SWNOVELS Dirty Games: Chapter 5
WORK HAS GOTTEN a little better now that I’m in my second week here. Like most jobs, learning the routine and the personalities you’re stuck working with are the biggest challenges when you start at a new place. Once you get that stuff figured out, things become more routine, and your comfort level grows. People here have all treated me the same since the first day I started—some amazing, like Bella, while my boss Brenda can still be a little standoffish at times, and Gia Whitt, the show’s star, continues to be a snarky bitch to everyone.
Bella says if Gia doesn’t check herself soon, the knowledge she’s difficult to work with will spread through the industry like wildfire and kill her budding career. As Bella says, reality stars are a dime a dozen these days and are easily canceled for one wrong misstep.
Thinking of career canceling reminds me of what Zayn said last week about how he was worried about his career getting shattered over that crazy fan who stalked him. It’s insane he has to deal with that, but I can see why someone would go completely nuts over him. He’s pretty great and amazing to look at.
If I’m not careful, I may develop a full-blown obsession with him too, which is completely unwise and totally wrong, but I can feel myself liking him a little more each time we interact. He’s not the asshole I thought he was when I first met him. He’s actually very sweet and thoughtful, and for the life of me, I can’t figure out why someone hasn’t snatched him up yet because he seems like the perfect catch.
“Vivi, can you take this shawl out to Gia?” Bella asks as she finishes zipping up one of the cast members of the show. “She’s complaining she’s cold and is demanding something to cover her shoulders before she finishes her scene.”
I walk to the back of the dressing trailer where Bella is, passing the girl she just finished with, and pick up the wrap she pointed out. “I’ll get this to her highness right away.”
Bella and I both break out into a fit of giggles. It’s crazy how much a common enemy can draw two people together, making them fast friends quickly.
“When you’re finished, head back this way, and we’ll go to lunch together,” Bella says.
“Sounds great,” I tell her as I turn to head out of the trailer.
Bella has become my favorite part of this job so far. We click, and it’s always a blessing to find that in a work setting. When I worked for Robert’s family’s restaurant, most of the staff was nice to my face but trashed me behind my back because of who I was dating. My co-workers thought I got special treatment and was paid more, but what they didn’t realize is I had it rougher than them because Robert’s father didn’t like me. He did not approve of his one and only son—his heir to the restaurant kingdom—dating a nobody like me who grew up in rural California. To that man, I was trash, and Robert deserved someone prettier and thinner, as he once so graciously pointed out to me. He didn’t understand why Robert started dating me in college and then asked me to move home with him to Las Vegas after we graduated, when he would have much better options, like his friend’s daughter, who is heir to a well-known steak house in Vegas.
Ugh. Stupid jerks.
I shake my head to free myself from all thoughts of Robert because every time I think about him, I get pissed, and it puts me in a bad mood.
The moment Gia spots me with the soft, white fabric, she heads in my direction with a scowl on her face. “Took you long enough,” she snaps. Grabbing the wrap, she throws it over her shoulders. “Fix my hair. Make sure it isn’t messed up because of this thing.”
She’s such a fucking peach.
I fluff her hair and fight the urge to roll my eyes behind her back and make faces at her.
Once I’m finished, Gia spins around and pins me with her gaze. “Next time, don’t make me wait so long, or I won’t be this nice.”
My lips pull into a tight line while I literally bite my tongue before I tell her not to speak to me like that. While I would love nothing more than to rip into her bitchy ass, I know doing so could cost me my job. She is the star of this show, after all, and I’m just the lowly, wet behind the ears production assistant.
Bella is waiting for me outside the trailer with her lunch bag in hand, and it suddenly occurs to me I forgot my lunch sitting on the counter back at Zayn’s place. Fuck. It’s not like there’s food nearby this posh neighborhood, and catering on set is strictly for the talent and higher-ups. What I wouldn’t give for a car at a moment like this.
“Vivi!” A voice I’m beginning to recognize anywhere calls my name.
I glance over and spot Zayn walking around the front of his Jeep. He’s parked it against the curb in the same place where he’s been dropping me off and picking me up every day. He’s carrying the black-and-pink polka-dotted lunch bag I left behind as he struts toward me.
Bella’s deep-brown eyes widen as she takes in the sight of my roommate. “Oh, my God!? That’s Zayn fucking North, Vivi!”
Zayn steps in front of me, and I notice he’s changed out of the gray sweatpants he had on earlier when he dropped me off and is now in a pair of faded jeans and a plain black T-shirt that shows off the artwork on his muscled forearms nicely.
His hair is slicked back, and his gray eyes fixate on me when he holds the lunch bag out to me. “You forgot this at home this morning.”
I don’t even have to risk a glance at Bella to know her mouth is probably hanging open at that little tidbit of news. Instead, I smile at Zayn. “Thank you for this. You didn’t have to do that.”
He shoves his hands deep into his front pockets, drawing my eyes to the corded muscles in his arms as they flex. “I know, but you know how I feel about skipping lunch. You need to eat.”
What is it with him and making sure I eat? I’ve never had someone this concerned about me since…well, never really. If anything, people, including my own father, would tease me and say things like it wouldn’t hurt me to skip a few meals.
Bella clears her throat next to me, and both Zayn and I whip our heads in her direction. It’s clear she wants an introduction.
“Bella, this is Zayn—”
“Zayn North,” Bella cuts me off. “Everyone knows who he is.”
Zayn’s cool gray eyes slide over in my direction while wearing a smirk on his face. He seems to find it comical I had no clue who he was before we met, and this is his perfect opportunity to point out that even my work friend knows who he is.
Zayn shakes Bella’s hand. “You a football fan?”
“Of course,” she replies easily. “Both of my brothers played high school and D2 college ball, so all of my family follows the game. Football was almost like a religious way of life in my house growing up.”
This earns a chuckle as he stuffs his hand back into his pocket. “So you should come to a game.”
“I would love to, but sadly, tickets are too far out of my price range.”
He nods. “You can come as Vivi’s plus-one on Sunday.”
“Sunday?” I question. “To your game?”
This takes me by surprise because Zayn hasn’t mentioned he wanted me to go see him at work. It’s news to me he expects me to come, but I’m glad he’s throwing the invite out. I’ve been curious to see him on the football field and find out for myself why everyone he comes in contact with treats him like a superhero.
“Yeah. Sunday. I already got you a ticket to come watch me in action, so I’ll just call the Devils and change it to two tickets. Your friend can explain the game to you because I know you’ll have no fucking clue about what’s going on.”
My mouth drops in mock shock. “I think I’d be smart enough to figure out the game myself. It can’t be that difficult to play.”
“You’d be surprised by how many rules there are, and you could feel completely lost if you don’t know about all the flags and penalties. Trust me, you’ll need an expert like Bella here.”
Bella’s face lights up, and she nods. “I’ll teach her everything she needs to know.”
“Excellent,” he says with a smooth voice. “I’ll have the car I arranged for Vivi to pick you up too. Give Vivi your address so I can pass it on.”
“Sure thing,” she says.
Zayn turns his attention back to me. “I’ll be back to pick you up at seven?”
“Seven,” I confirm.
“See you then.” He takes a step back before pivoting on his heel and heading toward his Jeep.
Bella and I both stare after him as he hops into the vehicle, waves at us, and drives off.
Bella loops her arm through mine, tugging me close to her. “Girl, you’ve been holding out on me. You didn’t tell me you were dating Zayn North!”
“I’m not dating him.”
She rolls her eyes. “Fucking him or whatever is going on between the two of you. You know what I meant.”
I release a nervous laugh, trying to think of how to best explain my current living situation with the football god. “You’ve got it completely wrong. Nothing is going on between Zayn and me. He’s my uncle.”
“Uncle?” she questions, raising her eyebrow and lifting her lip. “Don’t get me wrong, girl, but the way the two of you were looking at one another didn’t exactly look like family love.”
“Oh, God.” I close my eyes and shake my head. “That came out completely wrong. I meant to say he’s my ex’s uncle.”
“Robert’s? The jackass who abandoned you at the damn airport? That Robert?”
“Yep. Zayn is the uncle Robert set us up to stay with for a couple of weeks while we found our own place.”
Bella’s lips quirk. “Ah. Gotcha.”
I raise an eyebrow as I stare at her. “What’s that look for?”
She lifts her hands in surrender. “No reason. I just think Robert made the biggest mistake of his life sending you to live alone with sex-on-a-stick, Zayn North, and judging by the way the two of you were lusting after one another just a few minutes ago, I give it another week before you two are fucking.”
“Bella!” I scold her. “I can’t do that. He’s Robert’s uncle.”
“Yeah, but he’s not your uncle.” She waggles her eyebrows. “I’d be jumping on that sexy man’s boner any chance I got if I were you.”
I laugh at her and then sigh. “That’s not going to happen. It can’t—for two reasons.”
“And those are?” she prompts.
“For one, he’s my ex’s uncle, and for two, he’s apparently been in some trouble lately with the Devils, and he’s told me he’s not allowed to date right now—a rule his football organization imposed.”
“Oh, right—the woman in the hotel thing. That was all over ESPN. The Devils really told him he can’t date?”
I nod. “Apparently, women are off-limits to Zayn during the season to give it time for his reputation and legal matters to get cleaned up.”
“Well, damn. That dashes any hopes of me or you fucking him.” This time, she sighs. “Let’s go eat so I can drown my sorrows for our cobweb-covered coochies in a pudding cup.”
I laugh and follow her to the tent where we eat, but I feel a tinge of sadness. While I know Zayn and I will never happen, I do enjoy his company, and if I’m honest, I’ve got a bit of a crush on him. When I’m with him, there’s a flutter in my chest that fills with warmth, and sometimes, the way he looks at me makes me wonder if he feels the same way I do. Guess we’ll never know, though, because we’re off-limits to one another.