30. Chase
CHASE
“This is definitely not fancy enough.”
“Trust me, you look like a goddamn model, Chase. What more could you ask for?” Logan says.
I’m standing in my bathroom looking in the mirror at the suit Logan bought me today.
Tonight, Logan invited me to the first in-person event we will be appearing at as a couple.
We’ve been back in New York for a few days, and when Logan said he was invited to an Actors & Writers Society Gala, I was certain he was going to attend alone.
When he invited me I thought it was a joke, but he was completely serious, and now I have no clue what the hell I’m going to do at a giant, fancy gala surrounded by some of the most famous and fashionable people on the planet.
I adjust the shoulders of the jacket, which fit nicely. The suit is black with white accents, and earlier today, I painted a tiny, multicolored Luna moth on the front pocket with fabric paint.
I was worried about ruining the suit with paint, but Logan insisted on me going through with the idea.
Now I love it.
I love him, too.
And I’ve almost accidentally said it about a dozen times today.
But I’ve told myself to relax.
I don’t know how anything works, timeline-wise, when your brand-new boyfriend has already felt like your soulmate for a long, long time.
But I know I’m not going to be able to hold it in for long.
“Okay. Does the tie look wrinkled anywhere?”
“No. It’s great. Just like the rest of your outfit.”
My only demand, earlier today, was that I get one of the less expensive suits, since it was his money, but now I’m worried the entire suit won’t look right for the occasion.
“How the hell am I supposed to know what rich people wear to events?”
“Well, I know what they wear. And I’m certain you have nothing to worry about.”
“You know what? You’re right. If people at this event don’t like me, or they judge me for my suit, then I don’t care about them, anyway.”
I’m nervous.
I’m not used to feeling nervous, but I’m fucking nervous.
If it were just me attending, I’d be smooth sailing. But I want to make Logan look good. I want to be worthy of being by his side.
“Car’s going to be here soon,” Logan says, checking the time on his phone. “God, you look hot in that suit, actually. I might have to pull you away into one of the bathrooms during the gala.”
I puff out a laugh.
I turn and he catches me in a kiss. When I pull away to leave, he grips my hips, deepening the kiss and opening to me. He lets his tongue slide over mine and it makes my cock jump.
“Quit it,” I murmur near him. “I’ll keep you here and end up tongue-fucking you if you keep kissing me like that.”
“Mmm. So tempting. You are the human embodiment of tempting.”
“I can tell you used to do Shakespeare plays,” I tell him. “Read poems to me, all about how I’m the human embodiment of temptation.”
“I’d love to.”
We walk out into my living room and I’m surprised when Julian is there, sitting on the couch. But he’s not alone. I turn to the side and see that apparently while we were getting ready, my mom arrived, too, getting ready to grab dinner with my brother.
She turns to look back at me and when she sees Logan, she does a double take.
Then a triple take.
“Woah. Hold on,” she says. “Holy shit on a shingle, if you aren’t the spittin’ image of Logan Stone!”
I smile, and then Logan does, too.
“Guilty as charged. It’s nice to meet you,” he says.
She gasps as she stands to shake his hand. “Is this… is this some sort of prank?”
I scratch the back of my head. “Mom, did you happen to see the recent photoshoot Logan did? The one that’s been all over the internet for the past few days?”
“Only things I’ve done online this week were ordering groceries, watching some YouTube videos about knitting, and holy fuck, it’s really you, isn’t it?”
“It’s me, in the flesh.”
She stands up slowly.
Logan closes the distance between them, giving her a hug. As he hugs her, she looks out at me over his shoulder, her eyes practically bulging out of her head.
“Is this an early birthday gift for me?” she asks me, grasping Logan’s shoulders after the hug. “I can’t believe I’m in the same room as Logan Stone. How are you here?”
“I worked with Logan on a photoshoot, Mom,” I tell her. “And we’re kind of… well…”
“We’re boyfriends,” Logan says.
“What? How could you not tell me? How long has this been going on?” she exclaims.
I scratch the back of my head. “Well, I first met him last year, actually—”
“Last year? Chase, are you trying to kill me? Keeping that from me all year?”
“I came back to New York at the start of last month,” Logan clarifies. “And we only made it official this week, so don’t worry. No secrets.”
She claps her hands together. “I’m dreaming. Damn, this is a good dream.”
“We’re late for an event right now, Mom,” I tell her. “But we could come by your house tomorrow for dinner?”
She cackles. “I still think I’m on a secret prank show right now, but sure. Yes. Come for dinner. With Logan Stone.”
I lean in to give her a hug, and Logan hugs her again, too, which makes her swear a few more times.
We head out through the front door, and Logan’s grinning wide the whole way downstairs. “I love your mom already.”
“I love her, too. She is going to ask you a thousand questions tomorrow once she realizes this is actually happening and not a prank, by the way. So get ready.”
“Bring it on.”
On the way to the event, Logan can tell I’m nervous, so he pulls out his phone and looks up some Shakespeare to read to me while he holds my hand.
He reads it out loud in a British accent that’s so good it could convince anyone, and I’m reminded that I’m sitting in the car with a fucking Emmy-winning actor who will probably be well on his way to some Oscars, too, when he starts filming more movies.
I don’t understand half the shit he’s saying, but it all sounds amazing coming from him. I’m sure if I asked, he could explain it all to me perfectly.
So I just listen. And somewhere along the drive to the event, my nervousness melts away.
It’s going to be great.
It’s going to be fucking fun, because I’m going to be there with him.
I reach out and squeeze his thigh as he moves on to the next Shakespeare passage, and the enormity of this simple moment finally hits me. Tonight is a major first for Logan, too. It’ll be the first event he brings a date to since his career exploded last year.
I want to make the night perfect for him.
I love him, and it still feels too soon to say.
A deeper part of me feels like it would never be too soon, and that I’m so much crazier not to have said it to him, yet.
The words claw at me almost every moment I’m with him.
He makes me a smoothie, and I think it.
I love you.
He reads me Shakespeare only to calm me down, all the while keeping a hand laced in mine, and it pulses through my mind, over and over.
I love you.
His existence, on its own, when he’s tired, or burnt out, or happy, or laughing with me in the shower, brushing the droplets from my eyelashes… it’s so much more real than any connection I thought I’d share with another person.
I love you, I love you, I love you to the bottom of my beating heart.
If I could, I’d want to give Logan the whole world.
So tonight, I’m going to show him a good time.
Every fear I had about the event disappears when I walk in and see the food and desserts on display there.
It doesn’t hurt that Logan keeps his hand holding mine as we walk in, too.
The gala is being held in the ballroom of a trendy, modern hotel in Soho, and their desserts absolutely rival the ones I used to make at the Bellwood. I gawk at the amazing fruit tartlets and tiered tiramisu bites, and I make a note to ask about their pastry chef later on.
“Stone, my man,” someone says behind us only a minute into walking by the food tables.
I turn to see the actor I recognize from some of the YouTube interviews of Logan’s I watched when I finally broke down and binged them all.
It’s Charlie Maccan, Logan’s costar on Yard Line.
He clasps Logan on the back, bringing him in for a hug. “Howdy. How have you been?”
“Not too shabby. Did you see that Shelley and Laz are here? Make sure you go chat with them tonight, or we’ll have a repeat of Malibu.”
Logan snorts. “Laz wouldn’t do that again. The table reads were like pulling teeth the day after, and James knew they would be.”
I have no clue what they’re talking about, and for a moment I don’t know if I should turn to butt into their conversation or not.
But as I’m reaching for a strawberry cheesecake bite, I feel Logan’s hand on my shoulder, and I spin around.
I have a moment of that same stunned feeling that I got when I first met Logan. Charlie isn’t utterly perfect to me, like Logan is, but he’s immaculately well-dressed, has perfect hair, and looks and smells expensive in the most subtle ways.
It’s clear that I’m around stars, right now.
“Charlie, I have a VIP for you to meet,” Logan says. “This is my boyfriend, Chase Cameron.”
Charlie doesn’t miss a beat.
Doesn’t bat an eyelash, or question anything, or give Logan some sort of disapproving glance because I’m not famous.
He reaches out his hand, smiling wide, and shakes my hand.
“Charlie Maccan,” he says. “You’re the photographer of Logan’s dickfest portraits, aren’t you?”
I crack a smile. “That would be me. You liked them?”
“I love the photos. In a purely friendly way, of course, Logan. Chase, I’m not trying to steal your man. Promise.”
“No harm, no foul,” I tell him. “Which ones were your favorites of the set?”
“The black and white ones. And some of the ones that were hyper-contrasty, in front of the art. Those paintings are fucking wild, man. Do you know who the artist was?”
“Oh, the paintings in the background are all mine.”
Charlie’s eyes go wide. “You painted those?”
I nod. “Mhm.”
“Well, we need to chat, then,” Charlie says. “I have to have one of those for my apartment here in New York. I was going to ask Logan about it earlier, but I’ve been crazy busy.”