And Cas does. He’s all rockstar and business man. All of the things I have left to the label, or Jack, he’s cultivated for himself.
LA is where Cas shines.
Nix leans into me as we watch Cas work his magic with some people from the studio.
“He’s good at this,” I tell Nix.
“He is,” she allows, and I watch her eyes drift through the crowd. She must find Caleb because she then turns to me. “You see why Bear Valley has been so good for him. He’s good at this, but it’s exhausting him. Celebrity gives and takes, but it doesn’t give anything without strings attached. He’s a commodity just as much as he is a person sometimes.”
“But the music—”
“The music made him a star, Bee, but you know that’s not enough these days.”
Slowly, pieces start to fall together. “So, that’s why he wants this movie?”
Nix sighs like I’m the slow kid in school who just figured something out. “He wants freedom. Options. He’s finally realizing he doesn’t have to kill himself to keep it all going. There’s life out there. Waiting.”
We circle the crowd, and I know some people here, and more that Nix introduces me to. Finally, I find my way back to Cas.
While Nix and I circled the room, Cas found the dance floor.
There is a sea of bodies here. Actors and models at every turn. Beauty on display to see and be seen.
And there is Cas, body moving to the music in almost a bubble, no one wanting to get so close they couldn’t watch.
I forget how Cas and music share the same DNA.
The party lights cast changing colors against his suit, but Cas is moving with the music from the DJ as if they are one and the same, and the light seems to wrap around him.
Just like the chords call to Cas, he calls to me, and I can’t look away.
His eyes are open, looking right at me, and a ghost of that devilish smile plays over his mouth.
Unknowingly, I have stepped closer and closer still to him. He drapes his arms around my neck, and I touch his hips lightly enough it doesn’t stop his movements, but gives me an anchor to follow.
“Dance with me, Bee,” he whispers against my skin, and I do, moving in response to him as much as the beat.
Chapter 21 – Baylor
Good Enough – Evanescence
SomeguyinvitesCasto do coke in the bathroom of the party, and that’s when we make our exit.
We land in a dark SUV for the ride back to The Easton, and as soon as my sweaty ass lands on the leather, Cas has his hands in my hair, pulling me in for a kiss.
Horny Cas I know. We have been reacquainted over the last few weeks. There has been an undercurrent too, a sort of sweetness to his touches and his kiss. This is different. This is Cas and his hunger for life. The insatiable bit of him that made him a star.
More people than just Cas can sing. Or have charm. But it’s that hunger and drive that matters to make it as big as he has. And it’s not that I didn’t know that, but knowing and seeing are two different things.
Cas trails kisses down my neck, making me groan. My body already aches for him, having danced close, with his sexy body on mine for hours.
He pushes closer, and I wrap my arms around him, bringing him tight against me, and he melts. Pulling his face to mine I kiss him deep and greedily.
“I wanna get you off right here,” Cas breathes when I let us come up for air.
“No.”
“You don’t want me to blow you? Windows are tinted.”
