With some effort, Steve held back a wince. Of course Drew took that in stride too, unfazed. “Well, I didn’t know at first. He didn’t exactly haveSteven Stoneas his byline on the script. And I certainly didn’t recognize him. He was just another guy—a cute, talented, funny—”
Steve cleared his throat, pleased but half-mortified; the audience laughed.
Drew shot him a sly look from the corners of his eyes, a smile playing on his lips—this one just for Steve. “Oh, am I gushing again?”
“Yes,” Steve and Gloria chorused. Then she continued, “But you can go on if you want.”
“No,” Steve said, and they both raised their eyebrows. He tried to conveyI’m still not used to getting effusive compliments from a gorgeous movie star who isn’t my mother in private, never mind on national televisionvia his expression.
Either Drew’s acting tips had paid off, or he was just that good at reading Steve. “I didn’t find out who his mom was until we’d already been dating for a while. Steve’s pretty down-to-earth—easy to get along with, totally manageable ego. He’s got a great understanding of movies and character motivations and plot and especially comedy—we’re always pushing each other to get more laughs—but I never would’ve guessed who his parents are.”
“This movie you’re filming,” Gloria said. “It’s your first writing credit, right? But you’ve worked on other projects before in other capacities.”
Steve nodded, relaxing into it a little. Work—writing—he could talk about. “Yeah, I’ve worked as a script doctor. I’m pretty good at finding where things fall apart, where they’re slow or boring or the dialogue doesn’t work. Which is really funny because for this movie, I actually hadn’t written the end yet when we started filming, and I had to rewrite a couple scenes on the fly. It was a lot harder to do with that extra attachment.”
Gloria asked a few more questions, mostly about the movie, and Drew took over answering without spoiling too much. Finally Cooper came out and took some more pressure off. Steve was relegated to the seat farthest from Gloria, where he concentrated on not passing out as the show continued.
When Cooper got up to perform, Steve’s joints went weak in relief. By the time the show wrapped, he needed Drew’s help to peel himself off the chair. Gloria shook their hands again and congratulated them, and then it was over.
Steve exhaled as the ready room door closed behind them, and Drew bumped their shoulders together. “Well, that’s it. Tomorrow we’ll be the talk of Tinseltown.”
“Yeah.”
“You okay?”
Cooper was still on set, talking to some of the musicians, so Steve had the privacy to hold out his arms and beckon Drew to him. As soon as he got close enough, Steve planted his forehead on Drew’s shoulder. “Take me away from all of this, please.”
Drew chuckled softly and pressed a kiss to his forehead. “Come on. Let’s go home.”
ALMOSTbefore the elevator doors closed behind them, Steve was yawning.
“Sorry,” Steve said when he had voluntary control of his face again. “Car trips always make me tired. Anything over an hour and I’m done for.”
“It’s been a long day.” The doors opened, and Drew led them down the hall to the apartment on the end.
Drew’s apartment was on the twentieth floor of a Santa Monica high-rise, with more space than any ten people could need and sleek, modern furniture. “Wow,” Steve said, looking around despite his bleary eyes.
Drew snorted, obviously interpreting Steve’s flat delivery. “Right? I told you, it’s not personal. But.” He kicked off his shoes and hit a switch hidden in a recessed shelf. Across the palatial living room, blackout curtains began to rise. “It has one thing going for it.”
The curtains rose to reveal the bright lights of LA at night, stretching as far as the eye could see. A wide, well-appointed balcony with a hot tub and a comfortable seating area was the icing on the cake.
“Okay, I reiterate mywow, this time with feeling.” The only thing Steve could see from his apartment was the ugly side of another building. At least he had a window.
“I wanted a place with a view. This is the first apartment my agent showed me. Didn’t pay much attention to the rest.”
They stood there quietly for a moment, shoulder to shoulder, taking it in.
Then Drew said, “So, want to see the bedroom?”
Steve swatted at him halfheartedly and followed.
Much like the living room, the bedroom was enormous, this time with an oversize bed that nonetheless felt dwarfed in the space. Steve suspected the same wall of windows lurked behind the curtains, but Drew didn’t open these. “A little more room than the last bed we shared.”
“I don’t mind having to cuddle up.”
“Me neither. Come on—bathroom’s through here.” He made a sweeping gesture. “I’ll get you set up for the shower.”
Steve could barely stomach the idea of walking past the bed, it looked so inviting. “Lay on, Macduff.”
