Episode 21: Cast Against Type
cast against type: a casting technique where actors are chosen for roles distinctly different from those previously played.
After a beach bonfire with s’mores, Tallulah expected all the graham crackers, chocolate, and marshmallows to wire her son with a sugar rush strong enough to power Las Vegas. But instead, he plopped his head on her lap to gaze at the crackling fire. Nick sat on the opposite side of the pile of flames he built for them, watching her as she smoothed a hand over her son’s hair, half-mesmerized by the fire herself.
The other half of her was lost in thought. Then she blinked in surprise as Nick stood.
“What’s wrong?” She asked, alert, glancing around the mostly empty beach, save for the security.
Nick rounded the bonfire and squatted down to scoop up their son. “He’s asleep.”
That’s when she saw it with her own eyes: a blissful face, adorably oblivious to the world.
“I’ll go put him to bed.”
“I’ll come with you,” Tallulah said, rising to her feet. She dusted off the sand from her legs as she followed his footsteps. The beach house glowed like a beacon against the night, warm light pouring from the expansive windows.
Beckoning them to come in and make themselves at home.
They walked up the private stairs, onto the deck, and went inside.
Tallulah watched from the doorway as Nick placed their son onto the bed, tucked him in, and kissed the little boy’s forehead. Sand and all.
She crossed her arms, admiring Nick in that moment—at him being a good father. It came to him so naturally to be protective, loving, gentle, and playful.
And whenever Tallulah saw them together, her throat would form a hard lump of guilt.
Guilty for keeping Nick from their son for so long.
She hated that.
She hated herself.
But most importantly, she wondered if Nick truly forgave her for what she’d done. Sometimes, she agonized over whether Milo had forgiven her, too.
When Nick straightened his back and looked at her, she fled from the thoughts in her mind. He went to her, stopping before her. The doorway was too small to fit them both, so he gestured to the hallway, his expression unreadable.
“Ladies first,” he said, his tone unreadable too.
“What a gentleman you are,” she teased lightly, hoping to get a reaction out of him.
To get a read on him so she’d be prepared for what was to come.
Tallulah backed out of the doorway, returning down the stairs. Earlier, when she entered the house to get supplies to make the s’mores, she wandered around the house a bit to get a feel for the layout.
That’s how she found a guest bedroom near the kitchen. Tallulah liked how its windows faced the green Santa Monica Mountains and the homes dotting the peaks. She admired how the cloudless blue sky stretched endlessly.
She decided then and there to claim the room as hers.
Nick didn’t question her as he trailed after her.
Tallulah sat on the edge of the bed and pulled her knees up to her chest. She rested her head on top of her knees and wrapped her arms around her legs, holding them close.
He closed the door behind them and took up a spot beside her.
“You’d do anything for me,” she said.
Not a question.
Not a doubt.
Just a simple fact they both knew.
So, he said nothing, his expression still one she couldn’t decipher.
“I need you to go to the Awards without me,” she began, her stomach twisting into knots. “I want to watch you go on that stage, Nick, after they call your name and say you’re the Oscar winner for Best Actor.”
A slight grin played across his lips, but it never quite reached his eyes. “You have too much faith in me, Desiree.”
“You’re going to win. I can feel it in my gut,” Tallulah said, raking her teeth over her quivering bottom lip. “You were destined for this, and I will watch you win it. You say you wouldn’t be A-list actor Nick Bryant if it weren’t for me. Well, then, do this for me, Nick.”
She cut her teary gaze to him. “I need something good right now. I want to see this. I want you to bring home that Oscar to me and your son. It’s what we deserve.”
Nick wagged his head, his chuckle low, throaty, and without a drop of humor. “What about what I want, Desiree? What about what I deserve?”
She parted her lips to speak, but he continued on.
“I deserve to walk you down the red carpet. I deserve to escort you to our seats. I deserve to kiss the hell out of you, whether I win or lose. And if I win,” he paused, his jaw tightening, “I want to look into your eyes when I make that speech. I can’t do that if you’re home hiding from—”
“I’m not hiding,” she cut him off, anger flashing in her veins.
That lie flew off her tongue with a quickness.
But like always, Nick clocked her like a state trooper with a radar gun on a holiday weekend with a monthly quota to meet.
After a beat of silence, she repeated the lie softly, “I’m not hiding.”
Tears cascaded down her cheeks.
“I’m trying to heal, Nick.” Tallulah brought a hand to her mouth to stifle a sob. “Because I’m in pain. I’m in so much fucking pain.”
Nick leaned down, brushing his lips against her temple. Her eyelids fluttered shut, tingles dancing across her flesh, giving way to goosebumps. His mouth planted tender kisses from her temple, down her wet cheek, and to her ear.
“And I want to take that pain away. Let me take it away. Let me do what needs to be done to take it away,” he said, his voice low and steady.
“Nick, what’s happened is done,” Tallulah whispered as captured stills of all they had done in Mexico flickered through her mind, making her head throb and ache. “Millions of people saw things they weren’t supposed to see. You’re used to this. Time and time again, you took it on the chin and kept moving.”
She flinched as ten little words charged through her head.
As you know, Nicky is no stranger to sex tapes...
“So, you think I took it on the chin? Every time a tape dropped, I felt a little bit less human, a lot more fucked up. With every sex tape that came out, I drank a little more to forget. Punished myself in the gym. I fucked my way through Hollywood.” He threaded his hand through her hair, coaxing out shivers and goosebumps from her. “Out of all of those other times, none has hurt more than this. I couldn’t protect you. I should’ve had hotel security do a thorough sweep, but I didn’t. I just wanted you. I wanted to taste you, breathe you, and feel you. I wanted to drown in you, Desiree. I wanted to show you I love you. I wanted everything to be perfect for you, but my carelessness brought you even more pain.”
Her eyebrows jerked up, shock splintering through her. “No, Nick. This is not your fault.” She pulled back slightly to look at him, but his grip on her hair didn’t get her far. “It was wrong of me to assume that because this has happened to you so many times, you weren’t affected. I’m sorry.”
“I need to be strong for you, Desiree. I can’t break. I can’t spiral like the other times,” he said, a pained expression clouding his face. His muscular arm drew around her thick waist, pulling her into his lap. “I want you to stand behind me, Ray, so I can protect you. Protect us.”
His guilt riddled her with holes.
Tallulah rested her forehead against his. “You’ve been so strong for me. You’ve been my rock, and I thought you could weather the Awards alone. It was selfish of me to think that. It was selfish of me to hide behind you instead of facing it with you.”
Her hands gently cradled his bearded face, her thumb caressing the contours of his cheeks. “I don’t want to be those people that make you feel alone, even more alone when you’re with them. I don’t want you to feel like I’ve abandoned you and I’ve left you to the wolves.”
“I’m terrified out of my mind, Nick. But Oscar night is your night,” she continued, nuzzling her nose against his. “And I’ll stand by your side on that red carpet, in that theater, wherever you go. I will follow you. I won’t let the wolves have you to themselves. I want them to know that you’re mine.”
His lips grazed hers, warm breath mingling, his arm coiling tighter around her waist. “From my head down to my fucking toes. I’m yours. That’s a fucking fact.”
Tallulah could feel her heartbeat in her throat, echoing in her ears.
Resonating through her veins with every thump-bump-thump.
She pressed her lips against his tenderly. A tender act he made greedy, deepening the kiss. His hand tangled itself in her hair. Their mouths danced hungrily together, their tongues moving to their own desperate rhythm. She gasped into his mouth, her hands roaming his body, needing to feel him.
Nick peppered urgent kisses on her lips, along her cheek, and down her throat. Her head fell backward, and she arched her back as he yanked up her crochet cover-up dress to bury his face into her breasts.
He groaned, licking between the two mounds.
Tallulah’s breath hitched, her flesh afire with dizzying sensations.
His hand inched down between her thighs—
“Dad!”
The three-letter word was like a bucket of ice water on the heated moment. After a beat, another call filled the air:
“Daaaaaaad!”
“You’ve been summoned, Nicholas,” she said with a breathless laugh.
He lifted his head, his voice a half-disappointed, half-amused, all-sexy rasp. “So, it seems.”
Tallulah gave him a sympathetic pat on the cheek before she took delight in wiggling her ass off his lap and the thick length that tented his swim trunks.
A sound of pure suffering rumbled in his throat. “You did that on purpose.”
“I plead the fifth,” she teased, casting him a wink as he rose.
“I’ll put you on trial when I get back.”
