Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 87933 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87933 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
Ben’s gaze darts around at all the cast and crew that I’m now noticing are dead silent and frozen as they watch this altercation play out.
So I plaster on a Blake Monroe from Eleven smile, because fuck knows we had coaches to teach us how to smile properly way back when, and say with enough kindness to kill, “You’re shit out of luck here because I’m not scared of what you can do, and when you take away the fear of bullies, they no longer hold any power.”
Ben isn’t as good at hiding how pissed off he is. “I could have you fired from this project, you know.”
“From a movie that’s got a couple of days of shooting left? I don’t care how powerful you think you are in this industry, there is no way anyone from the studio would approve of that many reshoots. So how about you turn around, walk away, we finish this film, and then you can crawl back into whatever hole you came from.” I go to step past him when I pause and lower my voice. “Oh, and leave me and Jordan alone.”
I walk away, and a second later, a cookie flies past my head. I guess I should be thankful he has terrible aim. My feet stall, but I realize quickly he’s not worth it, and as I storm off set and pass Jordan’s assistant, Jojo, she lifts her phone and winks.
Later, after we’re wrapped for the day, Jordan turns up on Denver’s doorstep.
His phone is open to the viral video in his hand. The audio is shit, and it’s unclear what we’re saying, but by the look of awe on Jordan’s face, what was said isn’t important. “You didn’t tell me.”
I shrug and let him in, shutting the door behind us. “We got back to business, and I don’t anticipate he’ll be bothering either of us again anytime soon.”
“This is crazy. The video has already been seen over three million times, and it only happened a couple of hours ago.”
“What do the comments say?”
Jordan holds his head up high. “I wouldn’t know. I didn’t look. A smart person once told me not to.”
“Okay, but really, what did they say? I know you, and I know you can’t stay away.”
“Fine. There are some that say you deserve it because of the whole cheating thing, but mostly, they say I dodged a bullet by getting away from all that toxic cookie-throwing energy Ben has. There have already been some old production assistants who’ve come forward and say how horrible he is to employees on set. It’s about to all unravel.”
“It’s almost like it was planned for that to happen.”
Jordan narrows his gaze. “Did you … Was it planned?”
“Ha. I wish. Nothing that brilliant is planned. It was only a matter of time, though. Your assistant—I mean, the anonymous source on set—might have got a jump start on it by uploading the video to the internet ‘by mistake.’ Oops.”
“I don’t entirely believe you.”
“If I was as cunning as I’d like to think I am, I totally would have. All I did was stand up for you when he confronted me.”
He wraps his arm around my back. “You did more than stand up for me. You fought for me. No one has ever done that for me before.”
“I hope you can get used to it, because that’s what it’s going to be like with me. You have me in your corner. Always.”
“Even when I’m wrong?”
“Jordan Brooks ever wrong? Is that even a thing that happens?”
Jordan laughs. “It’s an anomaly, but it can happen.”
“I’ll be supportive of you even then. Even if that support means shoving my hand over your mouth to get you to stop talking. I’m kind and nice like that.”
“I’ll take it. Are you ready for this all to go public? We wrap in a couple of days, then you’ve got the single, the music video …”
“I’m ready for anything so long as I have you.”
Jordan breathes in and closes his eyes. “You have no idea what words like that do to me.”
“Yes, I do. It makes your chest full and your heart secure in the knowledge that you belong with me just as much as I belong with you.” I lower my voice to a whisper. “I know because I feel it too.”
There’s no more talking after that. Only mouths and bodies giving in to each other over and over and over again. I drag him to the guesthouse and strip him naked. I lick and tease every inch of his body, and when I finally sink inside him and he murmurs the words “I love you,” the fullness in my chest explodes, setting every nerve ending, every cell, every single part of my body on fire.
“I love you too.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Blake
The last few days on set are absolute hell. Time seems to slow down, and the remaining days feel like an eternity. Jordan and I no longer care about being seen together. We don’t have massive public displays of affection or anything like that, but we arrive together, go home together, and I’ve been staying with him in his small apartment every night.