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“Well, then take your own advice.”
I laughed at that. “You just had to ruin a sexy moment, didn’t you?”
“Hey, you like my direct manner.”
“I do,” I admitted. “And how’s this for direct: let’s check into one of the rooms here in the hotel and fuck until someone complains about the noise.”
A throat cleared.
Tate and I turned to find Dylan and Colm standing behind us. And Korry was there too. All three of them looked highly amused. Well, Dylan and Korry did. Colm looked like he was embarrassed more than amused, his cheeks matching his red hair.
“Um, can we sit down and join you or are we about to interrupt a really raunchy version of your red-carpet PDA?” Dylan teased.
“Sit at your own risk,” Tate quipped as he gave me one last kiss.
When I looked around, I realized that attendees had begun to filter into the salon, and almost half the room was now filled.
Tate leaned in and whispered in my ear. “We’ll stay for a bit. But I’m taking you up on your offer.”
I nodded and squeezed his hand.
Colm sat down on Tate’s other side. I had an apology to make.
I leaned over and offered my hand to Colm. “Reed Larkin, nice to meet you. I’m sorry I ran off earlier.”
“No problem. I was tempted to do the same thing given how nervous I am. This is my first major event. I don’t even know if I’ll be able to eat.”
“You’ll be fine,” I reassured him. “This is a great event to get your feet wet. It’s more about the business side of filmmaking, the role of the press, than it is about individual achievement. It should be great networking for you.”
Dylan sat down beside me, and Korry followed. We got into a conversation about our favorite roles, movies, and people we wanted to work with. Korry chimed in with a funny tale about one of his famous clients, also a fellow actor. Not naming names, of course.
Leah stopped by our table to say hi to everyone and Colm nearly fainted after shaking her hand.
Then Kendrick finally joined us, along with Henn, Charlene, and two other guests, journalists, who were seated at our table of ten.
Four courses later, we were still laughing and having a great time. Colm managed to eat everything on his plate, despite all the talk about his nerves. His phone chimed and he proudly showed us all a picture of his boyfriend.
Tate was right. Colm was a down to earth guy, and really fucking smart. He knew what he wanted for his career, and I could tell that his natural charm was going to get him a lot of call backs. Some people had that ‘it’ factor. They walked into a room, and you immediately wanted to get to know them.
When the awards portion of the evening finally got underway, I realized that Neal Lockwin was sitting at the table beside us.
The dirty looks he sent our way were bad enough, but halfway through the presentations, he leaned over and opened his ugly mouth.
“Why don’t you tone it down? Bad enough you’re shoving your disgusting relationship in our faces.”
Everyone around us went silent. Tate made to stand up.
Korry shook his head at me.
I held his arm. “Don’t. That’s just what he wants. In full view of the press. We’re better than that. Ignore him.”
Tate nodded in agreement.
But Kendrick didn’t.
“The only thing disgusting here is you, Neal. No one likes you and no one wants to work with you anymore. Why don’t you take your small mind and smaller dick and get lost?”
Neal stood up and threw his napkin on the table.
