Page 2 of Best Supporting Actor
“Thanks,” Jay said. “And, er, nice to meet you too.” He glanced at Liam then, including him in his next comment. “You’ll both love working onBow Street, I’m sure. It sounds like it’s going to be an awesome show.” His attention slid back to Len then, and he clapped him on the arm. “Good to see you, Len. I’m going to grab a drink, but I’ll catch you later, yeah?”
Len saluted his agreement with his beer bottle, and then Jay was walking away, towards the bar, and Tag hadn’t even managed to say anything halfway sensible to him.
He sighed.
So much for networking.
* * *
It was some time later that Tag ran into Jay Warren again. Literally.
He’d been dancing with Aaron and hisBow Streetcolleagues for a while and, inevitably, the drinks had caught up with him.
“Just going for a quick slash,” he half-shouted at Aaron over the pounding music. Aaron, who had to be sweltering in his long wizard robes, but still looked as cool as a cucumber, gave him a thumbs up and continued dancing.
After the heat of the dancefloor, it was a relief to slip out of the function room into the cool hotel corridor.
Despite how busy the party was, the toilets were empty, and Tag lingered after he washed his hands, spending a couple of minutes taming his rumpled hair before heading back out, whistling cheerfully.
Perhaps he pushed the door open a little too hard, or maybe he barrelled out a little too quickly. Whatever the reason, as he strode out of the bathroom, he crashed into another guy on his way in. A proper, full-on body slam.
“Bloody hell!” the other man exclaimed.
Tag’s first thought was that the guy sounded posh. His second thought was,That’s Jay Warren, and his third thought—which came as his gaze travelled downwards and he took in the bright smear of body paint now adorning Jay’s expensive-looking black shirt—was the one he spoke aloud. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry! Some of my body paint’s got on your shirt!”
Jay blinked and looked down at the streaks of silver and red on his chest.
“It should come out,” Tag said hurriedly before Jay could respond. “It’s meant to be water-soluble. Do you want to…?” He trailed off and pointed uncertainly at the bathroom door. “We could try and get it off just now.”
As soon as the words were out of his mouth, they struck him as funny. He did a sort of giggle-snort, and Jay looked up from his shirt. Their gazes tangled, and somehow—Tag couldn’t help himself sometimes; he really couldn’t—he found himself raising a flirty eyebrow, poking his tongue into his cheek and adding, “Maybe we could get each other off while we’re at it.”
He grinned as soon as the words were out, to show it was a joke—though maybe it was onlysort ofa joke because, yeah, Jay Warren wasfuckinggorgeous—but Jay didn’t grin back or laugh.
Instead, he gave a tight, awkward little smile and cleared his throat. “That’s, um, a very nice offer, but I’m afraid I—well, I make it something of a rule not to get involved with the crew.”
“Crew?” Tag’s eyebrows surged up and he gave a bark of angry laughter, unsurprised by the man’s blatant prejudice. Tag faced it all the time. “Clever of you to guess my job. What gave me away?” He pantomimed thinking. “Let me guess: was it my accent?”
Jay blinked then, his expression shifting into something uncertain. “You—you’re Tag, aren’t you? We met earlier. You work with Len and—”
Tag tilted his head to one side, smiling sarcastically. “Yes… and no. I’m Tag, yes, but I don’t work with Len. Believe it or not, I’m an actor too. I’ve got a role inBow Street, actually, which is why I was invited tonight.” He offered a tight smile. “I might not be as successful as you yet,Mr.Warren, but we can’t all have famous mums sending us to posh schools and giving us introductions to Hollywood producers, can we?”
Jay winced and closed his eyes. When he opened them again a moment later, he said wearily, “Look, I’m sorry. That came out wrong. It’s not actually a crewthing. I wouldn't get involved withanyoneat RPP—actors especially.”
Tag gave another bark of laughter. “Oh my God,” he said, almost speechless now.This guy. “Calm your tits,” he said drily. “It was only a joke. I don’t expect the famous Jay Warren to be interested in a nobody like me—even though youweretotally eye-fucking me when we met.”
Jay flushed at that, pink staining his sharp cheekbones. “Well, excuse me,” he said. “I didn’t mean to knock the chip on your shoulder. I just thought you were coming on to me and—”
“Yeah,” Tag said, brushing past him. “I got the message, thanks, loud and clear.” Over his shoulder he added, without looking back, “You should really wash that paint off before it stains.”
* * *
About an hour after his run-in with Jay Warren, Tag was waiting at the bar for a drinks order and chatting to a very hot male model called Mason who, it turned out, he’d been following on Instagram for a while. He was in the midst of posing for a selfie with the guy when his phone pinged with a message from Aaron.
Hey, I’m on my way home—sorry for not saying goodbye—totally knackered.Let’s catch up next week? xoxo
Tag fired a quick message back while Mason posted their selfie to Instagram—No worries, enjoy your lie-in tomorrow.Briefly, he pondered whether he should head home himself, then decided not to. He’d met a lot of fun people tonight—Jay Warrenverymuch excepted—and he was having a good time. Might as well enjoy the free bar a bit longer.
Lifting the tray of drinks, he grinned at Mason. “I’m just going to deliver these to my friends, but I’d love to chat more if you fancy grabbing a drink with me?”