Page 3 of Notorious (Hollywood Heartthrobs #2)

OLLIE

I ’d missed my friend in the years since she moved away, so I clutched her to me as much as she held on with all her strength. But I happened to glance over at Connor and felt my heart stutter in my chest. Regretful time with the fascinating man was now over.

Gracie sensed a change in my demeanor and slid down my body until her feet landed on the ground. She took a step back and studied my face. When my eyes traced back behind her, she turned, curious, to study the man I thought I’d never forget for however long I lived.

As I waited for Gracie to introduce herself or take charge of the lack of conversation around her, she gasped and stepped back against my chest. I teased her during the years we grew up together about her five-foot stature, although I’d grown several inches to my six foot three height after she’d moved away.

But her reaction to Connor surprised me.

My manners kicked in during the awkward silence.

“Gracie, this is Connor. He kept me sane on the flight. He even invited me over to meet his family. They sound outstanding and supportive. Connor, this is Gracie, the sweetest friend I’ve ever had.”

Somehow, my words snapped them out of their staring contest, and they shook hands, exchanging pleasantries.

Gracie’s stunned expression disappeared as she turned back to me.

She studied my face for a long moment before her growing smile turned into loud gales of laughter.

I blinked at her as she bent forward, holding her stomach with one arm while she placed her left hand on her knee.

For a minute, I stood there, staring without an ounce of understanding why.

“Only you, Oliver, I swear, only you!”

When it didn’t seem her laughter would subside, I glanced up to see Connor smiling.

But the air of closeness we shared dissipated when a beautiful woman approached him and asked for an autograph.

As she snuggled her chest against his arm, I realized my breathing had increased and there was a tingling in my fingers.

It was obvious I hadn’t recognized Connor, much less if his attraction leaned toward men, so I tamped down the unnecessary jealousy at seeing his smile directed at someone else and glanced at Gracie, while she wiped tears of mirth from her eyes.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

She didn’t answer before Connor reached us. “Why don’t we grab your bags and get you settled with Gracie?”

At Connor’s innocent statement, she gasped and clutched onto my forearm.

“I’m so, so sorry, Oliver. The city condemned my building and because I didn’t have anywhere to live, I took a job and will be on location for the next two months.”

My heart jolted as Connor pursed his lips and blew out a relieved whistle.

Shit, I shouldn’t be looking at his lips!

“What?” Gracie asked Connor.

As though we’d been friends for years, Connor reached an arm out and draped it around my shoulders. I locked down my muscles and chanted again and again in my imaginative brain that he wasn’t mine as I prevented the gigantic shiver that wanted to overtake my body.

“This is great! Mama’s going to be thrilled because now she gets to feed Ollie and baby him instead of me.”

Gracie’s eyes widened, but I couldn’t tell which surprised her more; him calling me Ollie, or the actual invitation to his home. Despite the tension coming from Gracie, the tightness in my chest relaxed, knowing Connor’s invitation was still on the table.

“Ollie?” She shook her head. “Never mind. I have a friend who needs a roommate. You can meet him tomorrow and when I get back, we can look for a place together.”

“No, he’s going to stay with me. We have plenty of room.”

Gracie turned to Connor and squinted. “Despite me trying to get him to watch TV and a movie once in a blue fucking moon, some of them I think he’ll enjoy, he’s not interested. Which makes him ignorant of our world. He prefers reading or watching video game play throughs.”

I scoffed. “It’s obvious he’s someone famous, an actor or a sports star… is that how you say it?” I waved my hand in a dismissive gesture. “He’s signed three autographs since we’ve been standing here. Anyway… oh, great, our bags are here. Which one is yours?”

“Cornflower blue hardshell.”

With a roll of my eyes at my protective friend, I left them behind knowing she’d needed to talk to Connor, and I joined the bodies hovering around the luggage carousel.

“First time in Los Angeles?”

Not realizing anyone was speaking to me, I turned my head and sucked in a breath as I spotted a man with perfect teeth and coiffed hair standing closer than necessary. Something about his smile creeped me out and when I spotted a blue suitcase, I said, “Yes, excuse me.”

I walked toward the end and plucked Connor’s bag from the spinning metal contraption, double-checking his information to verify I had the correct bag, before waiting for my own.

A shiver passed over me, causing me to straighten to my full height, as the man I had no desire to speak to brushed his arm against mine.

He held out a business card and said, “If you’re ever looking for work?—”

Gracie growled. “He’s not.”

An airport police officer grabbed the man’s arm. “I warned you about trolling here.” He yanked at the now snarling man away and I blinked my eyes at the contorted evil look on his face.

“I’ve seen him here, pretending to be a casting agent and promising work for the na?ve. Then he’d trap them into work you don’t want to know about.”

Connor growled close to my ear. “That’s why he’s staying with me.”

I turned to my friend, and she shook her head, letting out an exasperated smile. Her next words released the ball of anxiety in my chest.

“I left my bag with a friend at the concourse since we’re leaving soon, but call me when you’re settled,” Gracie said.

“I don’t have a cell.”

“Professor Dee and Dumb?”

Unable to keep it inside, I laughed at the old nicknames for my parents, as she deemed them during our first year in high school. I nodded, and she pulled out a card with her cell number scribbled on the back.

“Yeah, I figured when I couldn’t get a hold of you. Thank goodness I caught you when I did.”

She wrapped her arms around me in a hug, and I breathed her in as she squeezed back. “See you soon,” she said.

“Ready?” Connor asked.

I hesitated. “Are you sure?”

“Nice to meet you, Gracie,” Connor called out.

“If you hurt him…” she trailed off, but gave my new friend a wicked smile that promised pain. Connor laughed.

“Love you, Gracie,” I called.

“Love you, too, Oliver!”

Without answering, he grabbed my arm and pulled me along with his suitcase, giving me enough time to snatch my own in my right hand as he directed us to the pickup area.

We walked out the sliding glass doors to see a black SUV with tinted windows and standing by the passenger side back door was a man with dark olive skin, muscles upon muscles, and no smile. Of course, we walked straight toward him.

“Holy shit, does he know how to kill people with just his little finger? Or does he have one of those semi-automatic guns he can pull out and discharge in less than a second, leaving a man standing full of holes before his eyes roll into the back of his head and he keels over?”

Connor shook his head at my curious, manic, and delusional questions before he said, “Ollie, this is Thomas. Thomas, Ollie’s staying with us for the foreseeable future, so be nice.”

In an accent I couldn’t place, Thomas said, “When am I not nice?”

Connor scoffed. “I’ve known many who said you were mean to them.”

Thomas rolled his eyes. “There have been several so-called dates that needed saving from themselves.”

Not wanting to hear about Connor’s obvious rich history in dating, I asked Thomas, “Are you famous, too?”

The man stared at me with wide eyes before his face, a sculpted one with sharp cheekbones, full lips, and a piercing green gaze turned to Connor.

“He doesn’t know who you are?”

Connor sighed. “It seems not, and I don’t think he’s eager to find out.”

Thomas punched out a hearty laugh before his hand shot out. “It’s nice to meet you, Ollie.”

As I shook his hand, I said, “It’s nice to meet you as well, Thomas.”

“You don’t want to know?” Thomas’ curious question popped out before he pressed his lips together.

“I am curious, but he seems reticent to tell me, so I’d rather not until he’s comfortable with it.”

Connor squeaked, and when I turned to him, his eyes were wide and unblinking. While he processed what I’d said, I turned back to Thomas.

“Would it offend you if I created a character based on your likeness and made him the protagonist in a gay romance novel? I wouldn’t use your real name or your exact features, but seeing you gave me an idea for a story?”

The man shrugged and said, “It would be an honor.”

With a beaming smile, I nodded at him. “Great. Thank you.”

I followed them to the back of an SUV and slid my suitcase next to Connor’s.

Connor huffed and said, “I was on a flight with you for five hours and you never asked me to use my likeness.” His bottom lip stuck out as he crossed his arms, going into full pout mode.

I patted his arm and said, “Famous people are easy to recognize, even from a simple description, so I tend not to model my characters after them. I didn’t mean any offense by not asking you.”

His startling smile was back, and he said, “Ready to head home?”

At his words, I became nervous. I nodded and slid into the back seat as Connor moved to the front passenger one. Even though it was my first trip outside of Ohio, I ignored my surroundings. I wondered how me, a tall, skinny, geeky man intruding into their lives, would affect his family.

The SUV stopped, and I blinked when my door opened and Connor stood there looking at me with his brows furrowed.