Page 110 of A Real Good Lie

“Uhm, no,” Sebastian said cautiously.

“No?”

“Rhys is here,” Sebastian muttered under his breath.

“What?” Callahan frantically searched the space, hoping to find Jace before he found Rhys. Hoping that Rhys hadn’t found Jace, but at the same time, he knew better. “Why is your brother here?”

“He’s bored.”

Callahan turned a corner and skittered to a halt, taken aback by everything he saw ahead of him. There was a large photo hung on the wall, and he knew without a second look it was him, but it wasn’t from the last night they’d taken pictures.

Callahan would remember those hotel sheets for the rest of his life.

In front of the picture hanging on the wall stood the photographer, and the villain. Rhys looked smug, a stray lock of blond hair resting against his forehead, and he smirked as his mouth moved. Jace, in the suit Callahan had bought for him, stood tall, his chin dipped downward. He stared down his nose at Rhys, who seemed to grow more flustered with every word out of his mouth.

“I need to go to him,” Callahan said, shaking Sebastian off.

“No.” Sebastian stopped him. “He’s an adult, Callahan. He can handle Rhys on his own.”

“He shouldn’t have to.”

“Right.” Sebastian pulled him back anyway. “But he needs to.”

“How do you know what he needs?” Callahan scoffed.

“Hush.”

Callahan watched Rhys and Jace exchange more words, then Rhys’s stare flickered toward the enlarged picture on the wall behind them. Jace folded his arms across his chest and raised an eyebrow, which sent Rhys off with a huff.

As soon as Rhys’s back was turned, Jace’s entire body went weak, and Callahan’s tensed. Jace had a moment of looking like he wanted to melt into the floor, but then his eyes found Callahan’s and a soft, nervous smile lit his face.

“What trouble are you causing?” Sebastian asked his brother once Rhys was within earshot.

Across the room, Jace took a deep breath and headed in their direction.

“I was only commenting on the quality of the work to the artist,” Rhys said.

“That sounds questionable, coming from you.”

“Weren’t you going?” Jace asked, his question clearly directed at Rhys. He stood beside Callahan, taking his face into his hands and tilting his head up for a kiss that had the earth spinning beneath Callahan’s feet.

He clutched at the lapels of Jace’s suit jacket to steady himself, well aware of the way his cheeks had flushed from the kiss.

“Was that necessary?”

“Very.” Jace smiled and kissed Callan again.

When he came up for air, Rhys had gone, and the tension in the room was notably absent.

“The pictures,” he whispered, dragging his fingers down Jace’s arm and taking his hand.

“We’ll talk about it,” Jace said. He smiled at Sebastian. “Can you excuse us?”

“Of course.”

“Remington was looking for you.” Jace said to Sebastian, giving Callahan’s hand a squeeze and pulling him toward the picture on the far wall.

They stopped in front of it, looking up. Callahan swallowed, finding himself embarrassed to be the subject and wondering if anyone knew it was him. It wasn’t as if he was naked. No one would know, save maybe Rhys, but Callahan wagered he didn’t.