Putting his phone on the edge of the sink, he finished his morning ritual and thought about other elements he could bring to the character. And a thought came to him that brought a genuine smile to his face. He would definitely get the part with the plan he had in mind. So maybe Tanner was right, and he needed to be optimistic about his future.
* * *
Many hours later,Star moaned, taking a second bite of the best crème brûlée he'd ever tasted. He wasn't sure what the chef did to make the dessert taste so creamy and delicious, but if they ever met, Star would propose marriage.
“Good, right?” Tanner asked, eating his dessert.
“It really is,” Star responded. “This caps off a perfect day.”
Star had a very eventful day. He'd walked around with Tanner, dragging him from one place to another. He'd also met Tanner's friends, who were way too nice. It made Star want to cry a few times, and he wondered if he had woken up in a different world and was not just visiting a new state. Tanner dragged him to so many places that he would need to use his GPS to find his way around.
After breakfast at a cafe near the apartment, Tanner took him to the Valleywood Performing Arts Center. The cast of a new production was on a one-week break, but they could walk around since Tanner knew one of the security guards. Star had so much fun rummaging through the costumes and acting out a scene from Shakespeare's King Lear. After he was done reciting, his two-person audience cheered for him, making Star feel like he was on cloud nine.
After leaving the theater, they took a long walk through Valleywood Park and rose garden while munching on soft pretzels, dipping them in spicy mustard. After strolling through the park, they went to the mall, where Tanner went utterly nuts in one of the baby stores. Star wanted to ask which of his friends was having a baby but thought it was better to leave things alone.
Leaving the mall, they visited several places before meeting Tanner's two lovers, Shepard and Rheinhold, at the classy French restaurant, enjoying the best food and dessert he'd ever had in both his lifetimes. Tanner had cultivated a good life in Valleywood, with friends and two men who had no problem showing their affection for him in public. Star, admittedly, was jealous of his friend. But, other than Vee and Dent, no one gave a fuck about him. Thinking about Vee, he realized how much he missed her and thought about finding her once he figured things out. But, at least for now, he had Dent to lean on.
Star paused his thoughts for a couple of seconds as he realized he hadn't seen or heard from Dent since they arrived at the airport and Star embarrassed himself by fainting. He still couldn't figure out what made him black out, no matter how much he tried to pull up the memory.
“Hey, where's Dent?” Star asked.
“He's on an assignment for the boss and won't be reachable for a while,” Rheinhold explained.
“Oh,” Star responded. “I hope he's not in danger or anything.”
The two large men chuckled. “I wouldn't worry about that cunning panther; he can take care of himself,” Shepard said.
“Why do you guys refer to each other as animals? Bears and panthers. Do you guys know a tiger, too?” Star said in jest, but he didn’t expect an answer.
“We know a couple of tigers,” Rheinhold responded. “But we say what we are, little kitten.”
“Kitten,” Star said, quirking his brow.
Who the hell is he calling a kitten?
Star was about to inquire when a vision caught his attention. He was tall, dark, and so fucking hot, dressed in all black, with a matching fedora tipped down to cover half of his face, looking like a sexy-ass villain in a movie. The man glided into the restaurant, drawing the attention of the patrons and servers to him. The good-looking man seemed to have an attitude that saidI'm the muthafuckin shit, and I know it.
The tall man had milk-chocolate skin, long, neatly styled dreadlocks, and large muscles perfectly packed in his suit that looked like it was made just for him. Star couldn't help staring, wanting and hoping the man would take his hat off to show the rest of his face. Images of wanting to rip the man's clothes off and licking him from head to toe flooded Star’s thoughts.
Star's skin prickled as his body flushed with heat the longer he gawked at the man, from his profile down to his muscular shoulders and arms that would be perfect for lifting Star and fucking him hard. But Star wished he could see more of the man's face, especially his eyes. While appreciating the man's “all that and a hot bag of chips” body, Star was a sucker for eyes. He found them sexy and alluring. He had to admit that he fell for Thornton's sea-green eyes before he fell for the rest of him.
Fuck, sexy dude, turn around so I can see your eyes.
As if hearing Star's mental order, the tall and sexy man stopped walking and took off his fedora, panning the restaurant. Just as their eyes were about to meet, Star looked down, focusing on the rest of his crème brûlée, but he saw them—eyes that looked like melted gold.
Shit, they are so pretty. I want to see them again.
Star slowly raised his head but was saddened to see the man walking away. It wasn't the first time he'd seen a handsome man. He worked with quite a few in California, and hell, even walking around Valleywood, he saw many more. But it was the first time one had him feeling as if his body was going to combust when they didn't even know each other. Star grabbed his water and chugged it down, but it did nothing to ease the burning in his body. Instead, it only seemed to intensify.
“Hey, did I just see Anubis Ahket?” Rheinhold asked.
“Where?” Tanner said quickly, looking around, earning a growl from his two men.
“Calm down, babe. You act as if you've never seen or talked to the man before,” Shepard said, pulling Tanner's focus to him.
“So what?” Tanner huffed. “There's no harm in me appreciating his handsomeness. And every time he showed up at the office, I stuttered like I do when I meet any of my boss's friends.”
“How come you didn't stutter when you met us?” Rheinhold asked.
