Chapter 17

Adam

 

I awoke to Brian shifting around beside me. Had he been that restless all night? And I’d slept right through it?

But then a distinctly canine sigh told me it wasn’t Brian at all. Lola was lying between us, her back against mine, and I was almost to the edge of the bed. And according to my phone, it was only 6:45, so to hell with being awake.

“Really?” I muttered as I turned over. “Do you really need that much space?”

She responded by rolling onto her back—and taking up even more of my side of the bed. I had to laugh. She was hogging an awful lot of mattress, but she was pretty cute like that with her paws in the air and her head squished between the pillows.

And just beyond her was Brian. He was facing the other way, sandy blond hair mussed as he snored quietly. The blanket covered him to the waist but left the rest of his bare torso exposed. Now I could finally see the tattoo on the back of his shoulder, which turned out to be a wolf pawprint. I could take or leave tattoos, but I liked his, and seeing it was an oddly… intimate thing? Like I could see something the rest of the world usually didn’t? I didn’t have any ink of my own, and if I had, it would’ve been all over the internet and gossip rags by now. Short of tattooing the inside of my ass crack or something, there was no hiding anything from the world.

Brian, though, still had a certain amount of privacy. He could get tattoos—three of them that I’d seen so far—and no one saw them unless he wanted them to. He might have friends, coworkers, or family members who had no idea about the pawprint on his back, the caduceus on his pec, and whatever it was he had on his lower leg.

I envied him for that, but it also made my heart sink. He had a private life. If someone recognized him on the street, it was more than likely someone he actually knew, not a stranger who would ask him probing questions or try to take his picture. How long would that last if he kept seeing me? And yeah, he said he could cope with it, but that was easy to say. Back before I’d had my big break, I’d waved off any concerns about the realities of fame because I wanted the life of an actor and everything that came with it. I’d insisted I was ready for it, but I hadn’t been. To some extent, I probably still wasn’t.

For me, it was the price of admission to have my career and everything that came with it. The Filmmaker Award, my bank balance, and having made some movies I was really proud of were all worth the bullshit whenever I tried to leave the house. Usually, anyway.

For Brian, there was no payoff except me. It was one thing for me to decide that the life I got to live was worth the constant media attention. It was another for him to get the same level of attention in exchange for me. For a guy who had no idea what he was doing, didn’t know how relationships worked, and sometimes had anxiety that exhausted everyone around me.

I sighed, wishing Lola wasn’t between us so I could cuddle up against his warm, gorgeous body. Looking at him over his giant dog would have to suffice for now.

And I didn’t see myself pushing him away over the possibility of him hating the media presence. I liked him too much and was too curious about what might happen between us. Deep down, though, I was pretty sure I should be ready for him to get tired of the cameras and push me away. Could I really blame him if he did? When he did?

Well, I thought as I gazed at him, guess I’ll enjoy this while it lasts.

 

~*~

 

I managed to doze off again, and when I woke up this time, the sun was brighter and my phone showed it was a much more reasonable 9:00. There was still a warm, solid presence against my back, but it wasn’t Lola this time.

Brian nuzzled the base of my neck. “Morning.”

“Morning.”

His arm was draped over me, so I found his fingers and gently clasped our hands together.

“How did you get the dog to move?” I slurred.

“Hmm?”

“She was between us. Pushed me damn near off the bed.”

Brian laughed sleepily and kissed behind my ear. “Sounds about right. She got up when I went to take a leak.” He twisted around a bit like he was looking over his shoulder. “So now she’s taken over my side.”

“Oh, I see. So you just came over here because the dog stole your spot.”

“Well, yeah.” He let his stubbled chin graze my shoulder just before his soft lips brushed my neck again. “It’s a good excuse, though, right?”

“Like you need an excuse.”

He laughed and held me closer to him. “I’ll have to remember that, then. Note to self—don’t need an excuse to cuddle up with Adam.”

“Nope. None at all.” In fact, please do. As often as possible.

He chuckled. “So, now that we’re awake, we’ve got a whole day ahead of us. You still want to do the Underground Tour?”

“Could be fun.” But do we have to leave this bed? Because I’m pretty sure that’s not just morning wood pushing against my ass. “What about you?”

“I’m game. Just need to take Lola for a walk first. Maybe we could take her with us and go grab breakfast, then we’ll go into Seattle?”

“Sounds perfect.” Except the part about getting out of bed. “We should probably get a shower first, though.”

“Mmm, yeah. And share one, right? So we don’t waste water?”

“Exactly.”