Page 139 of Love on the Byline

Bran’s mouth dropped open. “Shit.”

“Yeah.”

“Sorry to interrupt.” Rory walked out onto the patio. “Iwondered if you were ready to head out?”

“Yeah,” Bran replied, standing. “Blake said she’d meet usthere?”

Ollie nodded. “She’s been called to an emergency meeting atthe Gazette. Maybe corporate didn’t take too kindly to the interview,especially after it was picked up by the national news.”

Blake had texted to say she was meeting with the publisher,a man he’d only met briefly at the gala. As far as Ollie was concerned, theinterview was proof enough of Sonja’s slander and the damage caused by gossipand innuendo. He wasn’t sure the publisher and his cohorts would see it thesame way.

Blake and Bran both deserved better.

Rory stood. “I’ll be in the car.”

“Thanks.” When he was gone, Ollie turned to Bran and asked,“You sure you’re up for this?”

“Not really.”

The drive to Play L.A. was quiet, and he used the time tore-read the interview and scroll through social media. The response was largelypositive, though there were a number of asinine comments that Ollie hoped Blakenever saw.

He searched the Gazette for the article and photos aboutVal, Blake, and Bran, but there was nothing.

He thought about the events of the last few weeks.

Spending so much time with Blake, after not having seen herfor years, suddenly felt like some sort of fever dream. He could almostconvince himself he’d imagined the whole thing. But she’d been there, solid andreal, in his arms. Under him.

He hadn’t expected to grow as close as they had in such ashort time, and he wondered if there was a way forward for them. If proximityand adrenaline had been the only thing bringing them together.

He had no clue what his next steps should be.

An email from Vincent Park sat in his inbox, marked unread.Taking him up on the offer to join the writer’s room for Blackbirdwould mean leaving Bran’s employ. Something Ollie had always planned to do.Eventually. Probably.

So, why did it feel like a betrayal?

“Are you still working for me because you want to or becauseyou feel like you owe me?” Bran asked, making him wonder if Lorna mentionedsomething to him about the offer.

Ollie turned to face him, but not before he caught Rory’sexpression in the rearview mirror.

“Why are you asking me that?”

Bran shrugged again, but this time he didn’t look away.“Because I don’t want to lose you, but also because I don’t want to be thereason you don’t go for what you really want.”

Ollie swallowed down the lump in his throat. “I don’t feelobligated.”

Bran let out a heavy breath then nodded. “Then you’ll takethe job?”

“What job?”

“Lorna asked why I wasn’t letting you go do your own thing.Why I pressured you into staying.” His smile was sad.

“I never told her that.” The anger rose quick. “She didn’thave the right to say that to you.”

“She’s not the only person to tell me how selfish I am,keeping you tethered to me. Noelia, Clark, even Blake, though she didn’t haveto say it out loud.”

“It’s not... You need someone in your corner who doesn’thave an agenda. Someone who isn’t looking to make a buck off of you or use youas a stepping stone to something else.” Ollie said. “And, yes. I know I’m notworking for free, but that’s not why I’m here.”

“Ols, in case you haven’t noticed, I don’t have manyfriends. I don’t have an entourage. You’re it.” Bran shifted, bringing one kneeup onto the seat between them. “I know it’s not fair to you, but that’s why Ihold on so tightly. Of course, you should take the job - if you want it. Ofcourse, you should do the thing you’ve always wanted to do and write.”

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