Page 15 of Faking It with my Bestie's Billionaire Brother

Ava

What Spencer was doing to me was beyond ridiculous. I'd never met somebody that I'd found so irritating who could also turn me on more than I could ever imagine. It's not like I'd ever thought of myself as asexual. But somehow, it felt like I'd been in some icebox, locked away from my sexual desire. It felt like the first time that blood pumped through my veins this hard, making me hot and needy.

As much as this development confused and irritated me, I wasn't going to let the feelings go to waste. As soon as I made it to my apartment, I locked the door behind me, and I did what I usually did before I created my artwork: I shut off my electronics.

To be fair, sometimes, they were still on. But when I felt like I did now, I needed to be completely focused on what I was doing. So, I shut off my phone, drew the curtains, and just dived into working on my latest sculpture

I had a much better feel for how the eyes needed to look on the bust I was working on: smug, arrogant, and prideful mixed with a thinly-veiled passion.

I may not have been taking any kind of payment for this gig, but I would definitely be getting something out of it besides just protecting my best friend. As noble as that might sound, the truth was that this situation would give me the perfect opportunity to get a really good insight on Spencer, which would allow me to get a better understanding on what needed to happen to the sculptures so I could really capture his essence.

After I shut off my phone, I took the plastic tarp off the bust I'd been working with and went to town. I hadn't even realized how much time had gone past until I happened to look up, rubbing my clean forearm against my sweaty brow, and I noticed the clock on my microwave that said it was well past two in the morning.

"Crap," I muttered to myself. Since I'd become a teacher, I didn't really have late nights anymore. Tonight was the latest I'd stayed up since before I started at the school.

I never imagined that I would end up teaching. I had been out on the LA art scene, struggling along with all the other artists. But once Penny decided to get this academy up and going, and she had offered me this position, how could I have said no? For one thing, it was a stable income. That starving artist bit was not nearly as romantic as it looked on TV.

Plus, I really did believe in her vision for the academy, and I loved being able to share my passion for sculpting with the kids. It definitely took my life in a different direction than I'd ever imagined for myself, though. For one thing, staying up past two rarely happened anymore.

Still, I was thrilled that it had happened because I felt so inspired to create.

I felt productive, creative, unstoppable…and so very frustrated.

But I resolved that I was not going to do what I had done the last time I felt so frustrated over Spencer. Something had to give, and I couldn't be traipsing to the shower, touching myself and fantasizing about a man who I also kind of wanted to punch. I needed to set some boundaries for myself, especially if I was going to be working closely with him. It’s bad enough that I’m already creating several busts of him, but sculpting him is just for artistic purposes, I consoled myself. The other stuff was just sexual gratification, and I was a grown woman who could control myself…at least that's what I kept repeating in my head over and over again.

So, I forced myself to just go to bed, going off to dreamland thinking of what it had felt like to be in his arms again.

***

My alarm clock went off the next morning, and I regretted staying up so late. While Spencer had insisted that we needed to meet bright and early, I wasn't sure why it was necessary on a Saturday morning, for God's sake. But when I got a glimpse of those busts underneath the clear, plastic tarp as I passed by my workspace, I decided that those late hours I put in last night were worth it.

I threw on some jeans and an old band T-shirt, and I put on the bare essentials for makeup, mostly to try to cover the circles under my eyes. Then, I snatched up my phone that was still shut off and exited my apartment. I was two steps away from my door when I saw something taped to my front door out of the corner of my eye. It was probably just another invite to a block party. This building was really into throwing get-togethers, and they could be fun. I snatched it from the door, and that was when I saw the curious block lettering on it. It was a note.

Make sure he's worth it.

"What the hell," I breathed to myself, flipping the paper over and seeing that it was blank.

I kept my keys in my hand and in between my knuckles, just in case I needed to stab at anybody. My neighborhood was a relatively safe area, but one could never be too careful, especially when left alone after finding creepy notes on the door.

That note weighed on my mind as I went down the stairs, but I folded it up and tucked it into my bag as I was exiting the building.

It was quiet this time of morning on a Saturday, but when a black car rolled up, I couldn't help but get a slightly ominous feeling. It stopped right in front of me, and I briefly considered turning around and going back inside, but then, the back window rolled down with a serious looking Spencer popping his head out and instructing me to "get in."

I bristled at his demand. But reluctantly, I got inside. "And a good morning to you, Duke," I said, barely spitting out that last word. "Do you know that it can be considered kind of creepy to just roll up to someone on the sidewalk? Not to mention, rude."

"Do you want to know what's rude?" he asked me, danger glittering in his eyes. "Not answering your phone. After the gazillions of times that I called you last night, I have been worried sick. Any number of things could have happened to you, and I wouldn’t have known until it was too late."

I looked at him strangely. "What are you going on about? You watched me walk into the building just fine last night. What did you think, that the bogeyman was waiting for me inside?"

"It's a little more serious than that now, Ava." The use of my name gave me pause because usually, he would give me his hoity-toity Miss Moretti deal.

He turned to his driver and said, "Terrence, there's been a change of plans. We're just going to head back to my place."

"Right, boss," the driver answered.

I looked at Spencer in surprise. "What the hell is happening right now? I mean, I've barely been awake for twenty minutes. You’re being a little much this early in the morning."

"Yeah? Try being awake all damn night because you're worried sick since someone won’t answer their damn phone," he spit out.

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