He wasn’t going to play along.
“And?” he asked, tossing the ball into Abby’s court.
“And nothing,” she said coyly. “All of the pics that keep popping up with the two of you look like you’re having a great time. Everyone says the two of you are so in love.”
There was no mistaking the question underneath that sly statement.
“We’re not in love,” Drew said, rolling his eyes as he shifted which ear he held his phone to so he could shrug out of his costume.
“Are you sure about that?” Abby teased him.
“Yes!” Drew fired back. It was far too soon to be in love.
That thought wasn’t reassuring at all. It implied there were other things he could feel, things that led to deeper emotions.
He didn’t have time for any of that. He had a career to navigate and a brand to manage.
“Well, if you ask me,” Abby went on, “you two need to make some sort of public statement soon. Everyone is champing at the bit to know what’s going on with you and Lee. I’m one of those people.”
“What I’ve got going on with Lee is nobody’s business but ours,” Drew said, surprised by how fierce he felt about that, even with Abby asking.
“Mmm hmm.”
Abby’s answer sent prickles down Drew’s back.
“Anyhow, I have to go,” Drew went on. “Filming is done for the day, and Lee’s coming over for dinner tonight.”
“Oh, is he?” Abby was absolutely wearing one of her shit-eating grins.
“It’s just dinner,” Drew insisted, laughing. “Get your mind out of the gutter.”
Abby laughed, too. “Seriously, though, I’m happy for you. I feel better about leaving you alone knowing you’ve got a friend in your corner over there.”
“I appreciate it,” Drew said.
They ended the call with their usual goodbyes and love yas, and Drew finished changing out of his costume and washing off his make-up. He couldn’t have taken the conversation much further anyhow, since the rest of the cast and several crew members wandered into the dressing room at that point.
He thought over everything Abby and Avery had said on his way back to his apartment, though. When the whole Rent-A-Boyfriend thing had been hatched, he’d assumed he could just hang out with Lee and be photographed with him a few times and the rumors would take care of the rest of the work. Now, however, he wasn’t so sure.
“Do you think we should make some kind of statement about dating?” he asked Lee as the two of them put together dinner from the bits and pieces Lee had picked up on his way over. When Lee looked at him with wide eyes, he hurried on to say, “I mean, the work is pretty much done with all the pics that have been posted about us, but just in case.”
“You want to tell people officially that we’re dating?” Lee seemed surprised.
Immediately, Drew second-guessed everything. He kept forgetting that the whole thing wasn’t just a plot to help his career. Lee had a life and a reason for spending time with him, too. He might not feel the same way about everything they’d experienced together. He might not feel the same way about him.
The thought was suddenly horrifying and overwhelming.
“I’m just worried that maybe the press are on your back,” he blundered through saying as they took their plates to the table, “and making some sort of official statement would get them to back off.”
Lee sat and looked across the small table at him for way too long before saying, “Wouldn’t the press come after me even more if we made any sort of statement about officially dating?”
Drew winced and mentally kicked himself. He had no idea what he was doing, and was fighting tooth and nail to avoid his reasons for doing all of it.
“Never mind, then,” he said, picking up his fork but only picking at his food. He suddenly didn’t have an appetite. “I don’t know what I’m talking about.”
“Hey,” Lee said softly, reaching across the table to rest his fingers on Drew’s free hand. “It’s okay. If you think it’s a good idea to tell the world we’re dating, then I trust your judgement.”
The way Lee looked at him made Drew feel like he could see right through him. He could see through the barriers he’d put up to protect himself from things that had always been there that he didn’t really want to think about.