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He followed Talia to the bar, which looked like any one of the trendy bars Eric dragged him to in Malibu, apart from the sort of ageless feel of the wood walls and floors. It was quiet, though—no thrumming vibrations of music—and he didn’t see movement anywhere.
Talia seemed to know the place well enough, though, because she bent over the marble top and came back with a server pad and a pen.Rose’s in the back. She heard us come in and said she’d be out in a second.
Adriano smiled and signed, ‘Thank you,’ mouthing it, and Talia caught his meaning, nodding back.
She bent over the pad again and wrote for a while, then looked hesitant as she pushed the pad over toward Adriano.Adam was on my case the other day about learning sign language. Stuff like that is hard for me. I barely passed Spanish with a C-. But I’ll try if you plan to stick around.
Adriano realized the note for what it was—a sort of third-degree.What are your intentions with my boyfriend’s brother?He smiled a little and shrugged. “I like him. We haven’t talked about the future much, but if he wants me to stay, I’d like to.”
Talia worried her bottom lip between her teeth.We don’t get along. Me and Noah. I’m trying, though.
Adriano nodded and gave Talia’s shoulder a pat in solidarity. He didn’t know the situation well enough, and he could also easily see why Noah would conflict with others. His body was soft at the edges, but his wit and temper weren’t. Adriano loved that about him, though, and he hoped it wouldn’t change.
We heard what happened with your ex. That’s shitty. Were you together long?
Adriano had a feeling that note was a bit of espionage on Adam’s part, but he didn’t mind. His entire business with Eric had been fully public, even if most of the world only had Eric’s side of things. “We were together since I was in college. We split up a few times, but I think it was fifteen years total.”
Talia’s eyes went wide, and Adriano felt the breath she released.So is Noah a rebound thing?
Adriano felt his eyes narrow, his hands itching to sign instead of having to voice all this. It was an unfair question for how he felt about Noah, but he reminded himself no one there knew him, and a lot of these people didn’t seem to know Noah either. “Eric and I fell out of love a long time ago. Years. But he was my interpreter, and being together was easier than being apart.”
Is it true he’s engaged to your former agent?
Adriano’s eyes went blurry as he stared at the note. He’d been deliberately avoiding all social media but maybe to a fault. He blinked again, and Talia had written more.
Shit. Did you not know? He posted it on Twitter.
Adriano curled his fingers into tight fists to avoid them shaking, and he licked his lips before he tried to speak again. “I didn’t know.” The words felt heavy and misspoken on his tongue, but he didn’t care. He was saved for the moment when the kitchen doors swung open and a short, slight woman walked out.
She had a round face and wide eyes, her dark hair piled in a messy bun on top of her head. There were strands of silver glinting in the overhead light, but she looked young for greys. Her smile was friendly, and her full mouth moved a mile a minute as she spoke.
She stopped abruptly, though, glancing over at Talia, then Adriano watched her eyes zero in on his hearing aids, and she blushed high on her cheekbones as she set the beer down in front of him. “Sorry,” he saw her lips shape.
Adriano waved her off. He was grateful for the distraction, but he’d have to face this and soon. “Kosher?” he asked.
She blinked then turned the case to the side and pointed at the little OU symbol Adriano had seen plenty of times but had never wondered about. He gathered the beer to him, then tipped a nod at Talia and Rose before hurrying out. It was rude—probably unforgivably rude—to run out like that. Hell, she might have even needed payment. He might have just stolen product.
But Talia’s reveal had shaken something in him, and he didn’t know why. He didn’t want Eric back. That wasn’t it. It felt like something deeper, more profound. Like maybe he’d wasted fifteen years on a man who had just been waiting for someone better to come along.
It was probably normal, wondering what Xander could give Eric that he couldn’t. Adriano was more attractive, and he was better in bed. He didn’t even have to fuck Xander to know that. But then he thought about Noah, about how simple things like kissing and touching felt more passionate than any sort of bondage or kink or role play or romantic setup he’d ever been in, while filming or not.
Just Noah’s fingers on him alone got him more worked up than Eric’s acrobatic tricks ever could.
And maybe that was it. Adriano could offer Eric money, and popularity, and an easy lifestyle. He offered him permanent work and someone to come home to at night. A warm body to fill their bed. But nothing else.
Certainly not love. At least not real love.
He was shaken, but maybe it wasn’t from pain. Maybe it was from the realization that he’d been holding himself back from something like this, something so good and so fulfilling he was ready to give up anything if Noah asked him to.
Then there was the calming, warm, quiet knowing that Noah would never ask him to give up anything. And that alone told him it was right.
CHAPTER17
Noah had sent Paxton off,flipped the open sign to closed, then propped open the side door before he got to the sufganiyot dough. It felt different and a little wrong but sort of decadent to veer from Bubbe’s recipes. He had a list of fillings scribbled out to his right, and he’d finished all of them except the Belgian ale, which—with any luck—was on its way along with his boyfriend.
Or…lover. Whatever they were.
Noah didn’t really want to think about things with Adriano beyond the present moment. He was wrung out and exhausted from his long cry with his brother. Adam had wrung every bit of Noah’s energy from him in the best way. It was cathartic to finally be unburdened and to know Adam didn’t hate him.
