Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 79155 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79155 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
I caught a few glimpses of myself in the background shots, huddled over a booth in the back, away from any of the action.
That was my way, I supposed. Blending into the background, both on the show and right now in real life. I stole a glance over at Kace again, and was surprised to find him looking back at me.
My heart squeezed in my chest, the possessiveness flaring up into a messy mix of affection and desire.
That. That was what I fucking wanted.
His eyes on me. Him thinking of me. The way he did when we were close together, alone in a room away from all of the responsibilities of our lives. What the hell was getting into me? It was as if the moment Kace said it out loud—that he wanted to be friends with me, full stop—my whole body had suddenly protested, throwing a tantrum like a child who didn’t get a piece of candy.
And the realization that I wanted Kace to be possessive of me in front of other people… that was more confusing than anything I’d felt toward him thus far.
“That was the best one,” someone said as it ended a while later. It had been the final episode in the first batch, and more were going to be released on a weekly basis for the rest of the season. It became clear that Charlie was experiencing a little moment of micro-fame for tonight. People had found him hilarious and charming, and after knowing him for years, I could only agree with them.
Soon the camera crew fired up their equipment again, already filming the afterparty for more show fodder. They focused on Kace as much as they always had, but also gave more time to Charlie now, sensing a new onscreen favorite.
“What did you think?” Kace asked me when he finally broke off from the crowd for a moment.
“I think Life of Tomlin is an instant Emmy Award contender,” I joked. “I mean, the cinematic excellence of the part where you were making smoothies outside? Simply unmatched.”
His eyes twinkled. “There is something very humbling about being on a big screen.”
“You looked great up there,” I said. “You’re even better in person, but still.”
“I think Charlie is an even bigger breakout star than me, I’ve got to say. They’re still surrounding him like bees to a flower.”
“And he’s loving every minute of it.”
“You jealous?” Kace teased me, raising his brows. “Going to be a little less camera shy now?”
“Hell, no,” I said. “I was glad to be in the background.”
“I always noticed you,” Kace said. “Looking all thoughtful and hot in the background.”
Kace was being too kind. From what I had seen, most of the scenes with me in them just showed me gazing out toward Kace, probably drooling over him or fantasizing about being closer to him.
Just like real life.
Kace glanced down at his phone, and I saw him tapping through dozens and dozens of notifications. He scrolled through a bunch of congratulations messages, and then navigated over to the internet. He tapped through a bunch of different early reviews of the show, smiling a little as he saw that the reviews were overwhelmingly positive.
“Pretty good shit,” he said to me. “People really seem to like it.”
“I never had any doubts.”
“Look at this one. This says my show is a breath of fresh air for media depictions of gay celebrities,” he said, still focused on his phone screen. “I don’t know how good of a role model I am, but I’m okay with that.”
I looked down at his phone with him as he looked through article after article.
My chest tightened as he landed on one headline, though.
Kace Tomlin’s Parents Speak Out: “Not the Son I Knew.”
I darted a glance up at Kace immediately. It was almost imperceptible, but I saw the switch in his expression as he saw the article, like a cloud had just quickly darkened over his face.
“What the fuck?” he muttered under his breath. “They even found my dad so he could talk about me? He barely knew me.”
“Jesus, Kace—” I tried to say, but he was focused on the screen.
“Huh,” he said, acting nonchalant. But he remained fixed on his phone, scrolling through this article much more slowly than the others.
“You don’t want to read that right now, do you?” I asked gently, already seeing how much it had upset him.
“Dude, they didn’t even watch it,” was Kace’s only response, totally lost in reading the article.
He didn’t respond. I watched as he scrolled down. It was apparently an article of highlighted interviews that a conservative news website had conducted with each of his parents separately earlier this week, in anticipation of the Life of Tomlin premiere. It was the first time either of his parents had said anything publicly about their son, and it didn’t look pretty.