“I was cleaning the back window, and then I jiggled with the handle for a while, and I heard a click.” Jameson sounded panicked, and Gray hurried to his side, embracing him from behind as he peered down.
“Oh, shit.” There could have been a lot of horrible things in the back of the trunk. Guns, for one, or drugs. But apparently, that wasn’t Balenciaga’s style. Or her ex-boyfriend’s, as Gray thought about it. “I’ve never seen that many dildos at one time before.” They were all shapes and sizes, scattered around the trunk.
Jameson laughed nervously, then quickly slammed the door down. “Or whatever those other things were. Sex masks?” He rubbed the back of his head, glancing around. “How many dildoshaveyou seen at once?” he asked quietly.
Gray grabbed Jameson by the elbow. “Get back in the car,” he said quietly. “I have some bad news.”
His heart racing, he jumped in the driver’s seat. He handed Jameson the tabloid with an apologetic groan, then took a second to go over everything in his mind. The mirrors were all properly adjusted, and the lights were working. There was no loose end that would get them pulled over, just the risk that someone would recognize Gray as they drove by.
“Oh, fuck,” Jameson groaned as he read the headlines. He crumbled the tabloid in his hands, then slapped it against the dashboard. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”
A truck pulled up behind them, and Jameson jumped in place. Gray reached out, rubbing his shoulder in the way that seemed to calm him down. Even though anxiety-spiked adrenaline was surging through Gray’s body, he fought hard to stay calm and to try to offer Jameson some security. “No one has spotted us yet, beautiful,” he said. “Take deep breaths.”
“It’s all going to happen again.” Jameson’s voice was pinched, and his whole body had slumped over. “The news is going to be all over me. They’re never going to leave me alone. They’re going to tell a million lies, and everyone is going to believe them.” He talked faster and faster, and his knee started bouncing up and down. “It’s going to be like when my parents died. It’s going to be just like when my parents died! And now you’re in it, too! Now they’re after you! They’re going to take you away from me, and everything will be ruined again!”
Gray’s protective impulse broke through his self-doubt, shattering the anxiety he felt. He grabbed Jameson and pulled him into a close embrace, then held him as tight as he could. Even with fear gripping his heart, Gray still had strength for his beautiful guy. Jameson needed him now. He needed to be held until his demons went away, and it was Gray’s job to be there.
There would be plenty of time later for Gray to beat himself up about it all. Time once the guy he loved was safe.
Gray squeezed again. He took in a deep breath of Jameson’s scent and felt a little calmer. He’d never fallen in love before, just lust, but with everything on the line, he couldn’t deny what had happened.
“You’re strong enough to get through this,” Gray said. “You’ve always been strong, stronger than anyone out there knows. And now I’m going to be strong enough, too, okay? I’m going to get us to the other side.”
Jameson’s body relaxed in Gray’s arms, and his breathing slowed. Finally, he pulled back, rubbed the sides of his head, and then sighed.
“Okay,” he said, gathering himself. “Let’s drive.”
Gray buckled up, then headed back out to the busy street. He was used to driving in high-tension situations and keeping his cool. It was one of the main skills required to boost cars. But a fancy sportscar was one thing. The payload he was driving now was irreplaceable.
“Do you have that spare scarf? The one with the piece cut out of it?”
Jameson fumbled with his backpack, then shoved the scarf Gray’s way as they pulled up to a stoplight. Gray pulled it on, then adjusted it quickly in the mirror. “Can I pull this off?”
“The purple is nice with your skin tone,” Jameson confirmed.
Gray adjusted it and felt his warm breath trapped behind the fabric. “I guess that works.”
“I’m sorry I got you into this,” Jameson sighed, the edge of a tremble cutting at his voice. “And I’m so sorry that your face is all over the place. That’s going to haunt you for the rest of your life.”
Gray winced. He hated hearing Jameson blame himself for just living his life. “It’s not your fault. You’re not the one hounding an innocent man and trying to exploit his personal life for profit. The paparazzi owes us an apology, not the other way around, and you should never forget that.” Jameson started fumbling again, and when Gray glanced out of the corner of his eye, he saw him wiping away makeup in the small mirror. “What’s up?”
Jameson wiped the small damp cloth across his face, smearing his eyeshadow. “I can’t risk this look anymore. If we get pulled over or something, I can’t have a full face of makeup.” He went still for a second and then gasped. “We have to get rid of those dildos!”
“Breathe, beautiful,” Gray reminded him. He was practicing the advice himself, sucking in and releasing steady, timed breaths. It helped him stay focused, always driving the exact speed limit, flipping on his blinker for five seconds before turning, regularly checking his blind spots. “We’ll ditch the dildos as soon as we can, but I need to get us out of the city first. There’s security cameras everywhere here, and if the cops are actually buying this load of shit from the tabloids, they could be looking for me, too.”
Jameson took in a couple of deep breaths, then went back to work on his makeup, tearing little cloths from a packet and then tossing them aside. He pulled his scarf down, wiping off his lipstick, as Gray pulled up to another spotlight.
“Look at that,” he said. “The interstate is right up ahead.”
He turned to look at Jameson, who had finally wiped the last of his makeup off. When Jameson turned back to Gray, they held each other’s gaze, and Gray willed his strength to extend to Jameson.
Jameson’s eyes popped open, and he stared behind Gray, then buried his face in his hands. “Oh shit.”
Gray turned to look over his shoulder. In the lane beside them, a car full of teenagers were gawking back their way, totally shocked.
The light switched, and Gray hit the gas. “Okay, that wasn’t great. They definitely saw you with your scarf down.”
“If we get caught, at least I can tell everyone that you didn’t kidnap me. That’s good, right? Because if I say you didn’t kidnap me, no one can really argue.”
