DONOVAN DROPPED ME off at my apartment Sunday afternoon, and even though I hated saying goodbye to him—and that sweet-ass car—I had some decisions to make, ones I’d only keep putting off if he were anywhere near me.
Truth be told, in the back of my mind, I already knew where I was leaning. Thinking of all the what-ifs was scary as hell, though, especially when I had no guarantee that anything would come of my meeting with Mira.
But…I didn’t have an exclusivity contract, and was only working on a case-by-case basis, so if I decided to stop filming with Xes, at least I wouldn’t be sued.
I unlocked my apartment door, thankful that, for once, Corey wasn’t there raiding my fridge. There would be no quiet with him around either, not to mention I could use some serious gym time after not lifting any over the weekend, though missing cardio was never an issue with Donovan around.
I tossed my bag on the bed and began to unpack, knowing if I didn’t do it now, there was no telling when I’d actually get around to it.
I hated that there was a small part of me that would miss the attention I would get from being Sin. I had just as much of an ego as anyone else did, and it felt good for once to be somebody. Someone who wasn’t struggling or hoping for their big break. It wasn’t like I’d ever be a household name doing porn, but how many people could say they had a party thrown in their honor at one of Manhattan’s hottest nightclubs?
Then again, there was a chance at living my dream right there just dangling in front of me, waiting for me to snatch it. The possibility of more was what had kept me going for years with nothing much to show for it, and was I really ready to get back on that merry-go-round?
The door slamming shut snapped me out of my thoughts, followed by Corey calling out, “Yo, Kelly, you back?”
I tried not to groan. I’d say hello, then kick him out. And if he refused to leave, I could always bench-press him as a workout.
Leaving the bedroom, where he didn’t ever need to be, I headed out to the living room to see him standing there in a shirt that said, I paused my game to be here. He carried a box of cookies under one arm, and I narrowed my eyes.
“I didn’t buy those.”
“Duh,” Corey said, giving me a lopsided grin. “I brought them.”
“You brought food into my house? Have you been body-snatched? Are you ill?”
“Hey, I contribute. I brought over pizza rolls once.”
“Yeah, when Sven and I moved in.”
Corey scratched the back of his neck with his phone. “No, it hasn’t been that long.”
“It has. And thanks for bringing the dessert, but I overindulged this weekend as it is.”
“More for me.” Flopping into the sling chair, Corey busted open the package of cookies and took a huge bite of one. He didn’t bother to swallow before he asked, “So where’d you end up going?”
I sat on the couch and pulled out my phone to show him a few photos I’d taken of Avalon Castle, but I accidentally scrolled too far and came across a bare-chested photo of Donovan. He’d been reaching into his bag for something and glanced over at me just in time for the shot. Even with bedhead, he was the most gorgeous man I’d ever seen.
And he wanted to be with me.
“Daaamn. He looks just as good without clothes as he does with them, huh?”
That too-big grin on Corey’s face had me jerking my phone back from view. “Keep your drool off my furniture.”
“Hey, you’re the one who called him the hottest guy you’d ever seen. I’m just agreeing with you.”
It took me longer than it should have to realize all of what Corey had said in the last few seconds.
I’d told him that the guy I’d had a scene with was the hottest guy I’d ever seen, but…how did he know Donovan was the same guy? He’d been masked the entire time in all of our scenes, and I knew I hadn’t slipped with his name.
Maybe Corey was just assuming it was the same guy…
I decided to play dense on the off chance he was just trying to figure things out. “Not sure what you mean.”
“Look at you being cagey, even though the secret’s out.” Corey dug into the sleeve for another cookie. “You must like him a lot.”
“Hold on a second,” I said, scooting to the edge of the couch as a knot began to form in my stomach. “What do you mean by ‘the secret’s out’?”
“The article.” He wiped the crumbs from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand. “I didn’t know you’d scrub up so nice. I was kinda impressed.”
“Corey, what article? Show me.”
The seriousness in my tone must’ve tipped him off that something was up, because he fumbled for his phone and handed it to me.
And suddenly, I felt like I was going to be sick.
There was a photo of me and Donovan in our tuxedos posing together at the Elysium event, but it wasn’t seeing us together that made my stomach roil. It was the implication spelled out in the article underneath.
DONOVAN TRUITT AND KELLY “SIN” SINCLAIR
STEP OUT TOGETHER FOR A GOOD CAUSE.
Donovan Truitt, son of supermodel Kimberly Thompson, was spotted last week with Kelly Sinclair, the latest “big” thing to come from Xes Entertainment.
The two attended a charity event at Elysium, but seemed to only have eyes for each other as they were photographed entering the event.
Kelly, who has risen to fame with soaring online success, has stolen that spotlight with a masked mystery man. But after this public outing as a couple, many are now speculating over whether we just got a glimpse of the beautiful face that might be hiding behind that mask.
Beautiful face behind the mask…meaning Donovan.
Oh shit. I dropped my head onto my hand as I read through the rest. “Oh my fucking God.”
The room went dead silent. After a beat, Corey said, “Wait, you didn’t know about this?”
“Does it look like I got a heads-up?”
Corey cursed and shoved the box of cookies aside. “Shit, man, I’m sorry. I just thought—”
“That someone who didn’t want his identity known in the videos with me would just blast that information at an event his parents were at? Fuck no.”
“Oh. Yeah. He’s got a pretty famous family, huh?”
“No shit.” I scrubbed a hand over my face. “And Donovan’s not exactly unknown either.”
“That’s…not good.”
I lifted my head, glaring, and Corey recoiled.
“You know what?” he said, getting to his feet and hugging the cookies to his chest. “I think I’m gonna go. You look like you, uh, need some space.”
I wasn’t even in the mood to argue that because, shit, this was just another layer to an already complicated situation, and I didn’t need to take anything out on Corey.
“Um.” He shuffled his feet, standing out of arm’s reach of me. “Can I have my phone back?”
I didn’t even realize I was still holding it, but I handed it over, and he hightailed it to the door. But then he turned back and said, “Hey, Kelly? If you need anything or maybe wanna talk, you can always stop by.”
I nodded. “Appreciate the offer, man.”
“Anytime.”
He slipped out without another word, and I let out a long sigh.
Had Donovan seen this yet? He’d only dropped me off a little while ago, so he probably wasn’t even home yet.
I checked the time on my phone and decided to wait until I knew he wasn’t driving to share the news.
Motherfucker.
