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“I’m really glad you don’t have to be alone tonight, Kace,” he said, more serious now. “I want to be here for you in any way you need me to.”
I bit the inside of my cheek. Exhaustion was hitting me like a ton of bricks, but I wanted to soak in every moment here with Nathan. As if some part of me believed that I’d never get to do this again, even though I knew that was wrong.
“I, uh,” I started, finding it hard to say the right words. “I think something inside of me felt a little unlovable, as weird as that sounds.”
“It doesn’t sound weird.”
“Really?” I asked. “I really try to keep my image of being averylovable guy.”
“Exactly,” Nathan said. “You were always so lovable to the public eye. But you’ve been through a lot personally. Too much.”
Something clenched in my chest. “Yeah,” I said. “Celebrity Kace was, like, a god, but real-life Kace was hiding.”
Nathan nuzzled back against me. “I hate to hear you say that.”
“I don’t think I knew either,” I said in a whisper. “Until it crept up on me. And then I had to keep all of the gears turning. And then you came into my life, and seemed to see through all of that.”
Nathan puffed out a laugh. “And I didn’t even know I was doing it.”
I hummed. “Makes it even better. You saw me for me, even past all of the starstruck bullshit. You know?”
“Maybe all of this is just a ruse, to get front-row tickets to Ferals games,” Nathan said, his voice sounding heavy with sleep.
I laughed. “Worth it, then.”
A bit of time passed, and Nathan’s breath evened out. As I was drifting off, I was certain he’d already fallen asleep.
But then he spoke, quietly.
“I didn’t know you were hiding,” he told me.
My heart ached. “Because I wasn’t, when I was with you.”
I held him close as both of us finally fell into a deep, even sleep.
19
NATHAN
“You’re a superstar, Bruce,” I said, giving him a high-five as we wrapped up for the day. Bruce was one of our best plumbing subcontractors, and he’d just finished his portion of the rough-in process.
“There you have it, bud,” Bruce said. “Good as new for ya, Kace.” He was a round, red-faced man who always seemed to have a smile on his face, and every time he was on site, he made our days brighter.
Kace, Shawn, Charlie and I were in the guest house, surrounded by Kace’s TV crew at the end of the day. We were going over all of the plumbing work that Bruce had been doing inside the walls. It had been a long day of framing work for us and pipe work for Bruce, but I swore that most of Charlie’s day had been taken up hamming for the camera crew.
“That’s what we in the biz like to call awrap,” Charlie was saying now to one of the cameras, giving them his usual cute look. “I mean, not a wrap on the remodel, obviously, but a wrap on plumbing. Hey Bruce, what do plumbers do when their toilet breaks?”
Bruce winked. “Lay some pipe.”
“Bingo,” Charlie said. “There isn’t a plumber joke Bruce hasn’t heard, by the way.”
“Alright, alright,” I said. “We’re done for the day. Kace has some very important things to attend to.”
“Oh, does he?” Charlie teased me.
“Yeah,” I said, unable to hide my smile. “It’s date night.”
Everyone whistled as Kace put his arm around my waist, leaning in to press a kiss to my cheek. I was starting to get used to these kinds of gestures, even in front of the cameras.
