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“Probably, after all that sobbing.” I sipped and watched them move around each other in the kitchen like they’d been doing this for years. I smiled as they worked.
“You gonna be up for a workout tomorrow?” Aithan asked Drew.
“You gonna wreck me?”
Aithan laughed. “Don’t worry. I’ll be slower than you, man.”
Drew grinned. “And you’ll still kick my ass. But, like it or not, I signed on for this, so do your worst.” He took the soup off the stove and added, “Hot soup coming through,” as he brought the pot to the table and started ladling it into the bowls.
Aithan took the biscuits from the oven and dropped them into a breadbasket, then blew on his fingers. He brought that to the table and fetched honey and ghee from the fridge. “I suggest you get some sleep tonight,” he said as he sat opposite Drew. “A regular sleep schedule will make you more productive in the gym.”
“Probably at my computer too.” Drew nodded as he drizzled honey on a biscuit. “Working all night is an old habit.”
“Think you can break it?” Aithan blew on a spoonful of soup.
Drew shrugged. “Most days, but when I’m looking at the last fifteen thousand words on a book, I need to work all the way through to the end. Always have.”
Aithan nodded. “Good to know. We can work around that. I’ll build in a rest day after you finish a novel then crush your soul the next day.”
I laughed.
“Thanks?” Drew replied.
Aithan grinned. “My pleasure.”
While the guys chatted, I downed the soup. “This is amazing,” I said between spoonfuls. Turned out my stomach’s complaints were hunger inspired.
“Yeah it is,” Drew agreed.
Aithan nodded. “I’ll pass on the message.”
Drew popped the rest of a biscuit in his mouth and made a noise like he’d just remembered something. He pulled his phone from his pocket and opened his email while chewing and swallowing. “Here.” He handed the phone to me and pointed at the email. “Read. It’ll make you feel better.”
I scanned it and couldn’t stop a shit-eating grin from taking over my face. “No. Fucking. Way.”
“Yes. Fucking. Way,” Drew replied then explained for Aithan. “That’s from the Voiceover West awards committee. Zel’s nominated for the Best of the Best VO Performance Award. Plus, Best Long Form Fiction Narration, and a bunch of audiobook genre bests I can’t recall off the top of my head, but they include Best Romance Narration and Best Erotica Narration.”
“Whoa,” Aithan said, eyes wide.
Drew tapped the phone. “Read aloud what they wrote, babe.”
“In nominating her for the BoB, one of our judges wrote: Zelda Gordon has the voice of an angel thinking the most devilish thoughts.” I squealed at that. “A superlative talent, she gives us male characters who sound like men, female characters capable of love and war simultaneously, and intimacy that makes you shiver, even when the characters are in a crowded room. Highly, highly,highlyrecommended.” My grin widened.
Aithan leaned forward and kissed me. “Kurde, beautiful, that’s awesome.”Kurdewas a Polish expletive, kind of like hell or damn. Aithan only cussed in his grandmother’s native tongue.
I just kept grinning. “Best of the Best. I can’t believe that.”
“That’s a big one?” Aithan asked.
Drew nodded. “VoW isn’t just for audiobooks. It’s all narrative performances, so animation, gaming, advertising, and eLearning, as well as books. It’s judged based on the last three years of a narrator’s work.”
“So they’re acknowledging you as one of the best narrative actors across multiple industries?”
I nodded. “Jeebuz, this is nuts.” I was stunned. I’d gotten kinda used to audiobook award nominations, but this pushed me into a whole different league.
Drew leaned over and cradled my face between his hands. “You one hundred percent deserve this, Brick. You are a badass behind the mic.” He kissed me on the forehead and the lips.
“Thanks, Playboy. This is as much your nomination as mine.”
