Chapter 20
JACK
SIX MONTHS LATER
“Jack! Jack! Over here!”
“Over here!”
A dozen flashbulbs went off at once, like a tiny firework display. Alison stiffened beside me, but I kept a firm hand on her back and pressed a kiss to her cheek. Oh, those reporters ate that up like crack candy. I felt Alison giggle a little next to me, still not used to the chaos of the cameras and the red carpet.
“You look beautiful, don’t worry about it,” I murmured in her ear, turning us slightly to the left. “They’re all just jealous they don’t have you next to them.”
She bit her lip and ducked her head, like the beautifully coy woman she pretended to be when surrounded by cameras. We’d only gone public with our relationship about a month ago, after a fuck-ton of speculation and dipshits hiding in the bushes of my apartment. I loved being able to show her off to everyone but she still had her freak-out moments. I couldn’t blame her. It could get overwhelming fast.
We moved on to the next phase of the crowd to do interviews. Lena was just ahead of us, Brianna as her date. Brianna waved with a huge grin on her face and I gave her a thumbs up. This was her first red carpet event, too.
“Jack! How does it feel to be back in the same space with Josh Bowen, given what happened in the courts earlier this summer?” some twit in glasses asked me, shoving a camera in my face. Alison, to her great credit, looked calm despite grabbing my hand and digging in her nails.
We knew this was going to happen, and even rehearsed it a few times, but it was another thing to live it. This, like everything else, I knew we’d get past.
“You know, Josh was also used in this situation. Holding someone’s sexuality as blackmail is a really terrifying thing, no matter how much progress we think we’ve made as a society. He and I have talked a lot since that day in court over the phone, and there’s not a care between us. He’s actually become a good friend. Seeing him tonight is something I’ve been looking forward to.”
“Are you nervous to watch this movie knowing one of the cast members tried to put you in prison?”
“Guys, that’s super old news.” I flashed a signature smile and kissed Alison’s cheek again. “We’re out here to have a good time and are really looking forward to getting the gang back together. Denver’s really knocked it out of the park with this film and my wonderful girlfriend, Alison, did a stellar job casting it. You guys are going to love it. That’s a promise.”
We moved down to the next set. Alison whispered in my ear, “I hope that guy chokes on a bag of dicks later.” I laughed for a solid ten seconds. “What? He deserves it,” she added.
“Jack! How is it to take your girlfriend out for her first movie premiere; one that happens to be a movie she cast?”
“I don’t know, darling.” I winked at Alison. “What do you think?”
“It’s…overwhelming.” She laughed, gracious and beautiful and fierce as ever. “But it’s so exciting to see it all come together and to see everyone’s beautiful faces again. We’ve been looking forward to this for weeks.”
“Let me tell you guys, she’s good, too. You’re going to have your socks knocked off.”
“What’s in the future?” the reporter asked. This is the moment I’d been waiting for. “What do you have coming up?”
“Denver Latmini and I are actually working together on another film right now,” Alison answered smoothly, probably grateful they asked a question we’d already rehearsed. “We’re hoping to convince Jack to come audition.”
The reporter chuckled along good-naturedly. “What do you think, Jack? Do you see another Denver and Alison production for you in the future?”
I smiled so hard my cheeks hurt. “You know, I would love to work with Denver for the rest of my career. He’s a great director, he really is. Hollywood couldn’t do any better. As for this pretty lady?” I dropped to one knee and pulled a box out of my jacket pocket. The shock written over Alison’s face was louder and more brilliant than all the screams erupting from the crowd around us.
Every single eye was on us. Every camera was flashing endlessly. But there was no one else in the world at that moment besides my beautiful woman. Just her and me in the middle of this chaos, the eye of the storm.
I took her hand and pressed it to my lips. “Alison Coleman, you are one hell of a woman. You are the funniest, bravest, most beautiful, most ridiculous, fiercest woman I know. The sun rises and sets around you. There has never been anything in my life I’ve been more certain of than my intense, undying love for you. I could not act again for the rest of my life and be happier than ever if you were by my side. Every minute away from you is colorless. The world we’ve created is so vibrant that I never want to leave. Please, love me as much as I love you for the rest of my life. Spend forever with me, making ridiculous movies and never having to be my babysitter ever again.”
Alison, who’d been hiding behind her hand, laughed. Her face glistened with tears, but she had never been more beautiful.
“Marry me?” I asked.
All of us, the crowds of fans and the camera guys and the reporters and my co-stars and even little Brianna, we all held our breaths together.
Finally, finally, this amazing woman nodded her head and cried, “Yes! Of course!”
I leaped up, scooped her into my arms, and spun her around until we were dizzy and laughing. The kiss that followed? The most explosive, sensual, intense kiss of my life. The first kiss from the future Mrs. Jack Steele. The last kiss from Alison Coleman Who Dates Jack Steele. The start of our future.
Forget all the lights and cameras. We were the brightest things in the room.
The End
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