Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 79155 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79155 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
And I couldn’t picture any “relationship” with Nathan where he wasn’t uncomfortable. Whether he was a hookup or more than a hookup, it was abundantly clear that he wanted to keep me a secret.
A wild little secret, that would be a wild little story, one day.
I reached for my duffel bag and slung it over my shoulder, heading out the back of the locker room and into the parking lot.
“Can you be at my house in an hour? We do movie night, Thai takeout, I cry into a pint of Ben and Jerry’s?”
“You’re not going to like my answer to this one, either.”
“Don’t tell me,” I said. “You’re already seeing your Mr. Perfect again tonight?”
“Don’t hate me,” she squeaked, and I let out a laugh as I got in my car.
“Couldn’t ever.”
“Who knows. Maybe he’ll be awful tonight, and then all will be right with the world again, and we can be single and miserable together.”
“I didn’t feel miserable until I got hit with a fucking crush like a meteor from the sky,” I told her. “Why do people have these, again? What’s the benefit? Remind me.”
“Because we’re all crazy.”
“Too real.”
“I’ll be there tomorrow night,” she said. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
“You ready to see me make an ass of myself on TV?”
“It’s all I’ve read about online, since the trailer came out.”
I blew out a breath of air as I started up my car. “The fans are already rabid for it. The scene from the trailer where I’m tugging off my shirt and dancing is all anyone can talk about. I do that all of the time on Instagram.”
Tomorrow was the premiere of the first six episodes of the Life of Tomlin TV show. It was dropping on one of the biggest online streaming services, but until now, I hadn’t really conceptualized how big of a deal it was going to be.
It wasn’t just going to be another piece of short, quick internet media that I popped out on a near-daily basis, these days. Life of Tomlin was bigger than that. And it was going to get a lot of national attention.
“You ready for it?” Callie said.
“A little nervous. And I don’t get nervous about much.”
She hummed. “You nervous about what your crush is going to think? Maybe? Kind of? Just a little?”
“Shut up,” I grumbled. “Also, yes.”
“Too cute.”
I rubbed a hand over my face. “I’m so dumb. Tonight I’m going to drown my sorrows and forget about my crush, and then tomorrow, we watch my TV show and party. I need to get back to my normal self.”
“I like every version of you,” Callie assured me. “But I just want you to be happy.”
After we hung up, I took the long way home, driving down tree-lined streets instead of taking the freeway. Once I started climbing up the mountain, my swirling thoughts finally started to settle.
All I could do was be myself. It was what I had shoved away for almost my whole life, and I would never shove it away again. An easy, breezy playboy. That was me. The person everyone knew me as. Who I’d come to know myself as.
I just had to push down Kace Tomlin, the person, and be every bit Kace Tomlin, the superstar.
That was all I had.
By that time the following day, people were already streaming into my house to get ready for the TV watch party. Every muscle in my body ached, and somehow I knew it was from more than just the training session.
“You look like you need a drink in your hand,” I told my buddy Mike as he walked in, giving him a fist bump.
“Damn right I do,” he said.
As the party got into full swing, I waited for the moment when I would start to feel like myself again. Being surrounded by people who were here to see me—in real life and on TV—should have been enough to make anyone feel at home. I had invited all of the Fixer Brothers crew to the launch party days and days ago, and I greeted Charlie as he walked in.
“You have the best house for a party, I swear,” Charlie said, glancing around. “And the best guests. Holy shit, I’ve never seen so many hot guys in one place.”
“Feel free to have fun,” I told him. “I take it your date with the Sudoku master didn’t work out?”
“He was awful,” Charlie confirmed. “I’ve given up on men. Other than all the hotties here, of course.”
I laughed. “I know the feeling, Charlie."
He was already eyeing one of the guys I’d met on Instagram recently, a shy guy who was currently standing alone beside the fireplace.
“I think I’m going to go chat with him,” Charlie said. “You know, just see if his place is in need of any renovation projects.”
I gave him a little salute. “Go for it.”