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I’d told them the truth. “I’ll only keep rolling across your bed until I fall on the floor anyway.”
Because my body wouldn’t ever stop looking for him.
“Hey, cutie pie, heads up,” Bane said, chucking a balled-up paper napkin at my forehead.
I blinked up at him, trying to shake off the morose mood. My yogurt sat untouched on the craft services table in front of me. “Yeah, sorry. What’s up?” For someone playing a dying guy, he was awfully chipper between takes.
“A few of us are getting takeout back at my place after this. You want to come? Willow’s desperate to meet you. She follows you and your boyfriend on Insta.”
I pushed the yogurt cup away from me. Bane was dating a famous singer. Having dinner at their place was another surreal moment. “Yeah, sure. Of course,” I said automatically. “Thanks.”
I brought Evie with me after she almost burst my eardrum with squeals and begging when I told her about it. When we got to the large beachfront condo in Santa Monica, I was sufficiently impressed. It was obviously professionally decorated and cool as hell. The walls overlooking the ocean were all glass, and some sliding doors were open to let the sound of the surf inside along with the sea breeze.
Bane introduced me to Willow right away, who chatted excitedly with me about Cooped Up With Nine.
“How are you doing both projects at the same time? I asked Bane, but he said he didn’t know,” Willow asked, leading me over to the long table full of finger foods and wine.
“Nine is still there. He’s posting prerecorded stuff and catching up on some of the more mundane work.” I took the glass of wine she handed me. “Thanks. He, ah… he insisted I take the role. I didn’t want to ditch him but—”
“Isn’t he the sweetest thing? I could totally see him doing that. The way he looks at you is like…” She put her slender hand against the vee of her low-cut blouse. “Swoony.” She sang a little snippet I recognized from an Ed Sheeran song called “Perfect.”
Your heart is all I own. And in your eyes you’re holding mine.
I tried smiling and nodding, but my hands began to shake. “He’s a good man.” I heard the words come out of my mouth, but I felt outside of my body. It was the phrase I knew he hated even though it was a thousand percent true.
Evie must have sensed my discomfort because she immediately began asking bullshit questions about the apartment like where had they found that sofa and who had done that painting on the wall. I took the opportunity to walk out onto the balcony to catch my breath.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and looked up our Instagram account for the millionth time. There was a new post. Isaac’s handsome face was red from sunburn. If I’d been there, I would have reminded him to use sunscreen.
“Hi, everyone. Another day of my brother’s help with the roof. Coop’s still laid up in bed not feeling well, but he promised he’d put together a great video for you guys as soon as he’s feeling better. In the meantime, Nacho and his friends have a new trick for you guys.”
He stepped back from the camera into the clearing. The phone was probably in the bendy tripod around the porch railing. The fingers came up to Nine’s mouth, and the Winshed Whistle came pealing out. Nacho raced toward him from wherever he’d been in the woods, and Eli’s dogs came running as well. All of them sat immediately at Nine’s feet.
I didn’t blame them.
“Okay, stay,” he said, holding out the palm of his hand to calm them. He grabbed a can of tennis balls off a nearby sawhorse and tossed one a few times in the air. The dogs’ eyes followed it like it was a juicy steak.
He crouched down with his back tilted at an angle and threw up a ball, calling for Rose. She took off, leaped on his back, and then caught the ball in the air before landing on the ground. He immediately threw up the second ball and called for Barnaby. Then the third one for Nacho. But when Nacho leaped off Nine’s back, Nine stood up and caught him in midair as soon as he’d gotten the ball in his mouth.
Nine looked so damned proud of himself. He grinned wide into the camera. His white teeth stood out against the dark brown of his beard. The sun streaked through the clearing at an angle, picking up the reddish highlights in his beard. Eli stepped into the shot and made a crack about Nine slacking off to play with his balls when the video faded out.
Every single cell in my body cried out to be back there with Nine and Nacho in that clearing, goofing off and playing with Nacho between jobs. I was happy to see Nine wasn’t alone. From the looks of things, Eli had been there several days already.
