Page 7 of Happily Never After

“Man,” he said when his mouth was free again, “I haven’t played chubby bunny since high school. Sawyer’s mouth is huge. I think he had an unfair advantage.”

“Yeah, yeah. So, I need you to come to my office.”

He paused. “Is there a spider? We’re in the middle of a party. It can wait.”

“No, there’s not a spider. Just come on.”

“Not until you tell me why you need me to go.” He leaned against a banquet table and crossed his arms over his chest. Of all the times to be a stubborn asshole.

“I was going to suggest we do that thing you mentioned, but if you’re not willing to?—”

Luke shot away from the table, grabbed her hand, and immediately crossed the ballroom, thrusting the double doors open and dragging her behind him like a rag doll. He twisted the office door handle and had one hand on his belt when he apparently realized there was a man in the room.

Luke jumped, again covering his junk with his hand. Claire smiled and directed him into the chair in front of her desk.

“Luke, this is Jeremy.”

“Okay,” he said slowly. “Thanks for coming to my party, Jeremy who I’ve never met.”

She elbowed him.

“Mr. Islestorm. I’m Jeremy Lewis of Streamster Incorporated. I work in content acquirement. I’ve been in contact with your agent, Claire.”

Luke sat up and then froze. The wooden arm of the chair creaked under his fingertips.

“Nice to meet you.” He recovered and reached across the desk. They shook hands.

“I’m here representing Streamster. We are interested in acquiring your finished documentary and securing a relationship for the one in progress.”

Luke cocked his head. “You want my documentaries?”

“We do.” Jeremy slid a stack of documents across the desk to Luke. “I know you’ve done well with releasing it independently. But true crime is a tremendous market right now. If we streamed your documentary, it would reach millions. I’m confident that it would be a very lucrative relationship.”

Luke reached toward the documents, then snatched his hands back. He folded his arms and stared at Jeremy. “Would I be giving up any creative control?”

“None. We’re not interested in micromanaging our creators’ content unless there’s something egregious we can’t ignore. Our content manager lovedThe Suburban Hustle. The network would provide you with access to a team of people to help finish the new documentary—animation, camera crews, story editors, whatever you need. We would also give you the funding you need to finish. It’s all in the contract.”

Luke was silent for several seconds. Was this some kind of negotiation tactic?

“Can I think about it?” he finally asked.

Claire’s eyes bulged, and she kicked Luke. He winced but didn’t react.

“Of course,” Jeremy said, standing up and sliding his blazer back on. “We’ll need to know by Friday. My card.” A black-and-silver embossed business card slid into Luke’s hands. Jeremy nodded at them and left.

The second the door closed, Luke collapsed back into his chair.

“Streamster wants my docs,” he said simply.

“They do.” Claire slid an arm around him and perched on the arm of his chair. “Why do you want to wait on it?”

“It’s a big decision.” He wiped a hand over his face. “Probably not one that I should make while buzzed from Battleship Jell-O shots. Not to mention a blood sugar level of 3,000 from chubby bunny.”

She nodded. “That’s a good point. Are you excited, though? Happy? Pissed at me for interfering?” The wheels were definitely turning behind those stupidly beautiful green eyes. Maybe this whole thing had been a mistake. He didn’t love surprises, and this evening had already been full of them.

“Just surprised.” He turned to her. “I can’t believe you did this for me.”

She flippantly waved a hand. “It’s nothing. I just had to impersonate an agent, ask Brianna to introduce me to someone, and coerce Kyle into looking over your contract. It’s solid, by the way.”

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