AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He’d not met Simon, but everything he’d heard told Dorian he was a decent bloke, one of the good guys, who Robin ought to have marched down the aisle by now if only half the things he’d been told about him were true. “I can’t be a judge of that since I’ve never met him in person, but Robin seems to like him well enough.”
“He’s never going to be your favourite.”
“I’ve no problem with Simon. It’s not his fault he’s dating my ex.” Robin was happy and that was what mattered. “He might not mind if I moved to New York to keep an eye on Robin, at least he should know we’re no longer interested in each other.”
“Might help keep the gold diggers away as well. Although I’m not convinced that’s a healthy or long-term option.”
“Gold diggers? Robin hasn’t said anything.”
Ben yawned and Davy let out a wail. “I’ll catch you up another time. I have to go. Call me tomorrow, right?”
“Will do. Night, Ben.”
Dorian disconnected the call and sat on the edge of the bed. The suite was like many of the luxury places he’d stayed, it cast an illusion of home comforts but he wasn’t sure what that even meant anymore. He thought about returning to his house in LA, but he didn’t want to, it hadn’t felt like home since Robin left. He itched to be somewhere, but he didn’t know where. For the first time in what seemed forever, he didn’t have a schedule to keep. He’d sack off the rest of the interviews for this run. His agent Marisa could deal with those if she hadn’t had the foresight to do so already, and he’d already been planning some downtime as work on his next film wasn’t starting for another six months. Plus, given his little announcement, they might not think him suitable anymore as the leading man in a romcom about a single dad and a kindergarten teacher.
He fell backwards onto the mattress waiting for the dread to hit. Several minutes later he realised he felt good, really good. He laughed. Maybe everything would be okay after all.
CHAPTER2
Ashley blinked away the tiredness. The post-lunch lull was even worse than the after-breakfast slump. He’d never appreciated what being tired was before Davy was born. He cradled his son as he fed, the two of them in a cocoon of sleep-deprivation, lost time, and unconditional love.
“There are my two favourite people in the whole world.” Ashley looked up to see Ben, obnoxiously gorgeous despite having had as little sleep as him.
“How can you be so awake?”
Ben sat next to them and stroked the downy hair covering Davy’s head. “You took the second shift last night so I got the better sleep. Amazing what five hours uninterrupted shut-eye can do for a man.”
“You’re only saying that to make me feel jealous.” Davy fussed and Ashley removed the bottle. “You want to burp him?”
Ben scrunched up his nose. “I wouldn’t want to deprive you of the pleasure.”
Ashley realised he was dressed in one of his better shirts. “You need to start wearing more baby-appropriate clothing, or accept that this season’s must-have accessory for your designer shirts is baby spew.”
“Give him here.”
Ashley smirked and handed Davy over. He took the opportunity to scroll through his phone, not having the mental capacity to do much else. Three months into the journey of fatherhood, he spent half his awake time babbling mindless jibber-jabber at his son and the other half as a zombie who drooled only slightly less than Davy.
His Instagram appeared to have blown up overnight with post after post about Dorian. “Fucking hell! Dorian’s come out!”
Ben tutted. “I know, I told you that this morning.”
Ashley frowned. “No, you didn’t.”
“Admittedly your reply was a series of grunts, but I most definitely did.”
“I don’t remember.” The nighttime feeds were playing havoc with his short-term memory.
“He called at midnight, which was a giveaway something was up. The plan to come out in a controlled way went up the Swanee and he blurted it out as part of the interview he was doing for his current release.”
“Bloody hell. He must be a wreck.”
“Seemed all right, but it’s been less than twenty-four hours and he’s holed up in a hotel. I’ve suggested he gets in touch with Robin as I know he offered to put him up in one of the Flint properties if he came out, as a bolthole, or even stay with him in New York.”
Ashley wasn’t sure that would be for the best. “I’m not convinced Simon’s going to think that’s a good idea.”
“Yes, there’s been a couple of bumps, but nothing they haven’t overcome, and Robin’s trying his best.”
Ashley grunted. Ben was always a bit too quick to defend Robin, and Simon had confided with him that he was more worried about their future than he was letting on to Robin. “I still think adding Dorian into the mix is something they don’t need—Robin being in New York for six months is a big enough challenge. Perhaps Dorian should leave the US.”
