Page 28 of The Exception

“I didn’t think it was all bad.” Austin replied while I was still stuck in my own head.

“It wasn’t,” I agreed. “Is this what we want to get into tonight?”

Kandace nibbled on her fries and washed the food down with a swallow of beer. “It wouldn’t have been my first choice, but here we are. My son says…” She gave a brief shake of her head. “You have to know what the fan theories are about the two of you.”

I did. “That we were secret lovers.”

“That we still are,” Austin said.

“That I’m his housewife and no one knows because shh… Secret.” I pressed my finger to my lips.

The way Austin chuckled, like it was easy, like this was the kind of situation he found himself in every day, set my teeth on edge. “Eli would make a terrible housewife.”

Kandace raised her brows. “I’ve seen his office. I have a hard time believing that.”

“Not because I’m bad at it.” I wasn’t letting the blame fall on me.

Austin shook his head. “Not at all. But I’m horrible at being told where to put things and the instant I didn’t do it the way Eli said—”

“I’d let him know. If we weren’t already on the outs, that’d do it.” I couldn’t imagine being married to Austin. Not even for a second. Never had.

Maybe for a little while I had.

Kandace laughed. Not the reaction I expected.

“This was what I was about to bring up,” she said. “So many anything-but-straight kinds, especially young boys, especially my son who struggled so much with his sexuality when he was younger, saw your show. They saw the chemistry the two of you had. Even if you weren’t allowed to express it back then, you both changed their worlds.”

I’d seen the various fan theories over the years, about my relationship with Austin. I know what kind of popularity the show had now. But I’d never heard someone personally say something like I’d changed their world. How was I supposed to react?

“That chemistry didn’t exist without there being something between the two of you. Don’t tell me it was all bad.”

We’d already agreed it wasn’t, right? Which was why flashing back to those moments that were good with Austin hurt.

He knocked back the rest of his beer, and set the bottle on the table with a solidthud.“Remember the night we discovered someone on set was keeping real beer in the set fridge?”

“Oh, God.” I did. Vividly. “That was such a mistake” I took a sip of my own drink, hoping it would loosen some of the tension in my neck.

“Don’t keep me in suspense, tell me the rest of the story.” Kandace leaned in, curiosity sparkling in her eyes.

Austin jerked his head at me. “Eli’s the storyteller.”

Seriously? “We sneaked the beer out of the fridge, we got drunk, and it was a disaster.”

“Really?” Kandace twisted her mouth in amusement. “This is what my brother pays you for?” Her tone was playful. “We’re all here; we might as well make the evening fun. Tell me the story.”

How was I supposed to turn down a request like that? The past tugged at my heart, and it hurt, so I might as well remember the fun bits too. “The guy who was bringing the booze in drank one of those brands that came with the screw off tops. We thought we were being clever. Austin and I would each drink half a bottle, fill them up with water, and then put them back. We figured no one would ever know.”

I wished I didn’t remember that with so much fondness. But I had a soft spot for a lot of Austin’s stupid schemes. Back then I’d been so jealous I wasn’t the one to come up with them first.

“How long did it take before you got caught?” Kandace looked captivated.

“I’m pretty sure he knew Day One,” I said. “He let us get away with it for about a week. One of the shoots was really stressful, and Austin and I were going to be adults and drinkallthe beer. Because that must be smart, right?”

Damn it, now I was remembering more of what went on that night, and almost having fun with the past, and I didn’t want that. “We were lucky the guy the beer belonged to—it was one of the ADs, was the same person who found us. We were sick and pretty much passed out.”

“I was terrified he was going to tell my mom,” Austin added. “I came clean to her the next day, and begged for her forgiveness.”

The AD said we’d learned our lesson and we’d keep it between us. “You’re lucky she didn’t tell anyone else.”

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