Chapter 25 #2
The crowd oohs at that, and Jeffrey shakes his head. “To the point. All right, I can admire that.” He leans toward Ezra, elbows on his desk, as if their conversation could somehow be private. “Is it true Grayson Fox is living with you?”
Ezra’s lips twitch ever so slightly, something most people probably wouldn’t even notice. “Yes. That’s true.”
There’s an immediate reaction, murmuring from the audience and even Jeffrey’s eyebrow flying up. “Okay, explain to me what’s going on there. Your whole bromance… Was that a lie?”
“No. Grayson is my best friend. That was never a lie.”
“But now?” Jeffrey asks. “C’mon, Gold, don’t leave us in suspense here. What’s the deal with you two? ”
My heart thumps in time to Ezra’s soft smile. God . Even across space and time, I can feel him.
“Grayson Fox.” Ezra’s tone is almost lazy, as if the name is one he’s maybe heard before. “Yeah. That man is the love of my life.”
Jeffrey sits back dramatically, and Ezra winks at the camera, the audience outright screaming now. My phone starts to ping, but I ignore it. If it’s Madison and important, she’ll call. Everything else can wait.
“Well, good grief,” Jeffrey says.
Harper fans her face beside me. “Good fucking grief is more like it.”
Ezra waits out everyone’s reactions, looking as if he has all the time in the world. Harper takes a sip of her wine. That wink of his, I’m more than certain, was for me.
Finally, Jeffrey rallies. “Excuse me if I seem a little shocked, but I’m not sure any of us saw this coming.”
“Because being queer is so unheard of?”
“No,” Jeffrey says easily. “Because you’ve always been touted as quite the ladies’ man in the media.”
I can see Ezra refraining from rolling his eyes. He’s never dated. Not exactly. But his public meetups with women, even friends, have been well publicized over the years. It’s part of the gig for someone as well-known as Ezra.
“Was all of that a cover?” Jeffrey asks, quite the bold question.
Ezra never loses his composure. “No. I’ve always been equal opportunity.”
Jeffrey holds a hand Ezra’s way. “So that makes you…”
“Bisexual. All my life. It’s not new. Not to me, at least.”
“Yet you’ve never been seen out with men.”
Ezra hums. “It’s not something I made public. ”
“Until now,” Jeffrey points out. “And what about Naveen Arya? Is he an ex?”
“Of sorts.” Ezra’s smile makes it clear what he means by that. I can all too easily imagine Shawn in the wings having a coronary at that precise moment.
Jeffrey simply chuckles. “All right. Has Naveen been the only one?”
“My, my, Jeffrey. Quite the personal question, is it not?”
Jeffrey shrugs.
Ezra only makes him sweat for half a second before saying, “No, he wasn’t the only one. I fooled around a bit when I was younger. You know how it goes. But Naveen…he’s the only man I’ve been with since then.”
“Except for Grayson.”
Ezra smirks, which seems, to the audience, to answer the question. Even though he didn’t answer it at all.
“Speaking of Grayson,” Jeffrey goes on. “What’s his story? He was married before.”
“Yes, he was.”
Jeffrey waits, clearly expecting more, possibly about my own sexuality, but Ezra doesn’t give him anything. I snort, taking a sip of my wine.
“Is marriage something the two of you are interested in?” Jeffrey asks, pivoting.
Ezra shakes his head. “Nah. I never saw myself getting married, and Grayson doesn’t want that again. It’s not something either of us needs.”
“But you two are serious?”
“If you’re asking if there’s anyone else for me, the answer is no.”
The audience awws , and Jeffrey leans forward again. “Is this a new development? You two have been friends for quite some time. Ever since you first filmed alongside one another twenty years ago, isn’t that right?”
“I see where you’re going with this, Jeffrey, and the answer is no.” Ezra’s voice is hard, his expression sterner than before. “Grayson was never unfaithful to his wife. And if he were here now, he’d tell you himself that it was me who all but pounced the moment his divorce papers were signed.”
“Didn’t waste a minute, did you?”
Ezra’s expression eases, and he chuckles. “No, I did not.”
There’s not a doubt in my mind Ezra told Jeffrey to guide the interview specifically in that direction, if only to have the chance to defend me and Camilla publicly. None of this is by mistake. Ezra is making a statement. An unequivocal one.
“If Grayson were here now,” Jeffrey says, picking up on Ezra’s thread, “what would you say to him? I think we’re all dying to know.”
Ezra lets out the softest exhale, his chest drawing down with it. He aims his gaze directly at the camera, the look in his eye stealing my very breath.
“I would say I’d have loved you in whatever form you came to me.
In whatever time. I would defend you with my dying breath, and I would follow you wherever it is you go.
The pieces of us were made to fit, Gray.
To be drawn together and shared. You told me once bound stars are destined to go out together.
And I’m glad for it. Because I can’t imagine a life, now or ever, without you in it. ”
The audience once again rumbles in a chorus of awws , but I only have eyes and ears for Ezra.
“You’re quite the romantic, aren’t you?” Jeffrey asks.
A slight smile graces Ezra’s face. “Some would even call me a poet.”
“Well, there we have it. Poet Ezra Gold, everyone. ”
The audience erupts in cheers and clapping, and a pair of warm, familiar arms slip around my shoulders. Harper jolts, letting out a curse before realizing it’s Ezra. He simply chuckles, the sound like quiet thunder near my ear.
“What do you think? Pretty good, right?”
“You’re an absolute ham,” I tell him, my throat tight.
“Well, I like ham, so I’ll take that as a compliment.” He smacks a purposely messy kiss against my cheek before standing upright. “Harper. Good to see you.”
“For what’s it worth,” our costar says, setting her empty wine glass down, “the people who have a problem with you two? Fuck ’em. You guys have already made it. You’re stars, babies. And no one, not even the harshest critic, will dull your brilliant fucking shine.”
Ezra’s gaze meets mine, a small smile on his face. “You know what, Harper? I think you’re absolutely right.”