AllFreeNovel
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“Nah, I already raided your fridge, but thanks.” As he wiped off the bottle with the edge of his shirt, he looked up at me from under the brown waves falling into his eyes. I had a feeling he’d be getting a haircut before the weekend was over. “You sure you don’t want to try some of this expensive stuff? Might be good. You look like you could relax.”
“No thanks.”
“More for me, but for the record, you could stand to loosen up, you know. And please get rid of that tie before I strangle you with it.”
“You’re the second person this week to tell me that. To loosen up, not the death threats.”
Rome gasped and clutched his chest. “Color me shocked.” Then he grinned and stabbed the corkscrew into the top of the wine bottle. “Who was the first?”
As I loosened my tie, I shot him a look that said he didn’t want to know, and he got the picture real fast.
“Right.Anyway.” He twisted the screw, popped the cork out of the bottle, then proceeded to pour a full-to-the-top glass of Cabernet.
“So how was the shoot?” I asked.
“Unbearably fucking cold.” He downed practically half the glass as I carried my plate to the table, and when he joined me, he shook his head. “I thought I could handle it having lived here during winter, but no. If I ever get an offer to go to Hell again, I’m out.”
“Wait. You went to hell and it was cold?”
“You laugh, but that’s the name of the place. Hell, Norway. Whoever thought it was a good idea to shoot there in five-hundred-below fucking weather obviously wishes my dick would fall off.”
I almost choked on my steak but managed to swallow it down. “Would it really be a surprise if there was more than one someone out there?”
“It would to me.”
I raised a brow. “Really.”
“Yes. I’m a fucking joy to know and love.” With an arrogant grin, Rome relaxed back into his seat and ran his hand over his hair a few times, mussing it up. “Enough about all that, though. What’s been goin’ on here?”
“You haven’t missed out on much besides Sawyer’s meltdown. Just working. Speaking of which, you don’t happen to have an in with any of the Fallen Angel guys, do you?”
“Like the band? No, I don’t think so. Wait, I met Trent Knox at a party once, does that count?”
“God, no,” I said, remembering Viper’s reaction.
“Oh, that’s right, he’s like the ex now, huh?” Rome poured more wine into his glass. “Why do you need an in with those guys?”
I sighed, not wanting to get into it, but the truth was, I needed that deal, and it had been days since the concert and no calls from Viper. I wasn’t desperate, not yet, but I also didn’t want a certain someone beating me to the punch.
“Long story short, Viper’s teasing a tell-all, I need to make sure we get the deal, and Drew is battling for the same.”
Rome’s hand froze in midair. “Drew? DrewEdwards?”
“The very one.”
“Ohhell no. That guy is not getting the rights, no fucking way.” He pulled his cell out of his pants pocket. “Who do I need to call?”
I chuckled, but deep down I was pleased by his automatic defensiveness. Even though it’d been a long time, he wasn’t any more a fan of Drew than I was, having lived through the aftermath of that utter breakdown. It helped to have family on your side no matter what…though that did leave me feeling a little guilty that I never cut ties with Kai.
But that was different. And neither of them had forced me to choose sides.
Still…
“Google says their manager is Levi Walker,” Rome said, phone in hand and scrolling with his thumb. “We call him, get a meeting ASAP, screw over Drew.”
Movie stars. They made it sound like everything was so easy and could be solved with a touch of a button.
“I appreciate the enthusiasm, but you think I haven’t done that? They’re not taking calls. It’s one of those ‘don’t call us, we’ll call you if interested’ moves.”
