“It’s not about fixing,” Jacob said. “It’s about managing.”
Just like that, the door slammed shut again. The truth acknowledged, only to be pulled back and locked away. Boundaries redrawn with cold precision.
“Okay. Fake it.” Liam forced the words out, the bitter taste thick in his throat.
Jacob gave a single nod and left, the door shutting softly behind him. The silence that followed was crushing. Liam stood frozen in the middle of Jacob’s trailer, abandoned once more in a space that wasn’t his.
He should feel steadier now, at least the lines were clear. He could go home, hold Emma, focus on the baby, and pretend this wasn’t tearing him in two. Relief was what he should be feeling. Instead, his chest ached with the cruelest truth of all.
Jacob felt it too—and he still walked away.
Chapter 16
Jacob
It had been five days since the conversation in his trailer. Five days of distant nods, polite hellos, and pretending Liam Hart was just another co-star.
It should have helped. Distance was supposed to dull the edge, a way to train the body out of wanting. Jacob had told himself it would get easier if he starved the craving. Yet the longer he stayed away, the more he noticed the things he shouldn’t. The way Liam chewed the corner of his lip between takes. The way he laughed with the crew. The way he stopped looking Jacob in the eye unless the cameras were rolling.
It didn’t feel professional; it felt like holding his breath. Still, Jacob told himself the plan was working. He told himself that often.
Today had been a location shoot in the middle of nowhere—a secluded stretch of forest doubling for one of the midseason’s more dramatic scenes. It was remote enough that cell signal dropped halfway up the road. The crew had to bring in portable generators and their own coffee truck. It was the kind of place the real world didn’t reach, a place where no one expected surprises.
The shoot had wrapped early. Most of the team was already gone by the time Jacob and Liam made their way down thegravel path toward their chauffeurs. Jacob wasn’t sure how Liam ended up walking beside him. It just happened. They were thirty steps from the cars, and then—
“Jacob! Liam! Look this way!”
Jacob’s head snapped up. Cameras, paparazzi—six, seven, maybe more.
“Liam! Is Emma okay with you screwing your co-star?”
“Is this a PR stunt or are you just cheating in broad daylight?”
“Are you in love with him, Liam!?”
The questions sliced through the stillness. Jacob felt Liam stiffen beside him, his chin lifting, and his spine snapping straight. The fragile openness was gone, replaced by a mask in a single breath.
Jacob scanned for crew, for security—nothing. Clearly no one had expected this. Someone must’ve tipped them off, and now it was just flashing lights and a hundred headlines waiting to be born.
He didn’t think. He caught Liam’s arm and pushed forward, dragging them both through the press of bodies, snapping shutters, and greedy voices. He didn’t loosen his grip until Liam’s driver came into view. Even then he didn’t let go, shoving the door open and guiding Liam inside before sliding in after him. The door slammed shut, sealing the world out. The driver took off immediately, leaving the chaos behind.
The silence inside was sharp, broken only by the buzz of the AC. Cold air blasted against his overheated skin. His pulse still raced, adrenaline refusing to leave. Their knees nearly touched, and his hand still circled Liam’s wrist. He should have let go the moment the door shut. He didn’t. His fingers clung like they had their own will.
Liam turned toward him slowly. There was no fear in his face, just something hotter. Jacob felt it hit low in his body, heatpooling where it had no right to live. His thumb moved before he could stop it, a single drag across the inside of Liam’s wrist. Liam’s breath hitched, lips parting, pupils swallowing the brown of his eyes.
Jacob couldn’t look away. He felt the thrum of Liam’s pulse beneath his thumb, each beat against his skin like a dare. The air between them grew thick and charged. Jacob leaned in, not enough to close the distance, but enough to feel the heat between them sharpen into something alive.
“Are you going to let go?” Liam’s voice was rough, threaded with something Jacob had no defense against.
He didn’t answer, because he didn’t know. He was close enough to see the pulse at Liam’s throat, to feel the warmth radiating off his skin, to hear the fragile sound of breath catching when Jacob stroked his thumb one more time.
Then Liam did something stupid, or maybe it was brave—probably both. He leaned in just a fraction more. Close enough that Jacob could feel the weight of the question hanging between them.
Jacob’s hand slid higher, fingertips ghosting along the inside of Liam’s forearm. His touch was too careful for the hunger clawing at his chest. He could feel Liam’s skin shiver beneath the trace of his fingers. The restraint it took to stop there burned through him.
“Jacob…”
Liam’s voice cracked on his name. He wasn’t asking, he wasbegging. The sound of it hit Jacob like nothing else ever had. He felt his control fray at the edges. He wanted to close the space. Wanted to press Liam back against the seat and take what had been haunting him for weeks. He needed to taste his mouth, bite those lips, and dig his fingers into his skin hard enough to bruise. He wanted to leave marks—deep and deliberate—the kind Liam would feel for days.
