“In all seriousness, I haven’t seen people get a Sweet Tooth like that since our prom episode. You were on every single tabloid!”
“I heard!” Jameson smiled. “And I’m so sorry if I had any of my fans worried. That’s why I wanted to come out here and clear some things up. And Cynthia, thank you, because there’s no one else I would trust to handle this story.”
Cynthia and Jameson took each other’s hand with a smile, and through the thin wall, Gray could hear the audience’s approval. “Now this sounds like it’s going to be quite a story,” Cynthia said. “Promise me you don’t end up kidnapped at the end!”
“Or the beginning or the middle,” Jameson promised. The audience laughed, and he turned slightly, better facing the camera. “As you know, I’ve always had a problem with overzealous paparazzi. It’s something I’ve come to live with, but recently, it’s gotten out of hand, with people breaking into my home.”
“Oh my!” Cynthia said, holding her hand over her mouth. “I’m sorry to hear that!”
Jameson shook his head, a determined look on his face. “I’m safe, but thank you for your concern. The only reason I mention this is to explain something else.”
“Your security company,” Cynthia said, nodding toward the audience. “We all remember the complaints from the tabloid reporter. Are you saying that’s why your guards attacked him?”
“The security guards working on my property are very professional. They didn’t attack anyone,” Jameson said. “My boyfriend did.”
Another rumble went across the audience. All of Gray’s muscles tensed, and his fingers dented in the can he was holding as he watched the screen.
“Your boyfriend!” Cynthia said brightly. “That is an announcement!”
Jameson smiled casually. “An intruder made it all the way to my house, and my boyfriend saw someone trying to open my bedroom window. Can you blame him for losing his cool and trying to keep me safe? As for the other stories—well, you know how these tabloids are! At least they didn’t try to claim I was a lizard person this time.”
“Well, Justin,” Cynthia laughed. “As much as this security story has captivated the nation, you know that’s not what people are thinking about right now.”
With another laugh, Jameson lifted the cocktail sitting in front of him, then took a sip. “You mean the part where I have a boyfriend? I brought a photograph to share.” A coo went across the audience, the excitement palpable even through the television screen. “Maybe your people could pull it up?”
An excited murmur went across the audience, and Cynthia perked up in her seat. “Now that is exciting! Producers, can we get a look?”
A picture flashed on the screen, one Gray himself had taken a few days earlier. In it, Jameson and Raiden stood, hand in hand. They were down by the beach, right around sunrise, and Jameson was beaming up at Raiden with a contented smile on his face.
Raiden’s face, however, was smudged out with a gray squiggle, and he wore a flannel to cover his identifiable tattoos. “Come on, now,” Cynthia laughed, then pretended to pout. “Such a tease! I take it your man doesn’t like the spotlight?”
Jameson laughed, then took another sip from his cocktail. “He’s like me. We appreciate our privacy. And you know, I really do apologize for the whole bodyguard kidnapping scandal. I would have come out immediately to correct it, but my boyfriend and I were away on vacation, and we didn’t look at our phone for days.”
“Ohh la la,” Cynthia sang, getting another laugh from the audience.
Weird jealous feelings swirled through Gray for just a moment, watching Jameson talk about his fake boyfriend to a national audience, but once he took a deep breath, the emotions all passed. He just had to remind himself that it wasn’t Jameson out there at all. In fact, the television audience had no clue who Jameson was, just like they had no clue who Gray was. And as long as everyone bought into the story, and believed that Jameson was in a relationship with some mysterious stranger with a blurred face, then he could do his part as the bodyguard to secure their privacy, and give Jameson the space he needed to live the life he wanted to live.
To be Gray’s boyfriend, just like Gray was his, and to finally have something that was truly their own.
Jameson set his cocktail down, then nodded. He was charming the audience with every twinkle in his eyes and gliding right through the interview. “That’s why I really came here today, Cynthia. To let the people know that I’m okay and to ask for a little more space. You know as well as anyone else does how challenging it can be to grow up in this business. It took me a while to find myself and figure out what kind of relationship was right for me. But now that I’m happy, and now that I’ve been retired for a few years, I’d just like everyone to know that I’m doing fine, and there’s no need to worry.”
Cynthia nodded, and when she started clapping her hands, the audience joined in. Gray chuckled to himself as he watched the two of them sell it, smiling and pulling the audience into their good mood.
“Just tell me one thing,” Cynthia said. “Does this mean we can finally put the rumors about the women bodybuilders to rest?”
Jameson laughed and turned his palms up toward the ceiling. “I don’t write the stories, I just live with them,” he joked.
“Stay tuned. After this break, we’ll be back to hear more of Justin Sweet’s coming out story. Because I, for one, have a million questions!”
The camera swept to commercial, and Gray puffed out a breath. He was able to pull some wild-ass stunts and not lose his cool, but it blew him away that Jameson was able to maintain his composure like he was with the whole world watching. He’d figured out how to offer a fake version of something true on Cynthia’s show, and he’d sold it perfectly.
Somehow, his beautiful boyfriend sat there with the nation watching and judging, and he pulled the damn thing off. It was like driving a stolen motorcycle, but amped up a million degrees.
None of the other tabloid rumors mattered now that Justin Sweet had come out, and that was a story Jameson could steer himself.
“Damn,” Gray said, relaxing back into the couch. “My boyfriend is fucking amazing.”
The rest of the interview flew by easily. Jameson hit the right mix of notes, spinning together old stories and revealing just enough. He made the audience laugh and lured them into his sympathy while Cynthia played the perfect dancing partner. There was no space in the conversation for Jameson’s coming out to go poorly or for the tabloid rumors to be a problem. She just complimented how handsome he looked in the color blue that he was wearing and echoed exactly what Jameson had asked her to echo.
