asked.
“I’m sorry I didn’t call you earlier. I’m a shitty friend. You should get rid of me.”
“I’m sorry I pouted.”
“I know a text wasn’t enough, but I’m dealing with some stuff,” my voice shook and tears rolled down my cheeks again. I dug my face into Stephen’s shoulder as I sobbed.
“Hey, calm down. I was upset before, but not because you didn’t call and check on me. I’m fine, really. It‘s just a bump. I was being stupid.”
He stroked my hair softly as I cried. We sat there for a few minutes while I tried to pull it together. All I wanted was to go back twelve hours and change how I handled everything.
“Can we talk about it tomorrow? I need to calm down and get some sleep. If I tell you about it now, I’ll just start crying again. Tomorrow’s going to be a long day and I already know it’s going to suck.”
“Sure. Come on.”
“We’ve been so disconnected lately.”
“I agree. For some reason I feel like this movie is going to change everything for us.”
I followed him up to his room and climbed into his bed. He stripped down to his boxers and slid in next to me. My head rested on his chest and his arms wrapped around me; just having him near helped sooth me. We needed to talk, but it could wait until the morning.
No one would believe we’re just friends if they saw us like this, but Stephen and I had never once tried to push our friendship into something it wasn’t. I loved him like a brother, nothing more. The sound of his even breathing and the comforting support of his arms lulled me to sleep within minutes of lying down.
Luckily, I had a later call time than the guys. When I woke up, Stephen had already left for the day. I was determined to go onto the set with a good attitude. Unless I had lines to say with Jaxon, I planned to pretend like he didn’t exist. Offense was the best defense.
The next step in my plan of action was recruiting Amanda and Stephen to help keep Jax away from me. Amanda could tell there was something wrong, but she didn’t push for an explanation. Stephen threatened not to help if I didn’t tell him, but I put him off for a while by promising a full recap later. I debated how much to tell him while we were in front of everyone, because if he got mad it might get ugly. He frowned, but thank goodness he agreed to help.
It wasn’t a secret that I preferred to film with Jax, and as much as I tried to hide my discomfort at working with him today, the tension surrounding us was obvious. The beach scenes were supposed to be carefree and fun, but my mood appeared somber and pissy. Jaxon tried to keep making his way over, but Stephen and Amanda kept their word, heading him off at every pass.
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