Page 13 of Cleats and Pumps

“Oh, that’s my Italian blood. So what do you think?”

“Send it to Keith, let him negotiate, and if he says yes, I’m all in.”

“See, this is why you’re my favorite.”

“Favorite, huh? Favorite what? Side piece, piece of ass? Boytoy?”

“Mmm,” Anton moaned. “All those and so much more. Okay, I’ve got to run, got another phone call, but I’ll let you know about Nashville. If not, maybe you can come here.”

“We’ll see,” I said, letting him off the hook.

I really wanted to get him here now we’d gotten so close. We’d talked almost every night since I left New York, and our conversations got better and richer with time. However, things had gotten heavy right after I left, and they found out about the mole. I knew it was too early, but I hoped it worked out.

I wasn’t in the least bit surprised that Lewis Dunnage wanted the song. With Rodrick’s help, we’d turned it into a lament. It was beautiful and haunting. Nothing I’d ever written described my life as a kid growing up with my grandparents as well as that song.

Whether or not the musical ever got to the stage, I loved the idea of the song being out in the world. Of course, that meant I needed to let Keith know. Even though he hated the musical and told me I needed to abandon it as often as he could, I thinkthe commission from that song might help mitigate some of the upset he was feeling—at least, maybe.

10

Chapter 10

IwassurprisedwhenKeithcalled and told me to come collect my pet.

“What pet are you talking about, Keith?” I asked. I had intentionally never gotten a pet so I could travel and mess around.

“Your pet man, he’s here at my house bugging me about the Lewis Dunnage song.”

“Oh, Anton is at your house?”

“Yep, and now he’s smiling like that Cheshire Cat you wrote about. You two are doing it, aren’t you?”

I laughed out loud at Keith’s question but didn’t answer. “I need a shower, then I’ll come your way. Oh, and give him the dammed song already!”

“Yeah, yeah, you do your job. I’ll do mine.”

I laughed through my shower and rushed to get to Keith’s. I was so excited to see Anton I could hardly contain myself.

The moment I walked into Keith’s, I launched myself into Anton’s arms and let him kiss the missing him away. “God, I needed that,” he said.

“Me too,” I nodded. “But why didn’t you tell me you were coming?”

“It was a surprise. I meant to go to your house and do something sexy, but Keith has a very loud mouth.”

“Hey,” he said behind me, causing us both to laugh.

“I’m glad you’re here.”

“Yeah, me too, and while we’re here with Keith, let me just say, the whole thing is a go. Lewis was at a party where most of the committee members were present. He sang a few bars of the song he wanted to get from you, and that was all it took. They all signed on unanimously, which was a requirement for a musical to be produced.”

“Wait, what? They took Alec in Wonderlust?”

Anton nodded. “They did, but… we still want Lewis to record the song. That’ll help promote the musical. Hell, maybe we could even get him to be Alec.”

I froze and shook my head. “Um, no offense, but Lewis is too pretty to be…” I almost said me but stopped. The character stopped being me as we wrote and rewrote the story and music with Jim and Rodrick. “To be Alec.”

Anton smiled. “That’s a subjective opinion, but I don’t disagree. He won’t want the part anyway. He’s enjoying all the fame and fortune he’s getting from Hollywood and singing these days. Besides, my vision for Alec is bigger and rougher than even you. Like a football player turned drag queen.”

I snorted and ignored the ‘even you’ comment, meaning he’d caught what I almost said earlier. “That’s perfect.”

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