Page 78 of Fresh Start
Dawson
Itapped my foot impatiently outside the casting director’s office, sitting against a car’s hood and checking my watch every two minutes. He’d been there for an hour and still no news. The jet had flown us into LA, and thanks to the time difference, we got to the meeting at 4pm.
It was all behind us. This mess with the movie. And I couldn’t be more grateful. It had all worked out in the end. The only thing we needed now was for Leo to get the part on his own and the world order would be restored, and everything would be as it should.
“Come on, where are you?” I muttered under my breath when he was still not out by half past five.
Thankfully, no one had caught whiff of me in the streets of LA thanks to my cap and shades, but that didn’t mean my luck wouldn’t run out.
Did it matter anymore? If they saw me and if they took pictures of me with Leo?
Was I willing to lose Leo just to keep my private life in check? Hell no. I got a taste of that last night, and I didn’t like it one single bit.
Losing Leo was not an option. Not anymore. It couldn’t be. Besides, even if I stayed in the closet, it’d be impossible when all I wanted was to hold Leo’s hand and kiss him every waking moment of my life.
I took a picture of the top of the building, the sun hitting the studio sign just right to make the picture Instagram-worthy. Before I thought too much about what I was doing, I shared the picture with my fans and a caption that read “the wait is killing me too.”
I didn’t get a chance to see the response pouring in because a figure in grey pants and a white shirt appeared at the entrance of the building. Leo walked down the road, his face an unreadable mask, and his body, so sexy and lithe, it made me a little horny.
No. Fuck little. It made me a lot horny.
“And?” I asked him when he got within hugging distance.
Leo bit his lip.
“It wasn’t just the casting director. I met with the studio executives, the producers, and the director,” he said. “It was fucking terrifying.”
“Leo, what happened?” I said, barely managing not to give him a hug and kiss.
“They talked about the film and the potential series franchise. They asked me about my life. They talked about the fitness regime and the filming schedule,” he said.
“Did they mention the shit about me?” I asked.
He shook his head.
“Tracy was right, I guess. She never spoke to them, so I guess they never really paid attention to all the press hoo-ha,” he said.
“So why did they drag you here so last minute?”
“Oh, that. They’re rushing into pre-production, so they wanted to see me as soon as possible,” Leo replied, still not giving away anything about how the meeting went.
I stared at him, and he stared back but didn’t say anything.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, baby. What did they say?” I burst out and didn’t catch myself when I called him baby. I didn’t even care.
Leo shrugged when he said, “I got the part.”
I thought I didn’t hear right, but then a smile drew across his face.
“You got it?” I shouted.
“I got it!” Leo shouted, too, and he threw himself at me. We jumped on the spot together in each other’s embrace for a few seconds until Leo let go and apologized. “Shit. I forgot. Sorry. Should we go home?”
I didn’t get to tell him that he didn’t need to apologize, that I didn’t care if I was seen with him, because the word home hit me right in the feels.
“Home?” I asked.
Leo laughed.
