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Charlie quickly shook his head across the table from us. “Are you kidding? It’s fucking awesome. We should be doing something TV-worthy, shouldn’t we? Should I, like, shotgun a can of beer or something? I saw a video of you doing that the other day on some app.”
“Hell no, my guy,” Kace said. “I only shotgun drinks when my friend Callie baits my ass into doing it these days. I haven’t done it that much since moving to Jade River.”
“I was going to ask,” Shawn said, “what actually made you choose Jade River? You have enough money to live anywhere you want in or around Denver. Your house is definitely the only thing like it in Jade River.”
“Land,” Kace said simply. “Land and space. I did look at a bunch of houses around Denver and Boulder, but the thing about Jade River is that it’s not in the center of everything. It was the same reason the previous owners of my house lived there. The whole fuckin’seclusionvibe. Oh, and the tennis court.”
“The tennis court is pretty great,” I agreed.
Kace shifted on the seat. “I also really wanted a guest house, and that’s hard to come by in more populated areas,” he said.
“I imagine you have a lot of guests?” I asked.
I expected him to make some joking comment about hookups or orgies, but instead he ran his fingers through the condensation on his beer glass, suddenly lost in thought. “I, uh, don’t have the greatest relationship with my mom these days, but I want to have a safe place for her to stay if and when she needs it. It’s probably not going to happen anytime soon, that’s for fuckin’ sure, but I need to know there’s a place. You know?”
My heart suddenly ached a little behind my chest. Kace’s sudden, very serious show of emotion was surprising.
“Right,” I said softly, my brain finally catching up. “That’s a beautiful thing, Kace.”
“Oh, fuck,” Kace said, turning to the side and remembering the TV crew. “Sorry, guys. Can we nix the last minute?”
“You got it,” one of the camera guys said.
Kace turned back to us, letting out a breath. “I have hadtoo muchto drink. I really do forget that they’re there,” he said. “Then I say some personal shit and have to backtrack. I… haven’t actually told people about that kind of stuff, and I don’t really want it public.”
I was honestly just as surprised that Kace had opened up to me, Shawn, and Charlie.
“It’s so good that you’re still there to care for your mom,” Charlie said. “Even if things aren’t great right now.”
Kace scrubbed his palms over his face. “Man. Do people talk about a lot of deep stuff with you guys often? I feel like that just poured out of me.”
“Actually, yes,” Shawn said, smiling softly. “You’d be surprised how much personal stuff people share with us while we’re in their homes, renovating. Usually it’s not until the projects actually get started, but I’m happy you already feel comfortable with us.”
There was a brief moment of nervousness in Kace’s eyes as he nodded. “Really, please. I don’t want this kind of stuff to end up on some website. Really bad for the image, you know?”
“You’re safe here,” I said, and Kace turned to meet my eyes. “Really. No one at this table will say a word about your personal life, so rest easy, okay?”
I could see him relax, and my heart went out to him. I couldn’t imagine having my mom cut me off for any reason, especially for reasons I couldn’t control. Kace was really hurting, even if he didn’t want any of his fans to know it.
“You lovely people mind if I take a quick selfie?” Kace finally asked, sitting up a little straighter. “I feel like I just totally fucked with the vibes, and I’m ready to bring it back up.”
“Kace Tomlin just askedmeif he could take a selfie with me,” Charlie exclaimed. “I’m so fucking lucky.”
“I’m the lucky one,” Kace said as he held out his phone, snapping a picture with all of us. “You all are one fucking good-looking bunch of people.”
“There are about a dozen people by the bar looking over here with complete jealousy that you sat down at our booth, you know,” I told Kace.
“I was at a party the other night and I could barely get people to listen to me tell a story about the time my car caught on fire,” Charlie said. “Meanwhile you get them to listen to you talk about the DMV.”
“Wait. You were at a party?” Shawn asked him. “Thought you were trying to stay away from that.”
“Oh, I’m notdrinkinganything anymore,” Charlie said, “but I’m definitely partying.”
I paused for a moment. “And what does that entail?”
“Fucking,” Charlie said simply. “Hooking up. Playing the field. Fucking a lot of guys, or really, more often, letting them fuckme. I’m fucking so much, actually—”
“Okay, okay, we get the idea,” I said, holding up a hand.
