She blinked, confused. “Why?”
He didn’t answer right away. Nothing he could say would touch the truth of it, and trying would only break them both.
Caroline shifted up onto an elbow, the sheets whispering against her skin. “Are you okay?”
“I’m just—” He dragged a hand down his face. “I can’t tonight.”
The silence that followed wasn’t angry; it was puzzled. “You’re not sick or anything?”
“No.”
“You always want this,” she murmured, more to herself than to him.
He didn’t correct her. Didn’t explain that want had changed shape. That while his body might still obey out of habit, everything else—every thought, every pulse of desire—was tangled somewhere else. Wrapped around someone else.
He reached for her hand and squeezed once. “I’m sorry.”
After a beat, she nodded and lay back down. Jacob stayed on his back, eyes locked on the ceiling.
Fucking hell, he couldn’t even have a simple moment of intimacy with his wife, without feeling like he was cheating on someone who wasn’t his.
He squeezed his eyes shut, rubbing at his temples.
Where the fuck was this going?
Chapter 32
Jacob
His trailer smelled like sweat and sex and Liam—it always did lately. The scent lingered in the air, carrying warm skin, faint cologne, and that golden, alive note unmistakably Liam.
They’d been back in LA for two weeks. Two weeks of kissing their wives goodnight, saying all the right things, and sitting at the right dinner tables. Two weeks of pretending and lying through their teeth.
On set, they didn’t have to pretend. They’d barely gone a day without seeing each other. Filming gave them cover, access, and closed trailers with locked doors.
It wasn’t just sex anymore and they both knew it, even if neither of them said it out loud. There were too many soft touches and conversations that went deeper than they should.
They’d slipped into a rhythm, one that felt too easy. They were still going home at night, but between takes, they took whatever stolen moments they could. Ten minutes here, an hour there—long enough to forget who they were supposed to be.
Jacob hadn’t expected it to go this far. He hadn’t expected anything, but somehow Liam had gotten under his skin. He was everywhere—like sunlight that clung to him long after it was gone.
Liam lay half on top of him, his head tucked beneath Jacob’s jaw and one arm draped across his stomach. Jacob’s entire body felt loose, relaxed, and humming with satisfaction. Not wanting to move, he let his fingers drift down Liam’s back, slow and easy. “You’re an addiction,” he murmured.
Liam made a low and sleepy sound. “You love it.”
“Guess I do.”
A lazy smile tugged at Liam’s mouth as he shifted closer, pressing a kiss just below Jacob’s collarbone. “You’ve been quiet.”
“Just thinking.”
“Dangerous habit.”
Jacob huffed under his breath, but before he could respond, his phone buzzed on the nightstand. He almost let it ring, then sighed and leaned over, careful not to jostle Liam.
Unknown number.Stockton area code.
He answered. "Wolfe."
