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I snap my head in his direction, holding my hand up to let him know that I’ll be there in just one second. He nods.
“I gotta go,” I tell Derek, leaning into him for one more hug.
“Go have fun. I’ll be here waiting for you. No matter how long it takes.” He slaps my ass when I walk away, and I yip.
I head over to my cast, and Natalie, one of my regulars, is waiting for me. I can tell she wants to ask me a million questions.
“Is that who I think it is?” she asks.
“That depends on who you think it is,” I tease.
“Is he in Crave?”
I knew someone would recognize him. And we talked about the possibility of it happening. He told me to lie, so I do.
“No, he just has one of those faces,” I tell her. “Believe me, I wish he was. The guy from Crave is super hot.”
She nods in complete agreement. I’ve known Natalie for a while, but not long enough to tell her who my brother is and that he is in fact in Crave. That’s one of those things I’ve learned to keep close to the vest. You never know who’s being your friend for who you are or who wants to get close to your famous twin brother. Natalie doesn’t come off as the type, but I’ve learned, unfortunately the hard way, that that’s not always the case.
Thankfully, Natalie doesn’t push the issue any further, and Derek stays in the corner with his standard ball cap drawn down, out of sight. We get through the shoot in a few hours and by nine that night, I’m on my way to the hotel with Derek in tow.
We get into our suite, and I immediately tell him that I need a shower.
“You were impressive today,” he tells me.
I stop and smile at him. “Really?”
“Yeah, really. I’m not just saying that because I’m hoping for some shower sex. I had no idea what all goes into filming these workout programs. How many times they start and stop you. The amount of times they have you lifting and doing those cardio moves. You handle it so much better than I would. How do you put up with it?”
I sigh and look at him. I’m happy that he got to see me working today and that he seems proud of me. “It’s not easy. My muscles literally feel like Jell-O, so I can’t hold myself up much tonight. But it’s what I love to do. It’s not easy putting together a program, but it’s one of the first times the director has seen the moves in person. I filmed and sent them to team. It’ll all come together. It always does.”
“You’re amazing and I’m so proud of you.”
I cross the room and kiss him tenderly. “You are amazing, Derek.”
He smirks and lead me into the bathroom, then strips me bare. I step under the spray as he gathers my toiletries from the luggage we brought, and he washes me and rubs at my muscles while he uses the bodywash on me. I appreciate the time and attention he takes on each one.
We order room service that night and then crawl under the covers to sleep. He doesn’t seem to mind that I pass out in his arms. I’m exhausted from the long day we’ve had, and I need sleep. It’ll be a busy week.
And it is. He stays with me all week long while I film. We spend the nights making love since the first night was the only day it was long and grueling for me. When the spot is finished, we head over to his apartment to see the guys and try to hide the fact that we’ve spent four blissful days locked away undetected.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
My work is finished for the week, and somehow he convinced me to come stay with him. I have the time, and I want to be with him. My training with the Courage isn’t starting for another two weeks, so why not? I’m not ready to leave him anyway. I don’t want to think about what it will mean for us when I do have to go back. How will we manage? How will I manage without him? I like waking up beside him, cooking dinner together, or ordering takeout and hiding in a hotel room to eat.
Being in LA with him is different than being back in Corolla. Corolla allowed for him to roam around with just a baseball cap on. As long as he wasn’t flashing a big sign that said I’m with Crave, then all was well. But here in LA, people are more likely to recognize him. There are women and teenage girls that travel to LA specifically to catch a glimpse of a star, and they would be all over these boys if they stumbled upon them.
“Do you miss it?” I ask him when we’re lying in his bed.
“Miss what?”
“Being able to move around without having people swarming you.”
He shrugs and sighs. “It’s all a part of it. And frankly, when I’m here in LA, I don’t go out all that much. I make sure I hit the right events when Dale tells us to. I see the guys and we hang out at each other’s houses as much as we can. But I was never one for going out much anyway. It’s kinda why I have a full bar at my house. Why go out when you can bring the bar here?”
I laugh, thinking of the impressive bar he has off the living room. Derek lives in a studio apartment that only has separate areas for the bedroom and bathroom. The rest is an open floor plan. You enter into a living room with the kitchen directly beyond that. To the left is the bedroom and bathrooms, and on the right you have the dining area and bar. It almost looks like a professional setup, complete with a keg. The black mahogany bar allows for seating for five. Beyond that is an impressive liquor selection that only displays the top shelf items he’s collected. Below that, there’s shelving where the remaining bottles are stored.
The place is the typical bachelor pad, complete with black furniture and scarce decorations. But I like that his couch is long and U-shaped, and it’s not leather. I fully expected leather, but it’s comfy. There are some pictures on wall of the band and their album covers. It makes my heart happy to see that he has a picture of Aiden, him, and me on the wall from when we were kids. We’re all in front of the ocean, and you can see the waves crashing behind us in the background. It makes my heart squeeze a bit knowing that if we do go back there, we’ll be tourists and not locals who own the house with the nice private beach.
