“Yeah, I didn’t want to bother you.” I got up and went to stand next to the window, counting the cars that passed on our street.
“I was the one who texted you; why would I be bothered when you actually went ahead and answered them?”
“It was late. I just thought you would be occupied, or out. Why did you say you were calling again?”
“You’re terrible at trying to change the subject smoothly, little one. From now on, you can answer my texts whenever. I forgot to tell you yesterday, but please make sure no one else gets my number from your phone, all right? It’s pure hell when somebody gets a hold of it.”
“If you are worried about my friends, don’t be. Lucy is the only one who knows my password and she would never do anything like that. She might’ve looked a little crazy with all the jumping and screaming yesterday, but she isn’t someone who would steal your number and then bother you.” I paused and thought about it for a second. “However, she might grope you if she ever sees you again so you can worry about that if you want to, but that’s as far as she would go. Still, if you are regretting giving me your number, I can delete it right now.”
“This trying to get rid of me thing is a huge blow to my ego, little one. I hope you’ll stop before you do some permanent damage.”
“I didn’t mean to sound…well, mean, I just don’t want you to worry about it.”
Feeling too wired to just stand in one place, I started pacing the living room from wall to wall. Why wasn’t he just telling me what he thought of the book? Even if he’d read a few pages, surely he would have an opinion on it.
“I’m not worrying, and the reason I’m calling right now is because I wanted to let you know that I talked to Keith, the guy from the movie studio, and they will send the optioning agreement to my agent instead of directly to you.”
I stopped my pacing. “What? Why would they do that?”
“Because I don’t want them to take advantage of you. Tom will go over the contract for us then we’ll meet at my house so you can sign it if you are happy with everything they are offering. Just let me know when you’ll be free and I’ll arrange it. It needs to be in the next few days because I have to leave for Canada on Friday. I’ll be out of town for a few months.”
“Oh,” I mumbled, mostly to myself. That little piece of news settled down in the pit of my stomach, so I bit down on my thumb and tried to come up with the right thing to say. “This is too much, Jason. Despite what I said yesterday, I’m sure you don’t have this kind of time on your hands to babysit your old best friend’s little sister.”
He coughed and roughly cursed on the other end of the line.
“You okay?” I asked.
“Yeah. Sorry. Look, this isn’t about Dylan. This is about you. Wouldn’t you let Dylan help you if he was in my place? At the very least, you can see me as a stand-in for your brother. I won’t let anyone take advantage of your work, Olive. You’ll get what you deserve and nothing less.”
What he’d just said hurled me back to my heartbroken fifteen-year-old self again. It looked like no matter how much I grew up, he would never see me as anything but a sister.
I dumbly nodded and realized he couldn’t see me through the phone so I forced my mouth to open and give him the words.
“Thank you, Jason. I appreciate it,” I said, in a dull tone. “Uh, I have to go right now. My friends are waiting for me, but I’ll text you to let you know which days I’ll be free. You can arrange the time according to your schedule. I don’t want to be a bigger burden then I already am.”
“Little one,” he said, softening his tone. “You couldn’t be a burden to me even if you tried.”
“Thank you. Goodbye Jason.”
Before he could say anything else, I ended the call then powered off my phone completely.
It was a childish and stupid move, but I didn’t want to risk hearing his voice again on the off chance he decided to call me back while I was busy feeling sorry for myself.
Later that night, after I had a long talk with my mom, I learned that she had asked Jason to look after me. Since he was being cast as Isaac, she had thought we would be working together. I had to explain to her that I wouldn’t be involved in the filming process.
After doing some research on the subject, I’d already learned that no director wanted the author to get in the way of how he wanted to shape the movie. He was the big dog and it would mean nothing to him whether the author was happy with the process or not.
Details of the movie aside, I wasn’t sure how I should feel about Jason helping me out as a favor to my family.
I spent some time thinking about what I should do…okay, maybe not a lot of time. After all, who in their right mind would pass up the chance of spending more time with Jason Thorn in his own house? I mean…come on. Even though I wasn’t as brave as Lucy and wouldn’t grope him at first contact, there would be no stopping me from ogling his body and that damn dimple of his.
I was done feeling sorry for myself.
“Bring it on, Jason Thorn,” I muttered with a renewed confidence in myself. After all those years, I’d become the master of loving him from far away. It would be stupid of me not to take advantage of our situation.
Reaching for my phone, I sent him a quick text letting him know that I had no classes on Thursday.
After I went through my nightly routine and returned to my room, his answering text was sitting pretty in my inbox.
Jason: I’ll pick you up at 6 PM and we’ll wait for Tom at my house. Until he can join us, please try not to bruise my ego more than you already have, little one.
I fell asleep with the biggest grin on my face.
Chapter Ten
Olive
Thursday morning, I slowly woke up from my dreamless sleep and became aware of a heavy arm lying across my stomach.
“What the hell?” I said groggily as I forced my eyes open and found Lucy sprawled all over me.
At the sound of my voice, she snuggled closer and threw one of her legs over mine.
“Lucy,” I groaned, trying unsuccessfully to push her away. “Go back to your own bed, dammit. For once let me sleep in peace.”
“I can’t,” she muttered, not even bothering to open her eyes. “Jameson fell asleep after our sexathon. I might have accidentally fried his brain. No matter what I do he won’t budge.” Her face snuggled closer to my breasts. “Mmmm. How do you make your boobs feel so soft yet so firm? I love sleeping on them. Best. Damn. Pillows. Ever.”
“I’m thinking I should sleep with my door locked from now on.”
“I can pick locks, remember?”
“Right. Well, I can’t go back to sleep with you pawing all over me so go back to your own damn bed.”
“I can’t sleep in the same bed with him.” Blindly, she patted my face. “This is comfy. You go back to sleep too, you are breathing too much.”
“Sorry to inconvenience you, you crazy octopus. Why the hell can’t you sleep in the same bed with him?”
“Because.” She stretched out the word as if she was talking to a child. “It was a one-night stand and he is breaking the rules. If I fall asleep when he is in the same bed with me, it will turn into a relationship.”