Page 111 of Best Supporting Actor
“I was afraid you onlydidcasual,” Tag replied, his gaze very direct. After a beat, he added, “If I’m honest, you’re the first guy I’ve gone to bed with that I’veneverfelt the least bit casual about.”
“Yeah?” Jay whispered.
“Yeah,” Tag breathed. “Right from that first time, after the awards dinner.”
Jay raised a brow. “You could have fooled me—what was it you said? About never having had to work so hard for a blowj—”
“Pleasedon’t remind me,” Tag begged. “I was such a dick that night. All I can say is that I was freaking out over how perfect you were.”
“Perfect, huh?” Jay teased.
But Tag just smiled. “Yeah,” he said, sliding a hand around Jay’s neck and pulling him closer, murmuring, “Perfect for me,” a second before his mouth covered Jay’s.
Jay closed his eyes, loving the gentle, persuasive pressure of Tag’s lips, the tentative stroke of his tongue over the seam of Jay’s mouth, his deepening of the kiss when Jay opened to him. Loving the perfection of it, here, on the stage where, tonight, everything had gone so wonderfully, unexpectedly… right.
When they finally broke apart, Tag said, “I’m not sure what happens next. Does this mean…?” He let the words hover, his eyes searching Jay’s face.
“What do you want to happen next?” Jay asked. “I’ve not thought about it beyond telling you how I feel.”
“Well,” Tag said carefully, “I’m not really sure what I’ll be doing over the next year or two, but”—he took a deep breath—“I want us to be together. And I’d prefer to be out in the open about it. I want to tell my family about us, and my friends. I’ve discovered that I don’t like hiding stuff.”
“You’re not worried about what people might say about how you got cast?”
Tag shrugged. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the last couple of days, it’s that you can’t run scared of arseholes like Coburn. Fuck them. They can say what they want. I’m very proud to be with you, and I want everyone to know it.” He paused, then added, “Does that sound… okay?”
Jay’s smile felt huge. “It sounds very okay. In fact, it sounds pretty damned perfect.”
Leaning in, Tag kissed him again, warm and affectionate but full of promise. When he pulled back, he held out his hand in invitation. “Come on then. Let’s go back to the party and make this official.”
Taking Tag’s hand in his, threading their fingers together, Jay let Tag lead him off-stage and back to a world he’d thought lost to him forever. A world of drama, theatre, and passion. A world that Tag’s love and loyalty had helped him rediscover.
Tag might not have realised it yet, but as they walked together into the darkness of the wings Jay knew that he’d be sharing that world with Tag for the rest of their lives. And he couldn’t wait.
ENCORE
Tag
Four months later
Hallowe’en
“Ta-da!” Tag sang, as he burst into the living room, where Jay was waiting for him.
“Well now,” Jay said slowly, his eyes not moving from Tag as he got up from the sofa. “Don’t you look sexy?”
Tag did a little twirl, the long leather coat flaring out round his shins. “I do rock the Skye Jäger look,” he admitted, “but I’m not sure this tops last year’s costume for sexiness—remember my zombie barista?”
Jay slid his arms around Tag’s waist and pulled him in for a kiss. “The memory of you in those silver shorts is burned into my memory forever. But this is sexy too, in a very different way. Mmm, major bad boy vibes. I think you’ll need to fuck me after the party. Or maybeatthe party…”
Tag’s cock hardened on cue. “Or maybe right now,” he growled, then groaned when Jay’s phone pinged. “Tell me that’s not our cab,” he whined.
Jay checked his phone. “It’s our cab,” he sighed. “Come on. We’ll have fun, and there’ll be plenty of time for shagging like rabbits later. We have three whole days together after this.”
Three whole days. Tag grinned, leaned in, and kissed Jay quickly on the lips.Bliss.
“I must say, you’re looking pretty damn sexy tonight yourself,Bishop,” Tag said as they left Jay’s house and headed for the waiting cab. They’d decided to go to the RPP Hallowe’en party as each other’s characters this year, so Tag was vamping it up as Skye, while Jay was looking adorably butch as an eighteenth-century street lout.
“At least I’m in a costume this year,” Jay said, modest as always.