Noah (22 page)

I inclined my head, thankful. "We'll do some digging first, in case, but we're pretty fucking sure already."

Who else could it be? We couldn’t completely rule out random strangers; weird crap made people bitter and jealous. But they'd have to have had access to information in order to reveal so much. Julian had shown me some of it since I hadn't bothered to read the specifics earlier, and not many "sources" could say he and I had been seen kissing after a birthday party in LA.

What we did know was that Nicky knew the driver who'd taken us home that night we'd been so careless.

"By the way, if Asher gets a script delivered with a pizza, tell him the script's a waste of time," I said. That oughta teach the driver to keep his mouth shut and respect others' privacy.

Tennyson frowned. "Okay…?"

"Long story." I waved it off. "Work-wise, how will we deal with publicity for the film?"

He was quick to move on. "I've spoken to a few publicists, Sophie's included, and they're all in agreement on ignoring this. It'll blow over, and I'm not submitting the film to Cannes until the deadline in March next year." That was good to hear. A fuckload of gossip would circulate in Hollywood in the next eight months. "Now, if we get selected by the committee," he went on, "Sage suggests doing a subtle interview." He spoke of Sophie's publicist, one of the fiercest and most experienced in the industry. "She said it was a non-issue and prattled on about a piece on unconventional love in Hollywood."

"A highlight to remind people it should be celebrated," Sophie chimed in. "That way, it could silence the most critical bastards before they've even opened their mouths."

"And we'd be able to enjoy Cannes without anything hanging over our heads," Tennyson finished.

I nodded slowly, internally adding it'd be easier to sell the film to a major studio if Hollywood didn’t see me as a fucking pervert.

Defending myself for who I was with didn’t sit right with me, but I'd get over it. That was how things worked in the industry. If you were famous enough, privacy wasn’t cheap.

Maybe Sophie took my silence for something negative, 'cause she spoke again. "Don't worry, Sage's discreet. You know that. Tennyson had her on speaker before, so I heard her saying she could add lots of couples. The focus wouldn’t be only on you. She's creative as hell."

"Nah, it's fine," I assured her. "Small price to pay. I appreciate you both for this." I pressed a kiss to Julian's temple. "What do you think?"

"No objection here." He shifted in his seat and squeezed my leg. "I'm not familiar with how Hollywood works yet, but one interview doesn't sound too terrifying."

I slanted a grin, knowing he was probably a little overwhelmed. We'd work it all out, though. Besides, he was undoubtedly more worried about his grandparents than the rest of the world.

Frankly, so was I.

We'd already decided it was best to contact James's parents over the phone—soon. We didn’t have any other option, really. We couldn’t leave the set.

"Are we done talking about this now?" Sophie looked to all of us. "I've barely been able to process this. Seriously, Noah…you're in
love
. I've never, ever seen you this way. I should've known sooner. I mean, come on! I called it from the first time we had dinner when Julian had moved out to LA. Remember I texted you?" I laughed, remembering very well. She'd said we'd been very aware of each other. "This needs to be celebrated—as soon as you're both off my shit list, of course."

"Don't ask." Tennyson smirked.

I stupidly ignored that and lifted a brow at Sophie.

She huffed, since she was good at that. "Well, for one, I'm selfishly annoyed because you didn’t tell me sooner— Shut up, honey." She threw Tennyson a
look
. "I know, I know. It's big, they had to work things out, blah-blah, I
get
it. Hence, selfishly.
Jeesh
." She blew out a breath and Tennyson and Julian chuckled. "And, secondly, Noah and Julian are on my shit list because I'm not the reason my trailer smelled like sex earlier."

"Oh my God." Julian buried his face in his hands.

Tennyson grinned, and I winced before amusement took over.

Chapter 20

When Julian and I returned to our suite, I could tell he was anxious.

"It's late…" He scratched his head and walked toward the bedroom.

Checking my watch, I saw it was past midnight. I followed him and silently helped him remove the bedspread. I didn’t wanna push him, but if he wanted his grandparents to learn about us from him, he couldn’t wait forever. James's folks were hardly gossip readers, but that wouldn’t stop younger generations in their lives from finding out and telling them.

I gave Julian some time while we changed into sweats and brushed our teeth, but it was becoming clear he wanted to avoid the phone call today.

"I'm so tired." He left the bathroom, and so did I after turning off the light. "We should get some sleep."

"Julian."

He didn’t face me. Instead, he adjusted his pillow and pretended to be busy with setting his alarm. As if we didn’t have the day off tomorrow.

"You should call them, baby," I reminded gently.

"Like I said, it's late—"

"Not back home."

This time, he turned to me. Had this not been so serious, I would've cracked a grin at his look of frustration and annoyance. It was cute.

"Come here." I walked over to him and cupped his face. "I know it's hard, and there's a chance they won't approve. Unfortunately, our hands are tied. It's either finding out from you, or from the press."

He swallowed hard and looked down, and I kissed him on the forehead.

"I have a feeling I know the answer to this, but do you want me to call 'em?" I'd be happy to; I'd rather take the brunt of any amount of anger. But to confirm my thoughts, he shook his head. "I figured." I kissed him again. "I'll be here, though. You can put them on speaker. I'll do my best to shut up."

A promise I could keep unless things got ugly.

"You're right," he sighed. "I've postponed enough in my life. I have to stop being a chickenshit."

I didn’t like how far he went with that, but his determined expression made it clear he wouldn’t listen. The guy was on a mission now, and he gave me a quick kiss before he retrieved his phone and started pacing by the foot of the bed.

A moment later, he put the call on speaker, and I heard the dial tone.

It put a rock in my gut, but I was ready for whatever.

"Hartley residence, to whom am I speaking?" It was Trudy who answered.

"Hi, Grandma. It's me—Julian."

I sat down on the edge of the bed, near where he stood. His voice had faltered a bit, and I realized it was easier said than done to be a bystander. I wanted to protect him from everything, but that would do him no good.

There was a pause before Trudy spoke in a careful tone. "Oh…hello, dear."

Fuck, they knew.

I scrubbed a hand over my beard and made sure I looked confident when Julian threw me a nervous glance. I gave him a nod; he could do this.

"I, uh—" He cleared his throat. "I-I take it good news travel fast?"

Reaching over, I tugged him closer to me. The distance was fucking unbearable.

"So, it's true? It can't be." Trudy almost sounded like she was pleading. That couldn’t be good. "He's your
uncle
, Julian. I can't believe he'd take advantage of you in such a way—" She cut off as she got emotional, and I clenched my jaw, steeling myself. "When the girls at the club told me at lunch, I refused to believe it. I thought he was a good man."

Julian looked panicked. "Grandma, that’s not—"

"I don’t want to hear you defending him," she said abruptly. "I know how these things work. Predators play mind games." Holy fuck, that was a punch in the gut.
Predator
? "You came to him for support and understanding because your grandfather and I clearly failed you after James died. That’s on us." She sniffled. "We are so very sorry, darling. And I want you to listen to me now. Come home. We will get this sorted. We'll get you help—"

"That’s enough!" Julian had evidently built up some anger. Meanwhile, I felt sick. "I don't need
help
. I love Noah. Stop thinking I'm some gullible prey, for the love of God. I'm a grown man!"

There was silence on the other end, and Julian stepped between my legs and placed a hand on my cheek.

"This is serious," he told her, holding my stare firmly. "I apologize for the way you found out, but I wasn’t hiding this because I was ashamed. It's just new. We weren't ready to go public." When I tried to avert my gaze, he didn’t let me. The little fucker. He knew I'd taken a hit, I guessed. "You should look up the photos of us that've been published. Only an idiot would say it's anything but real."

"You don't understand, Julian," Trudy exclaimed. "He can make you believe it's genuine!"

"That’s fucking insulting," he snapped. The fire in his eyes even took me off guard. "What's next? Are you going to say he tricked me into thinking I'm gay, too?"

"Hardly," she replied stiffly. "This may come as a surprise to you, but we know you. We've suspected that for years."

That made Julian pause. He opened and closed his mouth a few times before asking, "Who's we?"

"Your family, of course." Trudy sniffed. "Your parents, me, your grandfather. Do you remember us, the ones who actually want what's best for you?"

I managed to push aside my own crap, and I tilted my head to kiss Julian's palm. This was a good thing. His eyes brimmed with tears, 'cause he was fucking relieved. James and Mia had known—or suspected—and the world hadn't come to an end. They hadn't stopped loving him. They'd accepted him.

It was something I'd known all along—that they wouldn’t have loved him any less for being gay—but I understood the desire to have it confirmed.

"Noah's who's best for me," Julian whispered. He leaned down and pressed his forehead to mine. His eyes fell closed, and he grinned to himself. It made it all worth it. "I'm sorry you feel this way, Grandma. I'm sorry you think poorly of a man who's basically saved me." When he opened his eyes, I mouthed an
I love you
to him. His smile grew. "Should I assume Grandpa feels the way you do?"

"He's furious with both of you," Trudy answered irritably. "I'm afraid I must be strict here. We love you with all our hearts, Julian. We'll forgive you if you choose to come home. But you're not welcome as long as you let that man manipulate you—"

Julian hung up the phone and threw it somewhere behind me. Before I could open my mouth to speak, he dipped down and kissed me hard.

"I don't care," he muttered. "I don't care."

He did. So did I, but if he needed…this, whatever it was he wanted right now, I'd give it.

"She's wrong." He pushed me back and climbed on top. My mind was fucked, and I couldn’t really keep up, but I let him lead. I'd get there eventually. I hoped.

We lost our clothes and ended up in the middle of the bed. While he mumbled about not giving a fuck, I struggled to process the phone call.

"She hurt you." He left a trail of kisses along my chest as he tried to get me hard. I was a red-blooded male with a hot-as-fuck man on top of me; it wouldn’t take forever. But my priority was his well-being.

"I'll get over it," I said, pushing myself up on my elbows as he went south. "I didn't expect her to call me a manipulative predator—that’s all." I grunted the second he sucked me into his mouth. "
Jesus
. Shouldn't we talk about this, baby?"

He shook his head, his warm, wet tongue swirling around me.

I gave him an exasperated look. Fuck if what he was doing to me wasn’t making my mind fuzzy.
Focus
. "This is a big deal. You gotta be upset."

He released me and used his hand instead, my cock thickening and growing harder against my will. "Not at the moment. I will probably fret like I usually do tomorrow, but not right now. I will not let her venom ruin my night. She's so wrong about you—about
us
."

That much was true. I knew that. I wasn’t a fucking predator. I'd fought my feelings too goddamn long. James's mother wasn’t gonna cheapen anything about our relationship.

"Momentary lapse," I said. Then I cursed. He'd gotten me hard enough to deep throat me. "I'm already feeling better. Much…much better…
fuck
."

My turn to make
him
feel better.

*

I was alone in bed the morning after, not counting Blue, but I could hear Julian in the other room. It sounded like he was on the phone, and he was laughing. I got up, took a piss, and pulled on my sweats, then joined him in the living room.

"That’s what I was thinking," he told whomever he was on the phone with. His smile was weird. Almost sinister lookin'. "No, you were right. I should have listened to you. I was nothing to him."

I frowned.

His words confused me, and so did seeing him holding my phone close to the one he was speaking into.

As he spotted me, he winked. Which I'd never seen him do before.

"I don't care about the money," he replied, "but I want him to suffer for hurting me."

My brows rose, and to me, he mouthed, "Nicky."

Jesus fuckin' Christ.

My legs carried me over to him without me really noticing until I was inches away. Julian tilted my phone so I could see the display, and I saw he was recording. Holy fuck, he was playing Nicky to get a confession. At least that’s what I presumed.

"Actually, we don’t have to meet up when I get back to LA," Julian told Nicky. "The real reason I called was to get you to tell me you were the one who told the media about us."

I automatically leaned closer to hear Nicky's response.

It was quiet a beat, aside from his breathing, and then I heard him bite out, "You're
kidding
, right?"

I grinned. Fuck if I wasn’t proud as hell of Julian. And maybe a little turned on. My boy was devious.

"Afraid not, and now we know the truth," Julian said.

"Don't tell him about any plans," I whispered.

We didn’t wanna risk anything. Nicky would always know who buried him, but there'd be no proof. Though, judging by Julian's expression, he was well aware and didn’t need my reminder.

"This isn't over," Nicky gritted out.

"That’s where you're wrong." Julian toyed with the drawstrings of my sweats. "It's very over. Anyway, I have to go. Noah sends his absolute best. Take care, Nick." With that, he hung up the phone and ended the recording.

"Have I told you lately that I love you?" I put my hands on his hips and captured his mouth in a kiss.

He laughed softly and tossed our phones on one of the couches. "Not today."

"Well… I love you." I teased his bottom lip with a playful bite. "How did you think of this?"

"It was bugging me most of the night," he admitted. "Eventually, I gave up on sleep, and I plotted and fretted a few hours." He slid his hands up my biceps. "I figured it was safest to paint myself as some victim. Everyone else seems to think that’s my thing." He was clearly not too thrilled about that. "So I called him and thanked him for leaking things to the press. Because it showed me your true colors, and you'd decided I wasn’t worth the hassle."

"Liking this less and less," I muttered.

He chuckled and rolled his eyes. "I know that’s not the case, doofus. But it worked on him. At first, he didn’t want to admit anything, but when I mentioned making you suffer, he confessed pretty quickly and even told me some bullshit story about it being for my benefit."

I sighed and yanked him in for a tight hug. At least we had that outta the way now. Tennyson could give Asher the green light to ruin any opportunities Nicky could have in the industry.

"How're you feeling about last night?" I murmured.

Blue chose that moment to circle our legs, which we knew meant she wanted food.

"I'm not sure yet." Julian kissed my neck and pulled away a bit. "It stings—a lot—but I won't let anything stand in our way now. I want us to be open. No more worrying about what others think."

I touched his cheek. "Sounds perfect to me. Bet you're relieved to hear about Mia and James, though."

He smiled and ducked his head. "Yeah. God, I was such a moron."

"Hey." I lifted his chin. "Everyone's got insecurities and fears."

Losing him had turned into my biggest fear. Having him was terrifying and elating and powerful all at once, something I'd probably never get used to.

"I love you." He nipped at my finger.

"Ditto." I took a step back while he picked up Blue. "Wanna go out and get some breakfast? I'm starving."

"Yes, definitely." He smiled and nuzzled Blue's fur. "Oh, can we go to that place with the awesome hot chocolate?"

"Of course." As long as I could get coffee, I was game.

*

Regardless of how focused we were at work, film sets were a place one always made new buddies. Julian had made a few, and I'd gotten even closer with my AD and DP. People were curious and had texted us a fair bit since the gossip broke, and we used the breakfast to send brief confirmations saying yeah, we were a couple.