Page 23 of Starring Role

Chapter ten

"You're making us alllook bad. I hope you know that." Hope was as pissed off as he'd ever seen her. She gave him a narrow-eyed, spiteful look. "I told you: stay away from actors. I didn't think I had to specify 'Please don't fuck them, either.'"

Jimmy shrugged, trying not to look guilty. "Nothing bad's going to happen. He's a great guy, and he likes me."

"You literally called out the commissioner because you didn't like how Cooper was being treated. I get that he's cute and he's a good actor. I get that. But do you want to keep this job or not? You can't go around doing that. You don't have a say in how or what gets made here." She poked him in the chest. "If you get away with it this time, you're lucky. But don't think I'll go down with youif you fuck this up, because I won't." She glared at him with a look so much like hatred that he was taken aback. "From now on, you're on your own."

Jimmy stood still, shaking in his boots. He'd never had such a big falling out with a pack member—a family member. He liked and looked up to Hope. It was crushing to hear those words coming from her mouth.

Had he really imperiled his work here,and had it really cost her so much to get him a job interview? He looked around at last, pulling himself together, trying to remember what he was supposed to be doing. The angry words echoed like buzzing bees in his head, but he had to set them aside for later.

He could ask Dad how to—

No, he couldn't ask Dad how to deal with this issue with his cousin, or anybody else in the pack, not withouttelling him the reason she was mad at him, and that he'd slept with Cooper Hayes. Obviously, he wasn't ashamed of that; no, Coop was great. But this wasn't exactly how he wanted to break it to the pack.Oh, I invited that actor around.And by the way, I fucked him, too.

He'd been hoping that by the time he got to bring Coop over to meet the pack, they would smell a bit less like each other,and he could ease everyone into getting to know Coop first, without making judgments on the speed at which they'd commenced having sex.

Not that wolf packs tended to be judgmental about entering into speedy relationships. Lord knew there were some snap judgments made about mates and lifelong commitment.

This pack had always been a bit more laid back. Mom and Dad always said it wasn't a realmate relationship unless you both felt it, and if it was meant to be, it would work out. They'd tried to encourage their pups not to take things quite so seriously out of the gate, to take their time, to make sure. He hadn't exactly done that here. He was nuts about the guy, and he'd jumped at the chance to have something with him.

Whether it became anything more or not, he wanted it to, andhe'd literally tried to defend the guy from the boss. So. Yeah. He was clearly being extremely rational about the whole thing.

It would be embarrassing if he had to lead with that; he'd rather let them meet Coop and get to know him on other terms first, rather than as the guy Jimmy had lost all sense and perspective over.

Maybe Hope had a right to be pissed at him. He would go and apologizefor not following her advice, and he'd promise he wouldn't drag her into any trouble he got into. Not that he was really sorry for not following her advice; he couldn't regret anything about Coop. But he could recognize objectively that she was probably right, and he could probably mend the bridge with an apology.

That, and ask her not to tell the pack just yet. He had no doubt she'd keepit quiet if he asked her to, even if every moment of silence burned. Hope was no more likely to tell on one of her cousins than his brothers were, and for all that they'd dogpile him into the mud WWE wrestling style for messing something up, they'd never turn him in to Mom and Dad. Not on purpose, at least.

Anyway, I'm not in trouble.I'm an adult making my own decisions.

He looked acrossthe studio and caught sight of Coop giving him a worried, sympathetic look. Jimmy gave him a smile to show there was nothing wrong, and Coop's face relaxed into that sweet smile of his.

My possibly stupid decisions.But his heart fluttered, and it wasn't with regret. If liking Coop was a mistake, he'd own it. But right now, he was living it to the fullest.

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