IF I’D THOUGHT Mira leaving would give me a chance to settle things back down with Kelly, I was dead wrong.
Even though I’d already kicked them out earlier, East and Travis somehow managed to slip inside my apartment before the door shut after Mira. The mischievous looks on their faces told me double trouble was back in action.
God help us all.
“I knew it was Atticus fuckface,” East said, his words at odds with the way he strolled into the room like he owned it.
Travis followed, his phone firmly clasped in hand, the glowing screen displaying the second post that had come through. “That shitbag needs to learn his lesson, since he obviously didn’t get the hint last time.”
“And let me guess. You’ve got a plan,” I said.
East arched a brow at Travis, smirks on both their faces. “Travis and I came up with a few ideas we’d get immense pleasure from.”
“I can’t wait to hear this,” West said, way too excited about the prospect of fucking over my ex, unlike Preston, who sat nearby running a hand over his face. Not that he wouldn’t be up for a little retaliation, but whenever the ideas came from Travis and East, shit was going to get ugly. And messy.
“Count me in for whatever you’re doing,” Kelly said.
East’s answering grin was downright sinister. “Abso-fuckin-lutely.”
I knew I had to look horrified, but there was no way I was letting Kelly get involved in whatever revenge plot my friends would concoct. He had enough going on.
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “No way. Leave Kelly out of this. He doesn’t know what he’d be getting himself into.”
Kelly crossed his arms, his tall, built body looking like a veritable fortress guarding the room. The muscle in his jaw clenched as he met my eyes. “Doesn’t fuckin’ matter.”
“You don’t think your man is going to defend your honor?” Travis scoffed. “Grow a pair, Van.”
“I’ve got a pair, or did you somehow miss that when you were ogling all the hell over our scene?” I replied.
“Do I need to remove those too?” Harry’s voice was small compared to the rest of the loudmouths in the room, and I’d almost forgotten he was even there. When we all turned our attention his way, he swallowed and pushed his glasses up his nose. “The, uh, masked ones. Did you want those down too?”
Shit, the fact that he could even do that hadn’t crossed my mind, but they were up legally, and Kelly and I had both signed approvals for them. It wasn’t like I was ashamed of the scenes. Not to mention they were hot as hell, and it would be doing not only Kelly but the whole fanbase of viewers a disservice by taking them down.
“No,” I said. “Those are legit. Just make sure my name isn’t attached to them in any way.”
Harry nodded and went back to typing. “Sure thing.”
I looked back at Kelly, and he was radiating all kinds of palpable tension with his unflinching stance. It wasn’t just a mix of anger at my ex and determination to fuck him over, but also a shadow of something like guilt.
And that wasn’t going to work for me.
“All right, everybody out,” I shouted.
All talking ceased, and East blinked at me like he couldn’t have heard me right. “Perhaps we weren’t clear. Our plans for your disgusting ex are being done in your honor.”
“And when I take care of a few things, I’ll listen all day, how’s that?”
“It’s a little ungrateful.” East sniffed, lifting his chin. “But I’ll allow it.”
I battled the urge to roll my eyes, since in his own way, he was trying to help. Preston gave my shoulder a reassuring squeeze and quietly slipped into the hall, while West made a big show of hoisting himself up off the couch and grumbling, “You’re the one who told me to come over and help you.”
“Which I appreciate, really, but now I just need you to get the fuck out.” I paused. “Please.”
“What about Harry? He’s not done yet,” West said, gesturing toward our hacker on speed dial, who was wisely packing up his stuff at the counter.
“You have internet and a desk at your place, right?”
West’s mouth fell open, and as he started to protest instead of moving, I put my hands on his shoulders and pushed him toward the door. It wasn’t my fault Travis was still standing there instead of leaving, and they collided with loud grunts and curses.
“Rude much?” Travis said as Harry hurried out the door, tightly gripping the straps of his backpack.
“Harry, thanks, man. Keep up the good work,” I called out, and then shoved Travis and West out the door too. “Why don’t you all go work on whatever wicked plans you have for dipshit and we’ll talk tomorrow?” I went to close the door, but then added, “And do me a favor and keep Gavin busy tonight.”
West made an indecent gesture with his hips. “Yesss, get it, Van—”
I shut the door in his grinning face, and as the locks automatically engaged, I let out a long sigh and turned back to Kelly. The silence in the room was a welcome reprieve, but the taut muscles in his neck and arms spoke volumes.
“I am so, so sorry about all that,” I said.
“Don’t apologize for having people who care about you enough to want to inflict damage on someone who hurt you.”
I shook my head, stepping closer to him, aching to touch him. “I don’t mean them. I don’t think it’s what they said that’s bothering you.”
Kelly remained still as a statue, his eyes tracking my every move, as I closed the distance between us.
“Talk to me,” I said when I was close enough to touch, reaching out to hold his waist. “Tell me what’s going on in your head.”
He swallowed hard, shifting his gaze away, but I refused to let him retreat into silence. Not now. I hooked my finger under his chin, forcing him to meet my eyes.
After a long moment, he finally said, “I’ve fucked things up for you.”
“No.”
“Donovan, come on. You heard Mira. No brand wants a scandal anywhere near them. You might lose all your jobs because of me.”
I knew I’d sensed the guilt pouring off him, but the fact that he was blaming himself for my decisions… I wouldn’t let him take that on.
“Did you not hear anything I said? Or were you too focused on Mira giving me a mouthful of her opinion?”
“Yes, I heard. I heard all of it—”
“Then you know I’m past giving a shit what happens, whether anyone wants to fire me or punish me for it… Whatever. I enjoy what I do, but if it ended today, I’d do something else. It’s not my whole life, Kelly. You—” I stopped myself, realizing I’d been about to say, “You are.”
Judging by the way Kelly widened his eyes, he knew exactly where my thoughts had been going.
Holy shit, that wasn’t what I’d expected to come flying out of my mouth, but if I thought that would scare him off, I was dead wrong. He stepped in closer, reaching up to cradle my face.
“I’m what?” he teased with a half-smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “Care to finish that sentence?”
I curled my fingers into his shirt. “You said you heard everything I said to Mira, which included my spilling my guts out about you.”
“Oh, that’s right,” he said, his eyes dancing with mischief. “I think there was something about you falling for me…”
“And? ’Cause there was more.”
Kelly scratched his jaw, pretending to think it over. “That you think I’m the sexiest, most amazing man you’ve ever met. And by far the best fuck you’ve had.”
Laughter bubbled up from my chest. “It’s all the truth. Though I’m pretty sure I left out that last detail. You know, to spare Mira any more trauma.”
“Then I probably shouldn’t mention the part about you worshiping my cock.”
Fuuuck, the man’s mouth made me want to drop to my knees and do just that. But that was nothing new. I’d wanted nothing more than to taste and kiss and touch him from the second I laid eyes on him.
“What else did you hear?” My words came out breathy, but I was beyond the point of caring.
Kelly lowered his head, and his lips traced a searing path along my jaw that ignited shivers down my spine. “That I make you smile. Laugh. That your heart skips when I walk into the room.”
“You were listening.”
“What about right now?” he said, shifting back to look at my face. “Any skipping I should know about?”
I guided his hand to my chest. “What do you think?”
“It’s fast. I think it means you kinda like me.”
“No,” I said, sucking in a deep inhale that did nothing to steady my racing heart. “It means I love you.”
Kelly’s mouth parted, a mix of surprise and emotion lighting up his handsome features.
“And just so you know, all of this, every choice I’ve made, it’s been mine,” I said, my voice unwavering. “And if I had to do it all over again, I would, the same way, every time. Because this, you and me? We’re worth it.”
This time, I could feel the way his pulse seemed to stop and then quicken beneath where my thumb rested along his wrist. When his obvious shock passed, he slowly smiled. “And you love me.”
“I do.” I linked my fingers through his and brought his wrist up to my lips to press a kiss there. “So much I don’t care if the world burns, as long as I can have you.”
“Donovan…” For the first time since I’d met him, Kelly’s voice shook, and he closed his eyes briefly. When he opened them again, those golden depths glistened. “I don’t know that I deserve you. But I want to.”
“Don’t say that. You’re the most incredible, worthiest man I’ve ever met. You, Kelly Sinclair, deserve the entire goddamn universe. And I just want to be a part of it.”
Kelly shook his head, like he couldn’t believe the words coming out of my mouth, even though I’d never lie to him. There was nothing I wouldn’t do for this man, nothing I wouldn’t give up—and if that included my career, then good fucking riddance. It would never compare to the way I felt when Kelly looked at me the way he was now, like I was the most precious thing in the world.
He threaded his fingers into my hair, bringing our faces in close so that his breath was a warm whisper on my lips. “I love you, Donovan Truitt. I think I’ve loved you from the first minute I saw you—”
I didn’t let him finish. He’d already said everything I needed to hear with those three words, and I closed the final inch between us, taking his mouth in a kiss that sealed everything we’d just confessed to each other. The intensity of the moment had me feeling weightless, like I was tethered to earth only by Kelly’s lips moving urgently against mine. Our tongues and teeth clashed as we consumed each other, hands roaming, dicks rubbing through our jeans in sweet, tortured friction.
While we had always been fans of putting on a show, I didn’t want this moment to happen where anyone could watch us. The floor-to-ceiling windows in the living room were high enough that there wasn’t a building directly in front of us, but I knew anyone with a wandering eye could watch, and we’d let everyone see enough already.
Ripping my mouth away, my voice was a throaty growl as I said, “My bedroom. Now.”
