Page 20 of Salacious Star

We were coworkers - in a very sensitive industry - and it might be awkward if things went south before we even had our first day.

But God...Iwanted.

I could see that same conflict on Tristan's face, and when he finally stepped away from me after a tension-riddled moment, relief and disappointment mingled inside of me in no small measure.

"Me either," Tristan said, his voice rough. Then he winked at me, and jerked his chin towards the table. "Now take your shot. Loser buys the next round."

9

The two days between my night out at the bar with Tristan and the first shoot between us passes faster than I feel like it should. The flirting between us as we played pool and he answered any and all of the random questions that my mind could come up with...it was fucking scorching, and the result lingered for hours after I got home, despite the fact that I got off not once, not twice, butthreetimes.

Between the literal photographic evidence and the natural chemistry that the two of us leaned into anytime that we were in a room together...I didn't have to guess. I justknewthat he was going to fucking wreck me when he finally got his hands on me, and that I would thank him for the privilege.

The morning of the shoot, though, I woke up a ball of anxious nerves, and even though I knew that I would probably regret it when I was on set, I brewed myself a cup of coffee anyway, for something to do with my hands.

I had more than an hour to kill, and I was not going to spend that time standing around with my thumb up my ass, worrying like a nervous nelly. I wasnot.

My phone rang when I was halfway through my cup, and I answered without thinking, my stomach lurching. What if it was Cole, telling me that they'd changed my mind, and that the shoot was cancelled?

Hell, what if it wasTristanthat was calling to tell me that? Though that wouldn't make much sense. Why would they tell one of their actors to inform his scene partner that the shoot had been cancelled? That was just lazy management...

"Hello?" Ethan's voice was warm and a little hesitant, and I blew out a breath. "You there, Xan?"

I nodded, taking a sip of my coffee. "Yeah, I'm here. Sorry about that, I'm a little distracted."

"Oh? What about?"

My stomach twisted, and I pressed my lips together. I wanted to tell him everything - he was my twin, of course I wanted to - but the thought of being open about this...I mean, there were limits on sibling bonds, right? Even when you were twins?

"Is it about work?" Ethan piped up again before I could make a decision, and then he laughed, the sound lighter than it had been before. "I'm not going to judge you, Xan. You can talk to me about whatever's on your mind. If I'm being honest, I'm still just glad that you didn't get on the wrong side of some off-the-beat organized crime family, and we don't have to go into hiding."

I snorted, and his words broke some of the tension that was living inside of me. "I don't for one second believe that you actually thought I'd gotten caught up with the mob."

"You were being really fucking weird," Ethan shot back. "How was I supposed to know?"

I snorted again. "Okay, yeah, fine." I took another sip, and my hand was shaking less when I set my cup down on the counter. "My first real shoot is today, and I'm fucking nervous."

Ethan hummed. "Didn't you already do that first shoot? The test one?" He paused, and then, "I saw the pictures on the website, so it couldn't have gone too poorly, right?"

I arched an eyebrow, any embarrassment that I might have felt fading at the slightly nervous tremor in his words. "You saw them?"

A pause, and then, Ethan huffed. "Well, yeah. They were on the front page when I was looking...to make sure that I didn't stumble on you in porn. Obviously."

A true bark of laughter escaped me at my brother's awkwardness, and my heart settled. "What did you think, then?" I couldn't help teasing.

I could practically see Ethan rolling his eyes, the perfectly pressed lines of his shirt matching the tension of his body. "I feel like you don't need to ask me that?" he countered. Then he chuckled softly. "They were hot, Xan. I didn't look at all of them,obviously, but..."

He trailed off, and it didn't take a genius to fill in the thoughts. I nodded, and a genuine grin crossed my face. "Yeah. They were, right?"

Ethan snickered again. "It amazes me that your ego fits in your head. I would think that it's too small of a container."

I laughed, and picked up my coffee for another sip. "I manage just fine," I bantered back, unable to stop myself from grinning now. A glance at the time told me that I only had a minute before I had to head out, and I dumped the rest of the now-cold coffee in the sink before I grabbed my wallet and stuffed it in my back pocket. "Hey, E, I gotta go. I don't want to be late."

"Good luck. You'll be great, and I will never, ever,everbe watching it." With that, I hung up on my brother, and there was a new lightness in my step as I headed out to my car.

Ethan was right. Tristan and I were hot together. The first shoot we had done had turned out great. This was just the next step, and I could already tell that we were going to be on fuckingfire.

*

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