If Luc doesn’t stand next to Jesse for the oncoming onslaught of media attention, they’ll say Jesse used or exploited Luc, charmed or seduced him, or otherwise led him down a path that goes against his spotless reputation as a clean-cut, wholesome, manly football player that everyone fell in love with over a sheepish smile.He’d never let a big, pierced dick in his ass, much less like it!
“I don’t want them to do that to you, too,” Will says quietly.
“You don’t need to protect me, Will. I don’t give a shit about what they say about me. I just don’t want to make it worse for the other guys. I don’t want to put more on their plates.”
“So we’ll keep it quiet for now, yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“I might have to have a talk with Scott.”
I shrug. “Doesn’t seem like he’s said anything yet.”
“True.”
“Will?”
“Hmm?” He hums, sliding us further down the pillows and pulling the duvet up around our shoulders.
“What do you think your breaking point would be?”
“What do you mean?”
“Whether the press knows it or not, the videos and rumors aren’t what’s breaking Jesse. It’s losing Luc that’s getting to him.”
“You want to know what would get to me if or when they pivot their attack?” Will asks.
“Yeah. You’re the next most recognizable face in the band, and the loudest politically. It makes sense that they would come after you next. I want us to be able to plan for the attack and know how to protect you from the worst.”
“You sure you don’t just want to know my weaknesses so you can seduce me?” He jokes, breaking some of the tension. Will’s fingers dig into my sides, right into a spot he knows is ticklish.
I laugh and try to push him away, but his arms wrap around me tighter.
“It’s you, Ari,” he says, his warm breath muffled into my neck. “You’re the only thing that anyone could threaten or take from me that could break me.”
I still in his arms, melting into our embrace. It’s something I already knew, but the way he says it feels different. It doesn’t feel like an overprotective big brother thing or an ownership thing. It feels like a confession. Like maybe he’s starting to get on my level.
I want to push, to get him to say more. I want to tell him there’s nothing in this world that could make me love him less. That all the public ridicule and even losing the band wouldn’t matter to me as much as loving him does. Because there’s never been anyone but him for me.
Instead his lips find mine, and I sink into his kiss.
Outside this room, this bubble, the world is loud and vicious and scary. Outside this bubble our best friend is hurting. Outside this bubble things are unsteady and uncertain. But inside, we’rethe only two people who matter, and the fear feels survivable. Will kisses me slowly, gently, like we have the rest of our lives to be afraid, to fight back, to figure out what to do next.
And that feels like enough for tonight.
THIRTY
WILL
The moment Blake steps into our hotel suite, I consider throwing something heavy at him. Instead, I cross my arms and stare him down until he says something. Ari and Naz are with Jesse in his room. Both of them are as upset as I am, but they’ve always been able to keep their heads better than I have. Ari focuses all his energy into helping try to make things better, while Naz’s anger tends to simmer rather than explode like mine does.
“Well?” I demand, impatient to hear that they were wrong and we were right. Sending Jesse to do all those interviews after his privacy was violated and he’s still so raw from losing the man he thought was the love of his life was the stupidest fucking move they could have made.
“Looks like we’re going to be heading home for a while,” Blake says, raking his hair back with his fingers. “The rest of Jesse’s interviews and appearances have been cancelled or rescheduled, and I think you could all use the downtime.”
“You think?” I snap, seething. “I knew the interviews were a bad idea. I said that—you remember me saying that, right?”
Blake, to his credit, looks rather chastised. “Yes, I remember. And I didn’t disagree with you, but the label thought?—”
