Three Months and You're Mine (In Too Deep) (2 page)

Emily: "I know, but just remember we all love you and want you to be happy."

Me: "I know, and I'm thankful. I just feel like a little kid sometimes, like nobody trusts me to make good choices.
I'm still pumped for the move in spite of that, though."

Emily: "Good. I'm pumped too
.
"

Me: "Hug Ethan and Sal for me."

Emily: "I will!"

Chapter 2

Zack

It was a warm, cloudless day in Los Angeles, and I knew I'd end up on my motorcycle eventually. But for now, I was sitting in the recliner like every man should do on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

I was almost asleep when
I got a text from an unknown number in San Diego.

Random number: "Hey Zack. This is Meredith, Collin's little sister.
"

That explain
ed the number. I was surprised that was all she'd written. I guess I just thought she'd state her business instead of just introducing herself. 

Me: "Hey Meredith, what's up?"

Meredith: "You can call me Mere. Lots of people do. Or Meredith is fine. It doesn't matter. I answer to both. I'm just getting in touch because I'm moving to L.A. soon and I knew I'd be wanting to go out. I have a few friends up there, but most of them are married, or might as well be. Anyway, thought maybe we could hang out sometime."

I didn't even know it was possible to ramble on a text, but this girl had managed to do it. She seemed nervous, even though I couldn't hear or see her. I tried to think back to how old she was.
I thought she and I shared a birthday. I remembered hearing something about that in the past, but I couldn't for the life of me remember how old she was. I thought she was too young to drink, which made me assume she was probably looking for someone to buy her alcohol.

Me: "
Collin mentioned you moving up here. And as far as hanging out, I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot of each other. We all try to get together quite a bit."

Meredith: "Sounds fun. I'm going to be starting work at Paradise Island, so I'm sure I'll make f
riends there. I'm just scared at the thought of being bored."

Me: "You got a job already? Are you going to be on the show with Bailey?"

Meredith: "I wish. I got a job as a P.A. I'm excited about it though, and my boss said I could audition as an extra sometime. He also hooked me up with the couple who'd be renting me a room. He really just did it because he likes Bailey and my brother, but I'll take it. I think it's a nice place."

Me: "Very cool.
Collin didn't say anything about you having a job and a place to stay already."

Meredith: "He didn't say anything because he doesn't think it'll last. He expects me to fail."

Me: "What makes you say that? I didn't get that impression when he mentioned it."

Meredith: "It doesn't really matter. He's not the only one. Just means I'll be feeling really good when I prove them all wrong."

I sort of felt bad. I wondered why Collin would discourage her. I didn't know what else to say about it. I certainly wasn't going to put words into Collin's mouth when I knew nothing about the situation. I hated to just leave off texting her, so went for a complete subject change.

Me: "Do you have a birthday coming up?"

Meredith: "March 12
th
, just like you."

Me: "I thought so. Only you're not turning 24."

Meredith: "Nope. I'm four years behind on that one.

So she was just turning twenty. I was
most likely
right about needing someone to buy her beer. Collin would kill me, but I didn't have a problem helping the girl out… as long as she didn't start getting in trouble.

Me: "You said you wanted to go out. How are you planning on doing that if you're not 21?"

Meredith: "Oh please! I've been 21 for two years now. I have an ID that never fails. I go out all the time."

Okay. If this wasn't about alcohol, then what was it about?
I assumed she was just interested in going out sometime like she said. I couldn't see Collin being okay with me talking to his little sister, but I hated to be rude.

Me: "Cool. Sounds like you've got all the skills you need to make it in L.A.
"

Meredith: "Now that you mention it, that's actually why I'm texting you. I need you to help me with something."

And there it was.

Me: "Sure. What's up?"

Meredith: "I need you to help me with a sensitive issue."

Me: "
I need more info than that."

Meredith: "
Yeah. I just know this is going to come out wrong even though I've given it tons of thought already."

Me: "Well, now I'm curious."

Meredith: "I want to use you for sex. I need some experience, and I want you to teach me a few things. Please don't worry about me getting attached. I'm asking for your services and that's all. No strings attached."

Shit balls.

I read the text three times, trying to decide how I should respond to it. Regardless of how I felt about having casual sex with Collin's hottie of a little sister, there was absolutely no way in hell I could agree to it.

Me: "You shouldn't tempt me like that. There's no way that would work out."

Meredith: "
Please don't say no that quick. I really put a lot of thought into this before I brought it up, and it would break my heart if you said no without even thinking about it first."

Me:
"Exactly. See, hearts are already breaking."

Meredith: "
Haha. Okay, so bad choice of words maybe. I can promise you my heart won't get broken. Can't a girl just use a guy for sex nowadays?"

Me: "Okay, I'll make a deal with you. If you've put so much thought into this, you probably won't mind waiting a while, so if you ask me again in six months, I'll think about it."

Meredith: "Six months?! What about two?"

I only made the offer for six months because I knew she'd change her mind by then. 

Me: "Four months, and even then, I'm just going to think about it."

Meredith: "Is there nothing I can say to make you want to sleep with me now? Collin said you're more of a player than Ethan. I'm starting to get offended that you're making this so difficult."

Me: "I am a playa, make no mistake about that. Don't be offended, because you're obviously hot, but little sisters are off limits. It's guy code."

Meredith: "
Thanks, I think. And screw guy code. Collin will never know unless you tell him. Three months. Please! I'm just using you for your body."

Me:
"Three months, and at that point I'm still just thinking about it."

Meredith: "Deal."

I was so relieved to get out of the conversation. I told myself not to worry about it. I figured she'd forget about it by the time three months had come and gone anyway.

One of the first things you learn in playa school is that twenty-year-old girls do
not
keep secrets. She could say she'd keep her mouth shut all day long, but that just wasn't going to happen. Girls talk, and that's something I just couldn't chance with her. I hoped it wouldn't ever come up again, but I was satisfied knowing I'd bought myself three months. I didn't text her back. I'd wasted almost an hour on the phone already, and I was ready to get on my motorcycle.

Before I left, I used my phone to look at a photo of Collin's little sister on Facebook. She was a little dime piece, but I never allowed myself to take a look at her like that. She was
so much younger than us, and I'd always considered her a kid. I stared at her photo thinking she didn't look much like a kid anymore.

She wore her hair in a short, messy style that stood on end and flipped in all sorts of directions. For some reason, I felt slightly intimidated by a girl with short hair. She was extremely feminine, so
that wasn't the issue. It was just that shorthaired girls made me feel a little jumpy, like they were feistier than regular girls or something. Meredith's haircut looked natural on her. It almost made her look like she had elfin features. She had these blue-gray eyes, and as I looked at the photo, I started to daydream about taking her up on the offer. Realizing what I was doing, I shook my head as if it could clear her image from my memory, then got out of the Facebook app and slid the phone into my pocket.

After my first few big endorsement checks, I bought myself a house
. It wasn't elaborate, but it was in a good neighborhood, and I was comfortable. My house was only two miles from Ethan's, and since we'd moved to the neighborhood, it wasn't at all uncommon for me to stop by there unannounced. I decided to ride by Ethan's house. He had a bike, and was easy to talk into an impromptu ride.

Their dog
, Sal, was standing at the glass door when I arrived. He was some kind of mastiff, I thought, but I wasn't sure. He let out a couple excited barks, and his tail was wagging non-stop. I knew they wouldn't mind if I walked in, but I waited for someone besides Sal to answer the door.

I was surprised to see
Collin's wife, Rachel, come around the corner. She smiled brightly when she caught sight of me, and I returned the smile even though I was slightly confused. I looked around to make sure I was indeed at Ethan's house and hadn't accidently gone to Collin's by mistake.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" she said as she opened the door.

"I was just about to ask you the same thing," I said.

She reached out for a hug as I crossed the threshold. "Collin and I stopped by to
check out Ethan's new toy."

"I know, isn't it cool?
" I said.

Ethan didn't have anywhere near the endorsements Collin or I had, but he had a few, and one of them was a company that made high-end massage chairs. Ethan was the proud owner of a ten thousand dollar, commercial grade massage chair. That thing felt almost as good as human hands.

"I came by to see if Ethan wanted to take a ride," I said, answering her previous question. "What, like just go drive around?" Rachel asked with a cock of her head.

I smiled, and dangled my keychain in front of her. It was a little silver helmet my s
tepbrother got me when I got the motorcycle.

"Oh, I forgot you guys rode those things. Please don't ever talk Collin into getting one."

I pretended to be really confused. "You mean you don't know Collin has a—" I cut myself off like I'd said too much.

"
Zachary, don't you even try it. I know your tricks."

I smiled and shrugged. Collin had never expressed interest in owning a bike; I just liked to ruffle Rachel's feathers.

I was petting Sal as we entered the main room at Ethan's. Collin was in the massage chair in the corner of the room, and Ethan and Emily were huddled around a laptop.

"I'm making them watch a YouTube video," Rachel said. That also explained why she'd been the one to answer the door.

When the video was over, Ethan and Emily closed the laptop and looked up at me. I told them I was there to see if Ethan wanted to ride, and he immediately got up and started getting ready. I promised Emily I wouldn't keep him out long. Emily wanted Collin and Rachel to hang out longer since Ethan was leaving, but they said they had to go.

"Collin's little sister is moving up here and we have an appointment to go check out a ro
om she's supposed to be renting," Rachel said.

I hesitated, not knowing whether I should say I already knew she was moving up here. For some reason, I felt like I shouldn't let on that I knew. I acted surprised.

"Oh, that's cool," I said.

"Yeah," Collin said, sarcastically. "I just hope she doesn't come up here and start going crazy."

"What makes you think she'll do that?" I asked.

"I don't know. She's quitting school to come up here and try to get acting jobs. She has no experience in acting, and I just feel like she's biting off more than she can chew. Plus
, she's been partying a lot. We share some of the same friends, and word gets around."

"I told Collin she was old enough to make those kinds of decisions," Rachel said. "Deep down he knows he can't stop her from doing what she wants to do, but he worries about her."

"I think she's gonna do fine," Emily said, taking up for Meredith. "She hasn't found something that really makes her happy, and I'm proud of her for trying something new."

"Me too," Rachel said.

Both she and Emily looked at Collin as if to say he should agree with them.

"Okay, but if my little sister gets arrested, I'm
gonna tell her to call you girls to bail her out." Collin didn't mean it. He was extremely protective of his little sister, and would never be so heartless. That didn't stop him from dreading the job of sister's keeper—especially when his little sister didn't want to be
kept
.

All things considered,
I wasn't about to add that she'd already contacted me soliciting sex.