Page 83 of Overexposed

“He’s studying for the role Carriage Pictures is offering,” Gem told me with a sigh. “It’s a big deal to him and would majorly elevate his career to the next level since it’s slated to be a huge franchise. Spin-offs, small screen, merch—literally all the things. And if he signs on at this stage of the project, he stands to take a cut ofeveryfacet of the franchise, rather than just take a wage for his role.”

Okay, I guessed I could understand that. It seemed like a lot of pressure, though, with the morality clause he’d mentioned so many times. His private life had to be squeaky clean and his reputation gold-plated. The fake cheating scandal really could have fucked things up.

Weirdly, in the two weeks I’d lived in the guys house, I’d softened toward Seven a little bit. Not a lot. He still made me want to smother him with a pillow full of snakes. But I no longer actively tried to sabotage his career—because he meant a lot to Gem and Ollie and they meant a lot to me.

Crap. I was developingbigfeelings. This was going to hurt when it ended.

If it ended.

It didn’t have to…did it?

Who was I kidding? This wasn’t my happily ever after.

“I can get us in,” Gem said, circling back to the question of our lunch spot. “Or rather, Seven can.” He winked, and I couldn’t fight my grin. For a guy who hated being in the spotlight, he sure was having fun pretending to be his brother.

Sure enough, the restaurant practically fell all over themselves rearranging tables to accommodate us, and Gem took every opportunity for PDA while we waited. He was sofucking sexy, it was easy to forget we were on full display as he kissed me in front of dozens of other diners.

“I guess my invitation was lost in the mail,” Ollie drawled, pulling up a chair to join us a few minutes after we were seated. “Snow, baby, you look fucking delicious today. Your hair, in particular, seems very clean.” He kept his voice low enough to not be overheard, but my cheeks flamed nonetheless.

Gem kicked him under the table and Ollie pouted. The inability forhimto show public affection toward me was starting to wear thin.

“Aren’t you supposed to be doing a sit-down interview withMen in Filmtoday?” Gem asked, handing over a menu anyway. “Slick and I were on our way to Mon Claire to snap some pics of naughty, cheating celebs.”

“I was, but it finished early. Then I spottedSeven’sMcLaren in the valet here and figured I’d come join you. I do so love to eat out.” He licked his lips, holding eye contact, and I shifted in my seat. He really did enjoyeating out, that much was true.

I groaned, shaking my head. “Stop it. You’re going to give some other random photographer the shot of their life in a minute, when I drag the both of you into the bathroom.” Because much like the entire dining area, the doors to the restrooms were far too visible to literally any hack job with a telephoto lens.

Normally, there wouldn’t be much worth photographing when it was just rich and famous eating their lunch. But I had no doubt the story would go wild if I got caught getting double dicked down in the bathrooms.

“So Seven was whining about the whole paparazzi thing this morning over coffee,” Ollie said, shifting the subject smoothly, then paused strategically as the waitress came by to take our orders.

We all waited until she was gone again before continuing. “He’s permanently whining about everything involving me,” Imuttered, letting my leg rest against Ollie’s under the table. From my other side, Gem’s hand had found my knee and stroked little circles on my thigh. “I shouldprobablyfind somewhere new to live.” Since we’d all agreed that the security in my previous apartment was basically nonexistent.

Ollie hummed thoughtfully, slouching in his seat. “It wouldn’t send the best message though, would it? You’ve been living with Seven for two weeks now. If you suddenly moved out, it’d seem like things were on the rocks between you.”

I smiled, shaking my head. “You just don’t want to lose the easy access to my bed, Olivier.”

“True,” he agreed. “But also, optics, Snowy my sweet.” His wink was far too sexy for this time of day.

I sighed, shaking my head and trying to ignore howinsanelyattracted I was to the both of them. I’d thought maybe the appeal would wear off once I’d let them fuck me stupid for a couple of days, but it was only getting worse. I liked them both so much it actually made my chest hurt.

“Well, I can’t stay forever. We will have to brainstorm something. When is Sev supposed to sign this deal anyway?”

Gem shrugged. “No idea. They’re dicking around with contracts at the moment.”

Our drinks arrived then, and the conversation shifted between the boys to discuss the press tour that Ollie was currently in the middle of. It was for a movie set to release in a couple of months, and he seemed genuinely excited about it. The amount of promotional work the studio had him and the whole cast doing said they had high hopes for some accolades too.

“…are those ones all with Violetta?” Gem was asking when I tuned back into their conversation, having just briefly being lost staring at the line of Gem’s jaw and thinking about whether I could discreetly palm his dick under the table.

I frowned. “Violetta Dulce? She’s in the movie with you?”

Ollie quirked a brow at me, tilting his head to the side. “Yes. She’s the leading lady.”

I blinked a couple of times, storing that information in my brain. “Oh. I didn’t know that, I don’t think.”

Gem’s fingers squeezed my knee lightly. “Do you not like Violetta, Slick? She’s pretty new. I’ve never worked with her.”

I bit my lip, asking myself silently whether I was seriously jealous of a woman simply doing her job. Violetta Dulce was a goddamn knockout though.Stunningdidn’t begin to touch on her beauty. She was a former Miss Universe contestant turned actress after a social media boom, but from what I’d seen, she was actually a good actress.