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“You leaving now?” Beau asked, pulling his focus.
That pang in Will’s chest was back and he absently rubbed at the spot and pasted on his trademark smile. “Yep, fun time is over.”
Taylor came around the bar and wrapped an arm around his waist. “You sure we can’t convince you to stay?”
The pang grew sharper. “I’m happy to let you try,” he replied, squeezing her to him and shooting Beau a shit-eating grin. His best friend narrowed his eyes, his nostrils flaring before he mouthedmine.
Will snickered and released Taylor, not wanting to poke the bear any longer. He’d met Beau nearly ten years ago when he’d hired him as his personal trainer. Beau’s passion and dedication inspired Will so much that he offered to partner him if Beau ever decided to open his own gym. Turned out that was exactly what Beau wanted, and a few years later, Beau was the most sought-after personal trainer in Hollywood. Will was so proud of his best friend’s success. Even prouder when Beau decided that he wanted nothing to do with the L.A. toxicity anymore and sold up before moving home to Citrus Pines and opening a physical rehab center and gym.
Proud, for sure, but there had been an element of jealousy that Beau had been able to leave it all behind while Will had to keep going. He would never be able to do that, too many people depended on his success for him to be able to jack it all in.
“Seriously man, I’m sad to see you go,” Beau said, squeezing his shoulder.
“Me too, trust me. This was the perfect vacation. But that was all it was meant to be. I gotta get back to reality, too many people counting on me.” He shrugged before digging in his pants pocket for his key. He pulled it out and reluctantly dropped it into Taylor’s waiting palm.
“You okay?” Beau asked.
Will scoffed. “Of course, ready to get back to the action. You know me, can’t wait to see what challenge is around the corner, Mr. Happy-Go-Lucky.”
“Okay, let me know when you get home. You flying back?”
“Yeah, I’ll drop my car off at the airfield.”
Beau nodded. “You said goodbye to the others?”
A while ago, Will had been introduced to Beau’s other best friend, Dean, who owned the local garage,Iris Motors. He had dropped his car in for detailing and he and Dean had quickly formed a friendship. Will was in town these past couple of weeks because Dean was marrying his gorgeous girl, Christy. While here, Will had also met Blake, the new sheriff that Beau and Dean had befriended, and Blake’s fiancée Justine. Will and Blake had bonded over their love of animals with Blake sharing the story of how he came to own a domesticated fox.
Will had always loved animals and craved having an animal companion but it just wasn’t possible with his lifestyle, it wouldn’t be fair to the animal. Will noticed that Blake and Justine seemed close to Rebelle, the woman he couldn’t seem to forget, and Blake was incredibly protective of her.
“Yeah, last night when you two disappeared into Taylor’s office for an hour.” Will raised his pierced brow at them, waiting for them to look sheepish but it never happened. He chuckled and pulled them both into a hug.
“Take care guys, I’ll miss you.”
“You’re gonna visit soon, right?” Taylor’s muffled voice sounded thick with emotion.
“Just try and stop me,” Will replied, his throat clogged. Beau squeezed his shoulder again tightly, like he could see straight through Will’s façade and knew he didn’t want to leave.
They broke away and then Will was heading for the door, shooting them a final look over his shoulder before the door swung shut.
He crossed the quiet parking lot to his red Bugatti. Dumping his bag into the passenger seat, he switched on the engine, and it purred to life, the sound vibrating his legs and Pantera’sWalkblasted out. Will checked his phone again before beginning his journey and saw he had a message.
Momager:Your plane takes off in an hour, don’t miss it. You should get back here in time for new wardrobe fittings and screen test tonight. Then we need to talk about your GQ interview and shoot. Have you been maintaining your weight while you’re on this so-called vacation? They want a shirtless shoot…
Will worked his jaw, the loud crack filling the car. The only good thing was the clothes, Will was a fan of a sharp suit and spent most of his time in them. He was not a fan of diets and workouts, which was why he’d had to hire Beau in the first place, to push him to do it.
His brain protested at the thought of being back in L.A. that afternoon, donning his mask of contempt on set and being poked and prodded, hiding his true self. Panic rose up inside him and for a moment he thought he would hurl.
He couldn’t face it yet, it was too soon. He just needed more time.
Will:New plan, I’m driving back, see you in three days! Pay whatever the crew are owed, you’ve got the account deets.
And with that, he silenced his phone and tossed it into the back seat, laughing as he pictured Diane Crawford’s face as sheread his message. The knot in his chest was still there but had eased slightly; he’d bought himself three more days.
He drove out of the parking lot and headed down Main Street, waving goodbye to some of the locals he spotted on the way. He saw a woman with short dark hair and his heart tripped over itself in his chest but as he drove past her, he saw it wasn’t Rebelle.
He continued on down a dirt road, yelling along to Rage Against The Machine, ‘Fuck you I won’t do what you tell me’, which had never felt more apt.
He passed the trees and traveled through a more rural area where he spotted a sign,Take A ChanceAnimal Shelter - 1 mile ahead. He hadn’t known there was a shelter in town and was tempted to detour for a look but it would only hurt when he gazed into the hopeful eyes of dogs and cats in need of their forever home.
