Everything with his career was happening so fast that Nally could hardly hear himself think most of the time. The only time he could breathe was when Jude was with him, tutoring him on how to maintain a social media presence and giving him just a little bit of a makeover as well. Nally wasn’t sure if it was his imagination or not, but he felt like he was spending more timewith Jude than he ever had. That time felt so important, so vital. It made his body and heart ache in ways that worried him. No, terrified him. He was getting too dependent on his friend, too…he didn’t want to put words to the feeling.
But Jude had been his life raft in a suddenly swirling sea of rising fame. Jude kept him sane and made him laugh. That’s what friends were for, after all.
Except Jude also made him think and feel things he definitely shouldn’t have been thinking or feeling lately. The morning after the premiere, when he’d awakened to Jude humping his backside as a joke, Nally had had some very un-friend-ish feelings. For a few seconds, he’d thought he was still in a dream, one of the intrusive kinds, where he and Jude were going at it. The next second, he’d been convinced Jude actually was trying to get off with him. His body had responded with full force, and he’d had to grab and squeeze the base of his cock to stop himself from coming.
It was all because he’d been half-asleep still, of course. He would never have dreamed of doing anything that might mess up the most important friendship in his life like that if he’d been fully awake. He remembered Timothy all too well. And besides, Jude had never really given him any indication that he wanted anything more than friendship before. After Timothy, they’d sworn they would never fall into the sex trap with each other. Ever. Wanking off to porn together didn’t count. Nally certainly wouldn’t be the one to ruin the best thing in his life by breaking that long-ago promise and hinting he wanted more.
He didn’t really want more. He was just horny. It’d been ages since he’d slept with anyone, or even hooked up. He and Sam hadn’t gotten to that point, and now they never would. The only thing that was making him dream about getting sticky with his best friend was basic male libido and the fact that he’d ignored his for too long.
Or so he told himself.
“Nally, if you don’t either put the spoon down or bring it the rest of the way to your mouth, you’re going to dribble milk all over the table.”
Nally blinked out of his troubled thoughts to find his mum staring at him from across the breakfast table in his parents’ flat. Everyone in the family who wasn’t otherwise occupied tended to join the parents for breakfasts. Today, that was only Nally and Ryan, but it was enough to make Nally feel stupidly awkward when he realized he’d been away with the fairies.
“Sorry,” he said, clearing his throat, then shoving his spoon in his mouth. His cereal was already soggy, which hinted he’d been flaking out through the entire meal.
His mum sighed and put down her half-eaten crumpet. “Is something the matter, dear? You’ve been a basket case all morning.”
“Not all morning, all week,” Ryan pointed out, having no trouble at all wolfing down his Shreddies.
“Ithasbeen all week,” his mum agreed. “Is it something with Jude?”
“No!” Nally said, far too loudly. “No,” he said in a more normal voice. “Why would you think that? I’m just over the top anxious because of all the interviews and meetings and everything flying at me after the premiere.”
“What sort of things are flying at you?” Nally’s dad asked. “Rotten tomatoes? Panties?”
“Robert,” Nally’s mum scolded him. “You know Nally gets nervous in crowds. I think it all traces back to that recital when you were eleven and the cardboard tree fell on you.”
Old mortification washed through Nally. His mum was probably right. The only thing that had stopped him from bursting into tears on that stage as the audience and half of the other performers pointed and laughed at him was the way Judehad rushed forward to help him. Jude had turned the accident into a bit, like it had been part of the play all along.
That had Nally smiling despite his continued, low-grade panic. “Offers to compose for films, Dad. Or at least to meet with people to talk about composing for films.”
“I thought Silver Productions offered you a contract,” Ryan said.
“They have, but I haven’t signed yet. The London Symphony Orchestra wants to record with me, too. Jude wanted to look over the details of all the offers coming my way.”
“Jude?” Ryan asked.
Heat spilled onto Nally’s face for no apparent reason. “Jude is acting as my agent, for the time being at least.”
“Does he have any qualifications?” Robert asked.
“He knows about the entertainment world because of his social media influencer thing,” Nally explained. “And he’s been researching the rest of it. Plus, and most importantly, I trust him with my life.”
Nally’s mum hummed and narrowed her eyes at him. He had no idea what that meant.
“I have an interview at the BBC studios in just a few hours,” Nally went on, pushing his bowl back and standing. “It’s for BBC Radio Three.”
“Ooh, fancy,” Nally’s dad said with a smile. “Is it a live interview?”
“Yes,” Nally said, his eyes going wide. A second later, he shook his head tightly and said, “Actually, I don’t know. It might be recorded. Shit. I can’t remember what Jude told me. I’m shit at being famous. I need to go or I’ll be late.”
“Are you certain you’re alright to drive?” Nally’s mum asked, arching one eyebrow.
“No,” Nally said, puffing out a breath and sitting again. His heart was racing and making him dizzy.
“I can drive you as far as the Maidstone train station, if you’re okay with going by train,” Ryan said.
