Page 119 of Method Acting

Chase had the exact same excited look on his face that his mother wore. “This is gonna be so cool,” he said. “TV on that wall, sofa here. Bed in the sex-dungeon, obviously.”

“Oh my god,” I hissed at him, eyeballing the back of his mom’s head. “Chase.”

She didn’t care. She just waved her hand and kept unpacking the box of kitchen stuff. “Oh, I’m used to him, dear.” Then she gave Chase the look. “You just make sure you’re on your best behavior when Amos’s family gets here.”

He rolled his eyes. “Puh-lease. They love me.”

It was true. They did. They were perplexed, to say the very least, when they’d first met him. He was a blond-haired, blue-eyed ball of energy and I was... well, I was me: the tall, dark, and quiet type. But he won them over with his charm and that damn smile. And they could see that together, we just worked.

My dad and my brother came in, awkwardly carrying the bed. “Glad we could do this for you while you stand around,” my brother griped.

“More boxes in the van,” Dad added.

I laughed. “Yeah, okay, okay.”

I pulled Chase out with me, running down the stairs to grab more stuff out of the van. “Here,” I said, loading Chase up with his duffle bag over his shoulder and two boxes in his arms. I took two boxes myself and slid the van door shut with my foot. “You need to get your clothes unpacked and ironed for tomorrow.”

“I know,” he said. “God, I hope it doesn’t suck.”

He had a shoot with his agent tomorrow. Photos and whatnot. He’d scouted a few of the top agencies and his first pick had wanted him. It was kind of a huge deal, hence the big move.

“You’ll be fine.”

“Yeah, I know I will be,” he said. “I meant I hope they don’t suck.”

I snorted. His confidence and attitude hadn’t waned at all.

“And your first shift at the café,” he reminded me. “Day after tomorrow. I’m not ironing your clothes. Just so you know.”

I held the door open for him. “I wouldn’t dare ask.”

I followed him up the stairs. “Hm, the view here is nice.”

“Stop looking at my ass.”

“It’s a beautiful ass.”

“There’ll be no ass tonight,” he said. “We have dinner with our families.”

Ugh. A joined family dinner to celebrate the big move and to see us off before our folks went home. It was nice and all, and I probably shouldn’t whine because they were helping us move...

But our future was starting today, and I wanted to enjoy that with Chase.

“We’ll have every night after this one for you to enjoy my ass,” Chase said, just as my brother came down the stairs.

“Gross.”

“Shut up,” I replied.

He made a face at me. “Dad! Amos told me to shut up!”

I rolled my eyes and Chase laughed. He liked my brothers. He didn’t have brothers so he enjoyed our childish bickering.

Dad took the top box off my pile. “Couch is next, and you’re helping.”

I bit back the groan I so badly wanted to let out. “Sure thing. Chase, go help them carry the couch.” He laughed and gave me a playful shove as he followed my dad down the stairs.

We had the place set up in no time. Granted, we didn’t have much stuff. A new bed, a secondhand couch, and Chase’s TV from home. Our moms had pooled together some kitchen utensils and stuff, but the plates, silverware, cups, and glasses were all new.

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