AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I burst out laughing and teared up in the same instant, because that was just the best thing ever. Then Harper looked over and did a double-take. He said something to the people around him and jumped off the stage. The crowd parted for him as he ran to me, and every single reporter, camera operator, and photographer scrambled to surround us.
I handed Loco to Stacey, and when he finally reached me, Harper grabbed me in an embrace. The fans cheered as he held me tight and asked, “What are you doing here?”
“I came to tell you something, but my new friends beat me to it.”
He leaned back and smiled at me as he said, “Say it anyway.”
“I accidentally left for Nashville without telling you I love you, Harper.”
“That’s good news, because I love you, too.” He kissed me as the crowd went wild. Then he rested his forehead against mine and said, “I’d planned to tell you in some grand gesture, like spelling it out in skywriting, but all of a sudden you got that opportunity in Tennessee. Telling you before you left would have seemed like I was trying to sway your decision, and the last thing I wanted was to stand in the way of your dreams.”
“I’ve had a lot of dumb ideas in my life,” I said, “but the dumbest had to be deciding to leave you behind and move to the other side of the country. Nashville’s going to have to get along without me, because I’m staying in California.”
“What about that record deal?”
“It doesn’t mean a damn thing without you, Harper.”
“But what’re you going to do now?”
“First, I’m going to help you get through the next few weeks of promoting this film. After that, we’ll figure it out together.”
He said, “Okay,” before kissing me again. Then he grinned and asked, “Want to go watch a movie?”
“Love to. But before we go, I want you to meet my friends Ginny and Stacey. They’re your second-biggest fans, after me.”
Harper was absolutely adorable with the girls. He posed for selfies, signed their T-shirts, and even recorded a short video so they could lord it over some mean girl who was bullying them at school. Then he signed a few more autographs for fans, while I chatted with the girls.
When they handed the chicken back to me, I tucked her under my arm, and Harper said, “Thanks for bringing Loco. I like it when the three of us go on family outings.”
We joined hands, and the crowd around us parted. We’d been surrounded by cameras and reporters throughout all of that. I’d barely noticed.
Harper introduced me to his costars as we went into the theater and took our seats in the VIP section. They all seemed perfectly friendly and very welcoming. It obviously helped that I was there as Harper’s boyfriend, not his assistant, but I decided I’d go ahead and enjoy it.
The movie was an epic sci-fi action adventure with incredible special effects. What little I saw of it was great, but I missed a lot because I was busy making out with my boyfriend. Meanwhile, Loco seemed unimpressed by the whole thing and fell asleep on my lap.
Once the movie ended, a crowd swarmed around us to congratulate Harper on what was sure to be a smash hit. He introduced me to a bunch of people, and when someone asked him if we were coming to the after party, he said, “Sorry, no. Phoenix and I have another appointment.”
When we finally managed to slip out of the theater, I took his hand and asked, “What appointment?”
“Don’t you remember? I told you what I wanted for my birthday, and I don’t recall you saying no.”
“Oh, right—me, naked, on your bed,” I said with a smile. “That’s an appointment we definitely need to keep. We need a cake though too, so let’s stop at a bakery on the way home.”
Later that night, after fucking for hours, we curled up under the blanket and ate chocolate cake directly from its pink bakery box. Harper licked some frosting from his fork and murmured, “Best birthday ever.”
“I should have planned to be here all along. I’m really sorry, Harper.”
“Please don’t apologize. I understand why you decided to go to Nashville,” he said. “I also know I should’ve given you more reasons to stay. I should have told you I love you when we were in Hawaii, and I also should have just asked you to move in with me, instead of hedging the way I did.”
We both put our forks in the box, and he placed it on the nightstand before saying, “Let me try this again. Please move in with me, Phee. I want this to be your home. I want you to be the first thing I see every morning, and I always want to kiss you goodnight. In between, I want to spend every day with you, so what do you say?”
