Page 44 of Off Script

Jacob’s heart stumbled. What the fuck was he doing? He wanted to hear Liam’s voice, craved it even.

Fuck it.

Before he could think too hard, he pressed call. The phone rang once in his ear before connecting.

Liam’s voice spilled warm through the line. “Hey.”

He closed his eyes, almost pained. “Hey.”

“I’ve watched the trailer way too many times,” Liam confessed. “Is that pathetic?”

“No,” Jacob said. “It’s human.”

“Feels pathetic.”

Jacob didn’t answer.

“It’s all over the internet,” Liam added. “Like we’re—I don’t know. Some epic romance.”

Jacob exhaled slowly through his nose. “People see what they want to see.”

“And what do you see?”

He hesitated. “Something I probably shouldn’t watch again.”

That shut them both up for a moment.

“I don’t know what to do with this,” Liam whispered. “It’s too much.”

Jacob took a slow sip from his scotch, the burn grounding him. “You carry it anyway. That’s how life works.”

Jacob could see it in his mind—the way Liam’s eyes would widen, the way his lip would catch between his teeth. Small tells that gave him away every time.

“You okay?” Liam asked, eventually.

Jacob lifted his gaze to the dark sky. “I’m sitting outside talking to the one person I shouldn’t be talking to. What do you think?”

He could practically hear what that acknowledgment did to him.

“I’m sorry,” Liam said quietly.

Jacob nodded, even though Liam couldn’t see him. “I’m not good at this. Whatever this is.”

“You don’t have to be,” Liam whispered. “Neither am I.”

There was a long stretch of quiet after that.

“I should let you sleep,” Liam said reluctantly, but he didn’t hang up.

“Yeah,” Jacob said, but he didn’t either.

The line stayed open. Two men on opposite ends of the night, saying nothing—and somehow saying everything.

Chapter 21

Liam

The sun had only just begun to climb, but Liam was already running. The treadmill groaned beneath his feet as he pushed himself harder, lungs burning, sweat sliding down his temples. He wasn’t chasing miles—he was running to quiet the static that had been alive in his veins since waking. That restless energy felt like adrenaline without an outlet. If he didn’t burn it off, he might come apart.