43. Chapter 43
Dane
T he job paid well, but damn was it ever burning the candle at both ends. Dane flopped down on the bed in his crash pad and let the smell of the clean pillowcase fill his nose. They did bedding every three days, so he never really had to worry about things getting too dirty.
It was satisfying work, to be sure. Working on a closed set was the kind of thing that Dane had always imagined doing. He wouldn’t trade the experience of doing lighting on-site for anything—that was harder, and he knew he’d learned a lot from it—but shooting on the pre-ordained sets let Dane really feel like he knew what he was doing. It was an exercise of his expertise, and Cecelia took notice.
Which was why she worked him specifically to the bone. He’d quickly become her proxy in a lot of ways. Nothing official, but she trusted him enough to take charge of the other grips. And he had learned things from this job as well.
The problem was, one of things he learned was how badly he needed to invest in a back massager. And a foot massager. And probably some other massager he didn’t even know existed yet. By the end of a shooting day, he was bone-deep sore, and it wasn’t like he was getting tossed easy jobs. For good reason, the less experienced members of the crew were being used for confessionals, interviews, and mostly still shots, while Dane was with the other half of the crew, running from hell to breakfast to light everything up while people were moving around, colors were in flux, and the layout of the space was consistently changing.
After about fifteen minutes of breathing through his pillowcase, Dane’s muscles had relaxed enough for him to consider the trek to the showers. It was the least luxurious part of this housing arrangement, to be sure. They had closed stalls, but it was still basically a locker room setup.
“Maybe I don’t need it.” He sat up, then caught a whiff of his own BO. “Scratch that, I guess.” He groaned as he rose to his feet and traded out his work boots and socks for flip flops. He didn’t trust walking barefoot across the lot, but the boots were too much to deal with in the showers.
Before he grabbed his shower caddy, Dane checked his phone. He hadn’t heard from Aras the entire day. Day-and-a-half, actually. Last update he got was about them packing up and heading for the next job. Dane’s chest had tightened when he read that. The two of them could have traveled together instead of dealing with phone calls and videos and texts. He’d gotten effusive texts and calls after Aras got the bowl Dane had sent. And it wasn’t like Aras had been ignoring him…until recently. They were probably just busy in transit.
This long distance bullshit is going to kill me.
Dane plugged his phone in to charge, then changed into his comfy clothes. They were cleaner and better for the showers than his full work clothes.
When he’d gotten his sweats on, a knock came at the door. Dane groaned. It was probably a change to his morning schedule, which always meant he had to wake up earlier. Somehow, no one ever pushed his start time back an hour.
Dane grabbed his caddy and tossed his shirt over his shoulder. It was warm enough outside. He could walk to the showers shirtless, and hopefully being half-dressed would convince whoever this was to give him a break. As much as they could.
He answered the door. “I’m just heading to shower. Can this wait?”
“I’ve waited long enough.”
Dane knew the voice and his eyes widened. Aras stood at the bottom of the steps leading up to the door. He had bags laden over his arms, a smile on his face, and crescents under his eyes.
Dane grabbed his hand and hauled him up the steps. “What the fuck are you doing here? The next job isn’t in Atlanta, is it?” He didn’t remember that, but maybe? Could something have changed?
“No. But we have about three days, and I’m really tired of chatting online while we watch our silly robot show.” He laid his bags down on the bed. “But also, you mentioned something about showering? What do I have to pay to watch?”
Dane’s brain whirled and tried to focus. He turned his attention to the bags. “You also went shopping?”
“Yeah. I don’t think we have many episodes left, and I wanted to make sure we didn’t get bored.” A tinge of pink crept up Aras’s neck and cheeks. “I hope I didn’t fuck up. It’s really not something I know a lot about.” He grabbed one bag and opened it. “Food, I think I got right. And I don’t know what your whole situation is here, but I got you some canned coffee, and some booze, and some microwave meals if you want something quick. I don’t want you starving—”
Dane leaned in and kissed him, and it was like all that time and distance never happened and didn’t matter. “Let me shower so I don’t stink up the place. I’d invite you, but they’re public, and I can’t imagine exhibition is your kink.”
Aras chuckled. “No. It’s not.” He pulled back and went to the other bags. “But tell me if this is okay. If not, I can run it all back and pick up something else for us while you’re in the shower.”
Dane moved in closer and looked into the bag. “You bought model kits?” Several of them, it looked like, along with some extra supplies. The receipt was showing, and it was all from the same game shop Dane had gone to before. “You don’t need to buy me something just because I got you that bowl.”
“I didn’t.” Aras stroked his hair back away from his face. “But I thought maybe we could build some together. I don’t have a ton of time before I have to head back up to North Carolina, and I wanted to make sure it was good while I was here.”
Dane wanted to tell him that sitting alone and just talking would have been stellar. But the idea of building models with Aras buoyed his heart. “You know you got duplicates, right?”
“So we could have some matching pairs.” Aras looked down at the floor. “I know it’s kind of dumb, but it’s sort of like a connection between us? I guess? Something we can keep with us that we both have.”
Dane kissed him again, then wrapped his arms around Aras and felt the warmth and the muscles pressing into his still-bare chest. “You are one of a kind. Quick shower, you set up, get comfortable, and I’ll be right back.”
Aras kissed him again. Then, as painful as it was to part, Dane headed out the door into the lot, but he only made it a couple yards before Cecelia jogged over to flag him down. Her brows knitted in the center and her mouth was turned downward.
Dane stopped. “Everything okay?”
“Shit, you tell me. Guards said that someone was looking for you? Someone from your old shoot came all the way down to Georgia to find you. Got me worried that someone might have a vendetta or something.”
Dane laughed and shook his head. “No. My boyfriend.” It was the first time Dane had said it, he was pretty sure. “We met on the job, and he flew down to spend some time with me before they start shooting again.”
Cecelia’s entire demeanor changed and she took on a wry smile. “And that’s why you’re shirtless.”
“No.” Dane opted for honesty. “I’m shirtless because I need a shower, and I figured if anyone saw me half-naked, they might not pass on any message telling me to be on set super early tomorrow.”
Cecelia laughed. “Fair play. I’ll do my best not to need you until seven.”
It was still early, but it was their normal start time. “See you at seven.”
Which meant that Dane had a little over twelve hours to do nothing but spend time with Aras.
One thing Dane knew for sure: you didn’t fly across state lines to see someone if there wasn’t something there. And if they could make it through this…well, they’d need to find a bigger place to show off two different collections.
Thank you for reading Sparking Hearts !