Lee smiled before he could stop himself. “Sounds like a weird but good evening,” he said.
He had the feeling the two of them were in for a lot of weird but good evenings going forward.
nine
. . .
Things couldn’t have gone better if Drew had written the script himself.Sleuthwas a blast to film. The deeper they got into the filming schedule, the more he enjoyed dressing in historical costume every day and speaking with a British accent. He got along well with his costars, although Rachel Evans had her moments, and the director was fantastic to work with.
Everything he’d hoped would happen with his career and had dreamed of through years of working dubious projects and waiting tables was finally happening. He hadn’t set a time for his meeting with Simon Underhill yet, but that was coming soon, he could feel it.
All of that should have been at the forefront of his mind as he rode the wave of fame that was taking him places. But in the two weeks since the night of the concert, the night of the drunken kiss, his first thoughts in the morning were about Lee, and his last ones before falling asleep were wondering when the two of them would be able to hang out again.
It was unsettling.
Drew had always liked people and formed strong attachments with his friends, but he couldn’t deny something different was going on with Lee.
“Okay, I’ve just got to the part where Othar puts the collar around Pulsivar’s neck,” he spoke into his phone during a long stretch of downtime on set, recording a WhatsApp message for Lee. “I don’t get why that means Wavern can locate him now.”
He sent the message, then went back to reading Lee’s book. He completely understood why Abby was so obsessed with them. Lee was a natural storyteller, and the books were sexy as fuck.
Lee replied almost right away. “It’s because the collar means Othar now controls all of Pulsivar’s magic, and he hasn’t figured out that Wavern wants Pulsivar yet.”
Drew smiled, not just at the explanation of the book, but because he liked hearing Lee’s voice. It was soft and intelligent, like wrapping up in a warm sweater and having a cup of tea on the couch.
Which was definitely something he shouldn’t have been thinking about another guy’s voice.
“This book does have a happy ending, doesn’t it?” he asked, smirking as if he were having the conversation with Lee face to face.
He could imagine exactly what Lee looked like when he replied with a laugh and, “You’ll just have to keep reading and see. That one is the first in a series, you know.”
“Come on,” Drew answered back right away. “Don’t mess with me like this. If these two don’t get together and make all sorts of half-dragon babies, I’ll never forgive you.”
Lee only replied with a long string of laughing emojis. It was probably for the best, since Drew was called onto set and wouldn’t have been able to continue the conversation. Lee and his sexy dragons stayed with him, in the back of his head,sparking away in his imagination, even while he was shooting the intense scene on the slate for the day.
Everything was going great, but nothing was going the way he’d thought it would. He was having a blast hanging out with Lee. They made a point to go out in public together a couple times a week so people could spot them and take pics. Social media was full of candid shots of the two of them, captured by people who wanted to be in the thick of gossip and speculation about the two of them. That part of the plan was moving along perfectly.
But it was the time he and Lee spent together out of the public eye that Drew was really coming to cherish. They hung out at the apartment whenever they both had free time. Lee’s schedule was flexible, so the time they spent together was usually at the end of filming days or when Drew had half a day off as scenes not involving him were shot. Filming, especially on such a tight schedule, was intense, but he did still have time for his fake boyfriend.
Fake boyfriend. Drew didn’t even like to think the words anymore. They felt too volatile, too dangerous. Too…inadequate.
He liked Lee. He liked spending time with him. A lot.
That was all he wanted to think about for the time being.
As soon as they reached a pause in shooting, he wandered back to his chair and grabbed his phone, hoping Lee had left him another message. There wasn’t anything more from Lee, but his phone had been busy while he’d been on set. He had a missed call from Jessica and a voicemail telling him to call her, and a text from his agent asking for a call as well.
He called Jessica first.
“Sorry I missed your call,” he said as soon as she answered. “I was on set.”
“It looks like you were a bunch of other places, too,” she said, her voice tense and tired.
Drew sat heavily in his chair, already guessing where the conversation would go. “Do I need to ask what you mean by that?”
“There are pictures of you and Lee all over social media,” she snapped.
“Isn’t that the whole point?” he asked, frowning. It didn’t make sense for Jessica to get jealous now when the whole ruse was her idea.