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“So are you.” I shake my head as I cut into the French toast, slightly more irritated than I was before. “It doesn’t matter, even if I’m not officially your bodyguard, if I’m with you socially, I’ll be right next to you and that means anyone trying to fuck with you will need to go throughme.”
She sighs and puts her head in her hands. “Okay, let’s just take this one day at a time for now. I would like to have people over tonight and I’d like it if you could hang out with us. Maybe have a drink or two?”
I know this is something Shay is absolutely not going to let go of and here would be the best place to do this. “Fine.”
She squeals and is in my lap instantly, wrapping her arms around my neck and pressing her lips to my neck. “Thank you!”
I tighten my arms around her and reach for her chin, guiding it to my mouth and pressing a kiss to her lips. “Kids?”
A tiny bit of pink tints her cheeks and she rolls her eyes. “Hypothetically speaking.”
I nod, thinking about her round with my child and a baby that looks just like her. My dick hardens thinking about my ring on her finger and I hate thinking about how it would work being with her and also protecting her.
This is why you don’t sleep with your mark and you definitely don’t fall in love with them.
Although the three of them had irritated me the day before, I want to prove a point that Damian is not isolating me, so I invite Veronica, Jeremy, and Derek over for dinner after we’re done shooting for the day. I momentarily think about inviting more people, but Cooper and my team don’t even know about Damian and me yet. I’m not ready to reveal it to some of the cast and crew ofLA Dreamsbefore I have a chance to tell them. So, it will be an intimate party of five. I ordered a bunch of takeout from our favorite Thai restaurant and even make my signature gin lemonade.
“Can I help you with anything?” Jeremy comes up behind me and puts his hands on my shoulders as I’m pouring the Pad Thai noodles from the container into one of my serving bowls. Derek and Veronica went to put their stuff in my guest room since they already decided they’re staying over and Damian had gone to his guesthouse for a minute leaving Jeremy and me alone in my kitchen.
“Nope, I’m good.” I move out from under his hands.
I’m still irritated with him and I know he can feel the tension because he’s been trying to talk to me since he got here. I give him a smile to let him know that I’m trying despite what happened yesterday.
“Shay…” he starts, “I’m sorry about yesterday, alright?” He lets out a sigh. “Why are you so pissed? I’m just worried about you.”
“That didn’t feel like worry; it felt like you were inserting your opinion when I didn’t ask for it and being a little judgmental, but I don’t want to talk about it. I invited you over, I just want to squash it.”
“But you’re barely talking to me and everything on set is weird and people are starting to notice.”
“Things are fine. Today was much better than yesterday,” I retort.
He scoffs. “So, that’s it? Five years of friendship and now we’re just polite co-stars? What the hell, Shay? You’re my best friend.”
“You certainly didn’t act like it yesterday.”
The sound of a throat clearing stops our conversation and I see Damian in the entrance to the kitchen. I know I should have told him about what prompted this get-together but I was hoping it wouldn’t come up. I assumed the three of them wouldn’t bring it up around him and I surely wasn’t going to. I smile when I take in the fact that he changed into black jeans and a black t-shirt that makes him look sexy as fuck.
“Hi.” I move to him instantly and wrap my arms around him. He does the same, resting his hands on my ass and squeezing it. I’m wearing a black strapless midi dress that highlights my waist and flares out slightly and I’m relishing over how well we match.
“Everything good?” he murmurs against my lips and I nod.
“Now that you’re here, yes.” I look up at him and I notice he’s looking over my head at Jeremy.
“Hey,” I say to get his attention and he looks back down at me. I pucker my lips and he takes them instantly, dragging his hands away from my ass to cup my face and kisses me deeply, working his tongue into my mouth and touching mine gently.
God, he can kiss.
A cat call breaks through our kiss as Veronica and Derek enter the kitchen and I pull away with a dramatic eye roll.
“Let’s eat, I’m starving,” Derek says and we carry the rest of the food to the terrace where we’re having dinner. It’s a comfortable summer night and I thought eating outside would cut through some of the tension. Except Damian and I are sitting on one side of the table while Veronica, Derek, and Jeremy sit on the other and it kind of feels like a setup for an interview or an interrogation.
We eat in a somewhat comfortable silence even though I can’t remember a time when the four of us didn’t have a million things to talk about. I look across the table and when I see they’re all looking down at their plates, I’m annoyed all over again. Veronica looks up and catches my eye. Over ten years of friendship allow us to speak pretty easily with our eyes and I give her a look telling her to say something.
What do you want me to do?
Anything!
She rolls her eyes. “So, Damian, what are your intentions with our Shay here?” She flutters her eyelashes and gives him a cheesy smile with her hands under her chin.
