AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You think she’d be bad at it?”
“I…” Leo trailed off with a grimace. He didn’t think Piper would be bad at it at all. She had the entire audience at the bar eating out of her hand when she was on stage. “It doesn’t matter because we can’t get along.”
Sam stretched his legs out with an air of condescension Leo was none too thrilled with. “You’re telling me you can’t be professional and let bygones be bygones? You? King of telling everyone to leave it off the stage?”
“I’m aware that I’ve worked with people in my career that I don’t like, but it doesn’t mean I have to hire them when I know how difficult they’ll be to work with.”
“So, you think she’s the one who can’t be professional?” Sam pried.
Unlikely. Piper was always organized and punctual. Most people enjoyed her presence and got along with her fine. She barely showed emotion apart from false pleasantries, so everyone who didn’t notice that her entire personality was a front found her delightful. But Leo did notice, and he could barely control himself when it came to her. Given the fiasco that very night, who was to say that she would be able to control herself, either?
“I don’t know,” Leo admitted.
“Well, I think you know where I stand.” Sam stood up from the couch and yawned. “We need someone, and working off the list of people who originally tried out for the role has been fruitless. You’re down to our fifth pick now that everyone else has other obligations, and quite frankly, Millicent Underwood has the acting chops of a toddler.”
“I’m aware. Why do you think Moreno and I haven’t picked her yet?” Leo wrung his hands.
The pressure had been on for two weeks. One of the most influential Latino directors of his time was breathing down Leo’s neck to find a replacement, and the lack of options was making Leo want to pull out his hair. If he didn’t figure this out promptly, the letter of recommendation he was hoping to get from Alejandro Moreno for his film school application—which would all but guarantee his acceptance this time—could burn in a fiery pit along with all his hopes and dreams.
“You and I both know Piper could do it. Just think about it.” Sam left the room on that note, not even giving Leo a chance to deflect.
“Fine. I’ll think about it,” Leo huffed to the empty living room.
After wearing a path into the floor pacing the length of his tiny living room, Leo took a shower and headed to bed. The phone he had left charging on top of the particle board desk in his room glowed in the darkness like a silent taunt. Somehow, having Piper’s number felt like an invasion of privacy. Like she could peer through his phone into his soul and suck the life out of him.
“Ridiculous,” Leo muttered before getting up and snatching his phone off the desk. He burrowed back under his sheets and decided that getting the text out of the way immediately would be in his best interest. He was fairly certain that his mom liked lilies, but after perusing the internet for a bit, he ultimately decided on something a little more cheerful and typed out a quick message to the most annoying person in the world.
Leo 11:52 PM
Sunflowers.
The three little dots indicating that Piper was typing popped up a second later.
Piper 11:52 PM
Fine.
Leo chuckled at her response before tapping her contact, homing in on the sunflower he had added to her name. He squinted at it in irritation when it dawned on him that his flower choice and emoji choice were aligned, and he considered typing out a new message to switch the sunflowers to lilies out of spite. But, in the end, that would require him to send Piper another text, which he should be avoiding at all costs. Deleting her number and any trace of her from his phone should have been his next move, but after his thumb hovered over the delete button for too long, he tapped her contact picture instead. His body shifted under the sheets as he stared at Piper callously flipping him off on his screen, and then down her body at the sunflower dress she had been wearing.
You didn’t choose that flower because of her dress, he tried to convince himself.
Leo groaned and rolled from his side onto his back, his phone hovering over his face as his cock twitched between his legs. His fingers itched to get himself off just so he could sleep, and he would have obliged if he wasn’t so frustrated that the picture of Piper was what seemed to be starting him off.
“Chingada madre,” Leo cursed under his breath and threw his phone on the floor before snapping his eyes closed.
Sleep. He could just go to sleep.
It was easier said than done when the backs of his eyelids unhelpfully played back the memory of Piper shivering outside the bar, the swell of her breasts covered in goose flesh, her hardened nipples stabbing through her bodice. It would have been so easy to flick at the buttons near the top of her dress, holding everything together. Just as easy as pulling up the bottom hem around her hips or sucking her middle fingers into his mouth.
His chest rose and fell in rapid, ragged breaths, his cock now standing at attention and aching between his legs. It was so wrong the way his body liked the abuse while his morals screamed at him from the sidelines. So, he pretended he wasn’t thinking about Piper when he finally gave in, fisting his cock and tugging to relieve the pressure. He imagined someone who looked like her, with the same blond and lavender hair, with the same dress, and with the same piercing blue eyes, but with a personality that didn’t make him want to chew gravel.
The pumping of his fist quickened until the sheets were kicked off his legs and his hand was a blur of self-indulgence below him, his mind taking the shaky moral loophole and running with it until all he was left with was shame and a mess to clean up.
Eight
LEO
The stage was Leo’s happy place. The orchestra pit was where he could contemplate and take a step back from anything weighing on him. The seats in the theatre were where he came alive, especially while watching something marvelous happen on stage. He felt the same when he was behind a camera. Unfortunately, all he felt sitting in the front row of the theatre now was the urge to plug his ears. Millicent Underwood was truly botching his favorite song from Guys and Dolls, “I’ve Never Been in Love Before.” On top of that, Alejandro Moreno was sitting at his right, stiff-backed and searing a hole into the side of Leo’s head as if to say “What the actual fuck is this?”
