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After he came to the decision to avoid Serena, they continued to chat, and Blair was talking about how he managed to destroy her mother during their argument.

“You have to be there. I don’t remember my mother running away from a confrontation that quickly ever. It was totally worth the four hours of nonsense I had to listen to afterwards,” Blair said.

“Are you sure, B?” Serena asked. “You wanted to start the internship soon. What if Eleanor doesn’t allow?”

Blair shrugged. “If she doesn’t, she doesn’t. I’m not going to live my life according to what she chooses for me.”

“Sweet,” Serena said, then turned to him. “And, if she doesn’t relent, you can always scheme to take the company from her hands, Chuck style,” Serena said. “Ethan would support it as well.”

Ethan had to admit, it was a masterful piece of passive aggression. At once, Serena managed to remind Blair’s past relationship with Chuck, called Blair high maintenance, and also highlighted the need of Blair depending on her mother for money.

It was at least expert-level bitchy attack.

“Well, if Blair wants to prioritize something as uninspiring as trying to launch a family coup, I guess I would be obligated to support her,” he said dismissively.

Serena’s smile brightened at what she assumed to be something to annoy Blair. It might have, if he hadn’t already been in the process of converting part of his loft to a workshop for her to allow her create her own path.

Blair opened her mouth to answer, but he caught her gaze, and dissuaded her with a shake of his head. Then, he turned to Nate and asked a question. Nate jumped enthusiastically, happy to dissipate the subtle tension.

Nate naturally didn’t miss, because he grew up with the two.

Talking for a few minutes about basketball cooled the atmosphere, dissipating the awkwardness. It didn’t immediately resolve Blair’s concern, as such fears weren’t easy to resolve.

Nate, in the process, was once again trying to hide his feelings while throwing Serena sad glances whenever she wasn’t looking. Ethan sighed. It was just sad.

The rest of the brunch went in a similar vein, with Serena flaunting her charm while straddling the line between friendly and flirting, poor Nate getting tortured by his ‘love’ in the process.

“How about some ice cream?” Serena asked once the brunch came to an end. “We can even get Vespas. The weather is too good to—“

“Sorry, but we have to skip it,” he said before Blair could even say anything. “We have a previous arrangement.”

That surprised the rest of the table, who seemed to be under the impression that Serena’s whimsical demands were always followed. To her credit, they mostly were. He had no intention of following Serena’s whimsical leadership.

“Blair?” Serena asked.

“Yes, we do,” Blair said. “We still haven’t chosen the wallpaper for Ethan’s new place, and you can’t trust a man to decorate,” she said. “He’s simply incapable.”

“Then I will help as well,” Serena said.

That seemed to surprise Blair, but it was her fault. She used the worst excuse to send Serena away.

“Sorry guys, but I’m planning to make that selection process clothing optional. So, unless you’re willing to subject yourself to my ugly mug, we’ll have to pass. Maybe later,” he said.

Blair’s relief was obvious, and so was Serena’s annoyance. Especially since Serena would be happy to be in clothing-optional state, but admitting it openly was out of the question.

Nate jumped in. “Come on, Serena. Let’s leave the new couple alone. They are in their honeymoon period.”

“Exactly,” he said as he shamelessly lifted Blair in a bridal hold. “What are you doing?” Blair gasped, but she was giggling.

“Stealing you away from your friends, of course,” he said, and went to his bike. They didn’t talk before they put on their helmets, and he drove away. Even when he parked it, she stayed silent.

Only during the elevator ride, she break her silence. “Why did you stop Serena from coming?” she asked. Her tone was outwardly angry, trying to hide her relief. “Isn’t she sexy enough for your tastes?”

He chuckled even as he stopped the elevator. “Would you believe that I pitied Nate and his obvious puppy eyes and decided to give him a chance before making a move?”

That made Blair giggle. “It was rather sickening, wasn’t it? He was like a sick puppy, begging for attention, only to be ignored.” Her words were mean, but considering her past with the two, a bit of rancor was normal. Emotions didn’t care for fairness. “But no, I wouldn’t.”

“Good, I would have hated to realize you’re naive,” he teased. “Three reasons,” he said. “The first one is practical, the second one is important, and the last one is fun.”

“That’s a long list,” she said.

“It is. The practical reason is that they can’t come to my place without seeing all the tailoring stuff and asking questions. You can’t run a guerrilla brand if they realize you’re behind it,” he said.

“True,” she said. Then paused. “How about the important one?”

He shifted his stance, grabbed her face with both hands, and gazed into her eyes. “Because I felt that you’re uncomfortable with the idea.”

“I … I’m not. We already had a threesome, and it was amazing!” she said. “I can’t wait for the next one!”

“I didn’t say you’re uncomfortable with threessomes. I said that you’re uncomfortable with the idea of Serena in my bed.” She tensed, ready to argue, because she didn’t want to admit the real reason. “I mean, it’s only normal if you don’t want your best friend in our bed. You don’t have to have a reason,” he said, giving her an out.

An out that, surprisingly, she didn’t take. “I didn’t want her, because I’m sick of stealing the spotlight,” she whispered.

He kissed her until she relaxed. “Luckily for you, I’m not that interested in her,” he said. That made her eyes widen in shock, as if the idea alone was incomprehensible. “I’m greedy. I want my women to be beautiful and strong-willed. She’s beautiful, I’ll admit, but her whole manic pixie dream girl attitude is not for me.”

“That’s my best friend you’re insulting,” she said, flashing annoyance. He chuckled, amused by her annoyance. The relationship between Blair and Serena was absurdly complicated. He resolved her annoyance with more kisses.

“You have to be … nobody's ever picked me over her," she said quietly. "Not once. And, who could blame them? She always shines so brightly—“

He kissed her again, conveying to her that he picked her over Serena, though he suspected that there was another layer underneath her dejection. Maybe some suppressed feelings that were not entirely friendship. But that was too heavy to be talked about in an elevator.

“And, what’s the fun reason?” she asked when they broke from the kiss.

“This,” he said as they entered, and she froze, for two reasons. One, her workshop was no longer in the boxes, but set up properly, ready to go.

She gulped. “But, yesterday … they were all still boxed.”

“I know. Since your mother decided to monopolize your time, I decided to set it up.”

“How,” she said. “These boxes are heavy, not to mention quite a few of them require professional mechanics to set up. The closest time they gave me was two weeks.”

“I’m handy with machines,” he said as he hugged her from behind. “Did you like it?”

“I like it? I love it,” she said, turning back to kiss him hard. “I love … I love it,” she repeated, her last-minute pause suggesting she barely held back a greater declaration.

He let that slide. He didn’t need to rush her timeline. Instead, he kissed her hard. When she pulled back, her gaze was going between the new workshop and his face, her attention split.

He laughed. “You know I won’t be offended if you decided to play with your new toys first. I understand the inclination,” he teased.

She bit her lip, split with indecision. “No,” she declared. “Celebration first, then work.”

“Good call,” he said as he hugged her, carrying her toward the nearest table in her workshop section.

“Not here,” she said, giggling.

“Nonsense, it’s a proper celebration,” he said. “It has to happen in the workplace.”

With that, he set her down on the brand-new work surface, right in the middle of her freshly assembled workshop. The space smelled of fresh wood, fabric, and possibility. She looked around, her gaze bright. “You have a point,” she admitted as she pulled off her shirt, revealing a sexy corset underneath.

She was prepared.

“Beautiful,” he said.

“You should have seen the one from last night,” she whispered, gulping. “It was even sexier.”

He chuckled, and she responded by giving him a deep, hungry kiss. He helped her get rid of her pants in the process, leaving her in that sexy corset.

“God, you’re beautiful,” he murmured, kissing down her neck while his hands roamed over her body.

“And you look like you’re sculpted by the gods,” she whispered, caressing his shoulders. He rewarded with a kiss on her neck, and she moaned loudly, arching her back and pressing her chest toward him.

“Let’s defile your workspace,” he whispered as they got rid of everything but her sexy corset underneath, including her panties. She spread her legs without hesitation, her core wet.

She decided some extra attention today, so he dropped to his knees, pulled her to the edge of the table, and buried his face between her legs. His tongue dragged slowly up her already soaked slit before focusing on her clit, licking and sucking while driving her crazy. Blair’s hands flew to his hair, gripping tightly as she cried out in pleasure. “That feels amazing, yes,” she whispered. “But, I want to feel you inside me.”

He followed her request, sitting on the table before pulling him onto his lap. She lowered her hips enthusiastically, a beautiful moan escaping her mouth. “I love … this,” she moaned, her panic beautiful as she changed her reflexive words at the last moment.

He could see that the cynical part of her was working hard to hide her feelings, but she was having trouble. Normally, he preferred showing his feelings with actions, but he could see that Blair needed him to verbalize his feelings.

“I love … this, as well,” he responded.

He wasn’t lying. She might not be the only woman he had feelings for, but that didn’t cheapen his fondness, not in a way that mattered. He liked her enough to demolish the Upper East Side for her.

She didn’t say anything, but her eyes brightened. In response, he slid inside her, starting to drill even harder without giving her a moment to adjust. She lost the ability to speak. Long and powerful thrusts rocked the sturdy table beneath them.

“Harder,” Blair demanded, wrapping her legs around his waist. He obliged, gripping her hips and pounding into her with deep, relentless strokes. The sound of skin slapping skin mixed with their moans and the creak of the table.

Her moans turned even more intense as he captured her nipple, fucking her even harder, her nails raking down his back, her cries echoing off the walls.

She shattered with a loud cry, her pussy clamping down around him like a vice. It was her strongest orgasm … yet, a combination of her emotional realization, the joy from his gift, and the impact of his perfect body combined to shatter her.

It left her trembling and shivering. “I can … continue,” she whispered.

“No, you can’t,” he responded as he carried her to the bed.

“But I want to,” she whispered, which was countered by her eyelids, already closing down. He kissed her cheek again. “Rest,” he ordered.

“I can’t. I still need to finish my paper, and my sources are at my dorm.”

“I’ll go pick them up, don’t worry,” he said, kissing her before she fell asleep.

Even as he did so, he was thinking about creating a new exercise plan for her, not just about endurance like he teased her, but to help her apparent eating disorder. She needed help, but it was a tricky subject, even with all the advantages he stacked up.

It was a way for Blair to exert control over the world, and he suspected that only when her new brand succeeded and her social life calmed down, she would be able to control.

She was lucky that he liked his women complicated, ambitious, and with enough issues to make life fun.

However, it meant that he was once again free. With his afternoon free, he didn’t know what to do, but since he promised to pick Blair’s books, he decided to handle that first.

He once again used his new motorcycle, as it was far faster in New York traffic. But, when he walked toward the dorms, he found a distraction.

Olivia was sitting on a bench, one that was out of the way, looking put out. “Any chance I can distract you with some really impressive martial arts moves and seduce you, beautiful,” he called from behind.

She turned, looking surprised at his presence. Her expression shifted between annoyance and relief.

“Bad day?” he asked, sitting next to her. She hummed. “From your tone, I’m going to go ahead and guess it’s relationship-related,” he added.

"Good guess,” she said, relaxing a bit. “Dan watched one of my movies."

"And?"

"It’s a cheesy movie, one with a sex scene,” she said. “Nothing too exaggerated, perfectly PG-13, but still enough to ruin the day.”

“Jealousy?”

“More like panic about potentially not being able to match what’s on the screen.”

He laughed. “Yes, because movie sets are famous for being romantic. Nothing like eight different cameras recording every detail while an old man shouts repeatedly to make you repeat the same set of movements twenty times.”

“Exactly,” she said. “You know how it goes. But people from outside the industry don’t understand just how dispassionate and mechanical the actual shooting schedule is.” She shrugged. “I guess that’s one drawback of dating someone ordinary, someone from the real world—“

He interrupted her with a laugh. “Good one.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Calling Dan Humphrey someone from the real world. It was funny,” he said, then paused pointedly. “Wait, wasn’t that a joke?”

“Of course not. Dan is normal. He’s just a boy from Brooklyn.”

Ethan chuckled. “Yes, totally normal, with a rockstar as a father, a billionaire as a stepmother, best friends with an Archibald, hanging with a Bass and famously dated a Van der Woodsen, whose whole life stuck to the Upper East Side,” he said. “Dan might have positive qualities, as I have a feeling the stories from Blair are one-sided. But calling him normal…”

She paused very pointedly as she no doubt revisited the whole relationship.

He wasn’t even exaggerating. The whole relationship was destined to fail, a blip in Dan’s complicated, high-class life that was by no means normal or ordinary. It didn’t help that Dan was still in love with Vanessa, who still shared a room with Olivia.

“He’s not a social climber,” she said.

Ethan smiled. “I’ll give you that, he’s not a social climber. The opposite, actually. He probably still believes that he’s the normal one among his rich friends, not asking why almost every friend he has comes from a blue-blood family.”

Olivia paused. “That means he’s the same as me,” she said, smiling.

He shrugged. “I didn’t claim that you two are terrible for each other. I just said if you want to learn how the real people live, Dan will not be able to guide you.”

“And you can?” Olivia asked.

“Well, unlike him, I actually had to juggle multiple jobs for a living before I got lucky, and had to worry about how to budget to not starve,” he said. “If you want, I can bring you to an actual dive bar of a diner, enough to give you a glimpse. If your movie star sensibilities can handle it, of course,” he challenged.

Predictably, she accepted. “Sure. I’m not scared of a bar.”

“Fine, but you first need to go and change,” he said. “Some kind of hat is a must, maybe something vintage if you have anything in your closet,” he said. “Of course, that depends on what kind of place you want to visit,” he said.

“What are the options?”

“We have the usual, boring normal. Or, we can dig deep, and I can bring you to a real seedy bar, with real danger.”

Her eyes widened in excitement, which was actually a terrible reaction. Trying to visit an actual seedy bar with anyone else could have resulted in real danger. Luckily, he was the exception. “Definitely seedy,” she said. “I want to see the real New York.”

He shook his head in amusement before he gave her a few more advice, then arranged to meet at the parking lot. And, while she went to change, he stopped by to pick Blair’s books, putting them on the side bag.

Five minutes later, Olivia was wearing his spare helmet as they cut through the New York traffic, toward the Bronx, which held some bars that could be called old New York.

[Achievement complete. Take Olivia on a date, for which she lies to Dan about

Challenge: Hard]

[+10 Attractiveness

1 Random Gold Skill

1 Random Gold Reward]

[Bonus achievement complete. Netori effect in play]

[+10 Intelligence

1 Random Gold Skill

1 Random Gold Reward]

Interesting, he thought, even as he picked the stats for both of them. He didn’t expect Olivia to lie to Dan just because he was bringing her along.

It was going to be fun.