“But you can still make The Grand Gesture,” she said. “You’re at the Dark Night of the Soul moment right now, babe. But as soon as you move on to The Grand Gesture, your love story is bound to have a happy ending.”
“This isn’t a romance novel, Diana,” Lee reminded her.
“But it could be,” she said. “You just need to do something that shows Drew you love him, you’re on his side, and you will help him defeat the antagonist so that the two of you can have an HEA.”
Lee smirked at her through his phone. But she might have also been onto something.
“A grand gesture, eh?” he said, ideas already starting to swirl in his head. “I suppose I could think of something.”
“You can and you will,” Diana assured him. “Because I can see how much this means to you. I can see that you and Drew Oberlin are meant to be together. And I’ve known you long enough to know that you won’t hold back from reaching for what you want, no matter how things are. You deserve this. You love him.”
He did. There was no getting around that. And if he wanted to have his happily ever after with the man he was meant to be with, he would have to come up with a clever idea and fight to have him. Drew was worth it.
nineteen
. . .
In the nine months sinceCookedhad exploded, rocketing Drew to fame, there had only been a tiny handful of times where he’d wished nobody had watched the show and that his life had never changed.
The days after Lee had left his apartment—who was he kidding, he’d thrown Lee out—brought some of the worst regret he’d ever had.
“Um, hey, Drew,” Carla, one of the PAs on the set ofSleuthapproached him as he left his dressing room.
They’d been doing night shoots for what felt like forever, and now he had a rare day where he was done before noon. He’d changed out of his costume, scrubbed make-up off his face, and dressed in street clothes, prepared to leave so he could hole up in his apartment, probably sleeping and wishing he’d never been born.
“Hi,” Drew said, stopping to smile at her and to be as gracious and personable as he could be, whether he felt like it or not.
Carla clearly appreciated his efforts, though she looked strained as she walked all the way over to him. She chewed her lip for a second before saying, “I just want to make you awarethat there’s a bit of a crowd right outside the studio gates, and they’ve been asking about you.”
It took everything Drew had not to grimace or roll his eyes or throw a fit.
Every day. His life had been like this every day since Jessica had made her big revelation. The press wouldn’t leave him alone. Social media was a minefield that Abby had given him strict orders not to look at. Avery was fielding calls all over the place from people asking for statements, and reassuring production companies and sponsors they’d started working out deals with who were trying to backtrack on promises, or at least asking questions.
Whatever Jessica had intended to happen with her revenge posts, she stood a very real chance of damaging his career.
“Thanks, Carla,” Drew sighed, forging ahead anyhow.
“The studio has several quieter entrances, if you’d like to leave that way,” Carla went on, following him. “I know it’s not really my job, but I could find your driver and ask him to pick you up by one of the service exits.”
He debated how much of a cop out it would be for him to sneak away from the studio instead of walking boldly out the front gates. Sneaking out implied he had something to be ashamed of, and he didn’t feel that way at all.
He had things to be angry about, reasons to feel betrayal, and enough exhaustion over the way the world saw him, good and bad, that he could have turned into one of those celebrities who trashed their hotel rooms, but no, he didn’t have anything to be ashamed about.
“No, that’s fine,” he said, walking on and pulling his phone out of his back pocket. “But thanks for warning me. I appreciate it.”
Carla smiled sadly. “For what it’s worth, I don’t think you’re faking it with Lee Cresswell. I’ve seen the two of you together myself, and that’s true love.”
Drew tried to smile, but the L word only closed his throat up and made him feel terrible.
Love. It was the last thing he’d thought he’d find in London. It was something he’d never considered important. Sure, he loved a lot of people. He loved his family, his friends. He loved Nikky and Abby, and he even loved Jessica, despite the fact that he was too hurt by her actions to want to even think about her at the moment.
And he loved Lee. He couldn’t help it. Meeting Lee was like winning a prize he hadn’t known he was in the running for. He’d discovered things about himself with Lee that he never would have dreamed were there, and he valued that more than he could say. Lee himself was a revelation. They could talk for hours, kiss for hours, too. And more.
The greatest fear Drew faced wasn’t whether his star would fall hard. It wasn’t that the job offers would dry up and people would get tired of him. He would always find a way to practice his craft and to be creative, even if he ended up teaching theater classes in his own hometown.
But he didn’t know what he would do if he lost Lee for good.
Even if he’d been the one who had asked Lee to go.