Chapter 25: My Girl
Allie
As I laid there in Nico's arms trying to catch my breath, I couldn't believe how good that had been. Nico pulled away from me with a kiss to my temple.
"I'll be right back, I need to go take care of this," he said, carefully removing and tying off the condom before getting out of bed. He walked into the bathroom, and I almost drooled at the sight of his bare ass flexing with every step. I heard a cabinet open and close, the sound of the faucet running. "I'll bring you a warm cloth, Sunshine," he called out.
"That's OK, I'll get one," I said, swinging my legs over the side of the bed. It was sweet of him to offer, but there are some things I'd rather take care of in private. I snatched his T-shirt off the floor and slipped it on over my head. I wasn't quite brave enough to parade around naked in front of him. He walked back into the bedroom and came to a sudden stop when he saw me standing there.
His eyes roved over me, stopping on my chest, and then focusing on my bare legs under the hem of the shirt. It hit me mid-thigh, so I was decently covered. "I love seeing you in my shirt, sweetheart, but you didn't have to get dressed on my account," he smirked at me.
I brushed by him on my way into the bathroom, and he made a grab for my ass under the shirt. I squealed and jumped out of the way, then darted into the bathroom and shut the door.
"Spoilsport!" he hollered through the door. "I'm going to grab us a couple of waters. Do you want anything to snack on?"
"Nope, I'm good," I said absently, as I took in my flushed cheeks, wide glassy eyes, and just-fucked hair in the mirror over the sink. I hurried to use the restroom, then used the washcloth he'd left out for me to do a quick cleanup of all the important bits. Tossing the washcloth in the hamper, I ran my fingers through my hair in an attempt to tame it a bit, then opened the door. I could hear Nico coming back up the stairs, so I hurried to the bed and got under the sheet.
He walked in with two bottles of water, a bowl of grapes and my purse. He set the bowl down on the side table along with one of the bottled waters and handed the other to me along with my purse.
"I thought you might need your phone out of there," he said, nodding toward the purse. I fished it out of the side pocket and set it on the table on my side of the bed, then tossed the purse down next to it. I opened the water bottle and took a big swig as he climbed back into bed. I had worked up a powerful thirst a few minutes ago.
"Are you not worried about the cameras getting a shot of you walking around naked? I'm pretty sure that pic would be worth a hefty payday for one of them."
He sighed and shook his head. "No, but I made sure all the blinds are closed and curtains are drawn. I miss the natural lightthat normally floods this place, so hopefully they won't hang around much longer."
I really didn't want to spoil the mood by talking about the media coverage, but we couldn't just ignore it. "Do you really think they will go away soon?"
He shifted closer to me, and wrapped his arm around my shoulder, and pulled the bowl of grapes onto his lap. "Honestly, I don't think they will until they get some photos of us together, or a statement or something. Right now, they all want to get the scoop about us, so unless somebody famous dies or really fucks up, I think they'll keep hanging around." He popped a couple of grapes in his mouth, then held the bowl out for me in invitation.
I grabbed one out of the bowl and asked, "Has Lana said anything about what we should do?"
"I haven't spoken with her since the flight back from New York. She did try to call me earlier, but I was getting ready to pick you up, so I didn't answer her."
Munching on the grape, I reached for another one, then said, "Well, we should probably talk to her sooner rather than later."
He climbed out of bed again and walked over to scoop his discarded jeans from the floor by the door. He grabbed his phone out of the back pocket, tapped the screen a few times and walked back toward the bed. The call connected as he was settling back against the headboard.
As soon as Lana greeted him, he told her she was on speakerphone.
"Allie's here with me, and we wanted to discuss what, if anything, we should do at this point."
"Hi Allie," Lana said. "Are you doing OK with all of this mess?"
"Well, it sucks, but it's nothing I can't deal with."
"Good, glad to hear it. As far as how to proceed, that's really up to the two of you. There are a couple of options. You can just ignore it and wait it out, or you can get ahead of it and control the narrative."
Nico looked at me and rolled his eyes. I grinned. Control the narrative...such a PR thing to say.
"So, what would you suggest?" I asked.
"It depends partly on what the situation truly is. Look, I don't want to get up in your business, but it is kind of my job," she chuckled, sounding a little uncomfortable.
Nico grinned at me and squeezed my thigh. "We're together, Lana. A couple, in a committed exclusive relationship, and we're gonna fucking stay that way."
She laughed as I gaped at him. "Well then, congratulations to you both. With that information, I would suggest releasing a statement, either formally through my office or informally on your social media accounts, whichever you prefer. You can release as much or as little info as you want, maybe a picture of you together, or even with Gracie if you are comfortable with that."
Nico looked at me, and I shrugged. "I think I would prefer an informal statement with a photo, but I'm OK with a formal press release too," I said.
