“Hey Chris, nice job on that eviction article,” Deke said, leaning up against Christian’s desk. “Although I still think you should have shopped it around a bit. I guarantee someone would have picked it up. Magazines want as much content about middle America as they can get.”

Christian just rolled his eyes and tried to focus on the latest article he was supposed to be writing. Of course Deke would say that. Aside from being the editor-in-chief of NuLu Magazine, he was also one of Christian’s best friends. He’d been urging Christian to shop out his articles for years, but Christian never had. It wasn’t that he didn’t think he was a good writer. He did. It was just that all the journalists who got published in national magazines had so much experience under their belts. His articles were fine for local magazines, but bigger ones? He had just as much chance getting his blog noticed.

“I’m not kidding,” Deke continued. “I have like… a ton of contacts who would pounce on a story like this.”

“Maybe the next one,” he said with a shrug.

“Look…” Deke leaned down and spoke quietly. “I’m gonna be honest with you. You’re the best journalist we have here. You’re the best journalist in Louisville. There’s a reason you have ins with every single magazine in the city. You’re good. You’ve got to stop limiting yourself.”

Christian looked up, scanning the open office space. A few other writers were stationed at their desks, some of them clacking away on their keyboards, some conducting interviews over the phone. None of them seemed to have heard Deke’s praise, and Christian let out a breath of relief. The last thing he needed was bad blood between him and the other writers because Deke’s voice had carried.

“I don’t think I’m limiting myself. I’m a realist. I know what I’m capable of.”

Deke sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “You’re capable of so much more than this. Just think about it, okay?”

There was no saying ‘no’ when Deke was in a mood like this, so instead, Christian nodded. “Yeah, okay. I’ll think about it. But I’m okay writing articles like this. They’re stories that wouldn’t be told otherwise.”

“No one’s saying not to write them, but you could have a platform. Remember when we were in school? You always wanted to make a difference with the stuff you wrote. This is your chance.”

It was a chance, to be sure, but not the one Christian wanted. When he’d said that, way back in his undergrad days, he hadn’t exactly been talking about bringing to light the issues faced by rural Americans. Instead, he’d wanted to highlight LGBT issues. And while the two weren’t mutually exclusive, he found himself chafing to write more diverse articles than he had been.

“I told you I’d think about it and I will,” he insisted.

Deke stared at him for a few seconds before nodding. “Okay. Good. Hey, a couple of us are going to Taj in a bit. You should come with us.”

Christian frowned and glanced out the window. Since when had it gotten dark out? He checked the clock on his computer. Half past four. His email icon was glowing, signaling a new message, but he didn’t dare look with Deke right beside him.

“Yeah, that sounds good. Let me know when you head out.” The alternative was driving home and spending the evening trying not to tell Mason he’d fucked his cousin. He knew he’d probably have to tell him at some point, but the week after seemed too soon.

“Cool. I’ll let you get back to work, then.”

As soon as Deke was gone, Christian pulled up his email. Sure enough, the message was from Jonah. He clicked on the message to find a YouTube link and the words ‘Watch with headphones.’ Grabbing his earbuds, Christian stuck them in his ears and clicked the link. What followed was a five-minute compilation of one man’s reaction to everything from ASMR videos to makeup tutorials. By the time the video ended, Christian was grinning like an idiot. He pulled out his phone and shot off a text to Jonah.

Christian: Oh my god that was the best thing I’ve seen in weeks. You have no idea how hard it was not to laugh out loud at work.

It wasn’t the first email he’d gotten from Jonah, or even the first text. True to his word, Jonah had texted him when he’d landed in LA, and they’d been messaging off and on for the past several days. They never discussed their week at the cabin. Jonah had asked for time, and Christian was determined to give him that. But that didn’t mean his heart didn’t beat faster when he got a new message.

Jonah: Trust me, I know. I made the mistake of watching it before an interview, and let me tell you, trying to keep a straight face was hard when all I could hear was ‘Her parents didn’t take her to Build-A-Bear when she was young.’

Christian: ‘This a whole Catfish!’

He grinned and stuck the phone back in his pocket, minimizing his email just as Deke walked back over.

“Hey we’re about to head out. You coming?”

“Hm? Yeah. Just gimme a sec.”

Deke raised an eyebrow. “Why do you look like you just got told you won the lottery?”

“What?”

“Don’t give me that. I haven’t seen you smile like that in weeks. Not since—”

“Can you please not say his name?” The last thing he wanted was to be reminded of Ben, especially after his perfect week with Jonah.

“Okay. I won’t say it. Just… you look happy is all. That week away must have done you some good.”

Christian resisted the urge to tell Deke to butt out. Deke was his friend and only wanted the best for him. It wasn’t his fault Christian couldn’t tell him about what had happened at the cabin. But he’d promised Jonah he wouldn’t tell a soul, and he was sticking to it.

“It did,” he said. He stood and grabbed his jacket off the back of his chair. “But you know what’s gonna do me some good right now? A few drinks at Taj.”

* * *

Nestled in the heart of NuLu, Taj was one of Christian’s favorite drinking spots. Taj was part-curiosity shop, part-speakeasy. With brick walls, Edison bulbs, and cozy wood trim, it attracted an eclectic mix of locals from artists and musicians to those who appreciated the antique décor.

Deke found a table in the corner large enough for their group while Christian headed straight for the bar. The bartender, a cute blonde named Lexi, caught his gaze and smiled brightly.

“Hey, you! I haven’t seen you in ages. Where’ve you been?”

Christian shrugged. “I’ve been busy. Went out of town for a few days, had to get caught up on my work…”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m just glad to see you back. So, what’s it gonna be tonight?”

He picked up the menu and glanced at it, even though he knew it by heart. “You know what? I think I’ll have a Maloneyo on the rocks.”

Lexi blinked. “Damn. That kind of Tuesday?”

“That kind of month.”

“I’ll drink to that.”

She grabbed a bottle of Four Roses and measured three shots into a glass, added a large ice cube, and slid it across the bar.

“Starting a tab tonight?” she asked.

“You bet.”

Taking the glass, Christian tipped it toward her in a mock-salute and walked to the back table where the rest of their group had gathered. Deke had managed to convince a few others from the magazine to join them, and they huddled around a table much too small for them. The ones who already had drinks took the inner chairs, allowing those without to make their way to the bar. Christian slid onto a chair and scooted as close as space allowed.

“Everything okay?” Hanine asked, then took a sip of her water.

“You’re the second person who’s asked me that. Maybe I just want to have a drink.” His tone was more defensive than he had intended, and Hanine raised an eyebrow. “Okay, that sounded bad. Yes, I’m fine. I just want to have a nice drink with some friends is all.”

It definitely did not have anything to do with texting Jonah. Deke was right. He was happier since the week at the cabin, but at the same time, he’d never been more unsure of himself or his relationship with another person. Jonah had agreed their time together had been special, but he hadn’t so much as addressed it once he’d gotten back to Hollywood, even though Christian had given him plenty of opportunity.

However uncertain he was about Jonah’s feelings, his own were much more concrete—eight years of trying to move past his teenage crush had been in vain, and he’d fallen deeply and painfully back in love with Jonah.

The realization had him draining his glass, and he quickly ordered a second. Conversation continued around him, and at first Christian tried to keep up, but halfway through his drink, he lost all track of who was saying what. It was only once he had downed his third that he started to regret ordering so much. A hand on his shoulder made him jump, and he blinked slowly up at Deke.

“I think we need to get you home,” Deke said, sounding as though he were underwater.

Christian nodded, immediately regretting it. “Yeah.” He stood clumsily and made his way to the front of the bar, Deke supporting him the entire way.

By the time he stumbled into his apartment, he was slightly more sober, having made the Lyft driver pull over twice—a move he had tipped the driver fifty bucks for—and he was absolutely positive he wouldn’t be going to Taj again any time soon. It was going to be bad enough facing his coworkers the next day, if he ended up going in. Maybe Deke would let him work from home.

Mason was nowhere to be found, which meant he was probably at his girlfriend’s place. So, rather than making a beeline for his bedroom, he curled up on the sofa and reached for his computer. What was Jonah doing tonight? He’d been silent for a few hours. Ever since Christian had gone to Taj, really. There was nothing on Twitter or Instagram, and no new news articles had been published within the last two days about him.

Christian could always text him, of course, but what was more pathetic than drunk texting your crush? No, he wasn’t that sloppy. Instead, he pulled up a blank post on his blog. He let the cursor hover over the title for several seconds before typing “My Week With an A-Lister.” Was it stupid and indulgent? Absolutely. But it wasn’t like he was actually going to post it. All he needed was a place to type out his thoughts. Somewhere he could see them tomorrow and make sense of them.

We all have celebrity crushes. But what if you got the chance to spend a solid week doing everything you ever wanted with them? I had that opportunity last week.

What followed was nearly two thousand words detailing not only the week they’d shared, but some of their history together. How they’d grown up spending summers with each other, the celebrity in question never once knowing that Christian was in love with him. He didn’t go into detail about the sex… much. Sure, there might have been something in there about sixty-nining on the deck, but other than that, he kept it pretty tame. After all, it was more to process his emotions, rather than relive the sexual bits. Those, he remembered quite clearly.

Once he was finished, he sat back and let out a deep breath. Tomorrow, he would look at it after his hangover was gone and figure out how he’d gone from accepting the fact that what they had was a one-time, week-long thing to falling head over heels back in love with Jonah. He ran spell check, just to make sure he would actually be able to read what he’d written. Surprisingly, there weren’t that many typos. More than likely that had something to do with the vomiting on the way home. He read over it one more time, satisfied with what he’d written, then hit Save Draft and dragged himself off the couch and into bed.