Page 42 of Striking the Match (Redwood Bay Fire #3)

Cassius

“I think Teddy’s having a good time. Do you think he’s having a good time? He looks like he’s having a good time.”

I look over to see Bryan glaring at me. “Noir is less needy and far more pretty,” he declares, turning on his heel. “Oh thank Gaga. Captain Padilla! Are these the friends you mentioned?”

I wince, feeling bad for everything he’s been putting up with from me. But this is a big deal for Teddy. Bryan made me promise not to hover and let him spread his own wings. But I feel like I’ve abandoned him.

Whether I like it or not, however, I am now distracted.

The police captain looks around to see who called her name, her eyebrows rising when she sees my PA.

“Hey, Bryan! Mr. Garda. One hell of a shindig you’ve put on for us tonight, despite the rain.

And, yes, these are some of my friends.” She looks more than a little smug as she extends her arm to the four people with her.

“Guys, this is our host, Cassius Garda, and his indestructible PA, Bryan Kallis.”

“Hi, I’m Bella!” Bella Dalton cries in a beautiful English accent, like everyone in this room isn’t extremely aware of who the Hollywood actress is. Her modesty is endearing, though, making me feel like we’re old friends.

“Nice to meet you,” I say sincerely as we shake, and she does the same with Bryan.

“This is my husband, Tony,” she says proudly. “And some of my very best friends, Reyse Hickson and his husband, Corey Sheppard. We were so thrilled when Lucy invited us down from LA. We’ve been dying to visit her new town.”

“So far, it’s behaving itself just a little better than Pine Cove,” Padilla says affectionately. “But it’s still early days.”

“Nice to meet you, man,” Reyse Hickson says as we shake. “I’m a big fan, we both are.”

“Oh, likewise,” I tell the pop star sincerely.

Reyse glances at his husband, and they share a knowing grin that makes me almost envious. To have someone who can read you like a book and speak in a language only you both can hear…well I almost tell myself that one day I could find someone to share that with.

Then I remember I might very well have already.

“You like Below Zero’s music?” Reyse asks me dubiously, referring to the boy band with whom he made his name before going solo.

Thanks to my sister, I know the five of them have been in a long-standing dispute with their former management and production company over the rights to their back catalogue.

These are the same assholes that forced Reyse to stay closeted for several years to fit their ‘family friendly’ brand.

In fact, that’s how he knows the lovely Ms. Dalton.

They ‘dated’ for a while as a cover story to maintain Sun City Records’ homophobic rhetoric.

Anyway, I admire Reyse Hickson for the same reason he’s probably a fan of mine.

He eventually gave them the middle finger and came out anyway to be with Corey.

But best of all, the Below Zero guys have done what all the cool kids seem to be doing these days and re-recorded their previous songs, so they now completely own their work.

My sister has been super excited about the brand-new album they’ve just finished in Sweden with some hotshot producer and the upcoming tour.

I tease her about being a grown woman in her thirties obsessing over a boy band, but really, we both know I think what they’ve done is bad ass.

“I like the funky songs,” I tell Reyse truthfully. “Especially that solo album you did where you were clearly pretty mad at life.”

Corey snorts and elbows his husband. “You mean you’re not a ‘Hearts Bound’ fan?” he asks me innocently before singing, “Oh oh oohh!” I recognize it as the band’s most famous and possibly most annoying song. I enjoy seeing that apparently the lead singer isn’t even a fan of it.

Rolling his eyes, Reyse covers Corey’s mouth to shut him up, despite the fact our little group is laughing hard. “I know so many divorce lawyers, darling,” he says with a sigh.

Corey shakes himself free then leans over to kiss his husband on the cheek. “Sure you do, sweetheart,” he drawls playfully.

“Ignore the children,” Padilla says, pretending to be irked. But she then gives me a serious nod. “I’m sorry about your shoulder, man. That was a hell of an arm you had.”

“You a Seahawks fan?” I ask.

She blows a raspberry at me. “Sorry, dude. 49ers for life. But game recognizes game, you know?”

I laugh and hold out my beer bottle so she can clink hers against mine.

“May I ask what are your plans now?” Bella smiles at me and I curse inwardly. I’ve been so focused on Teddy’s role at this fundraiser that I forgot to rehearse my own bland answers for questions like this. I know she means well, but it’s my Achilles’ heel right now.

“Still figuring things out,” I tell her honestly.

Bryan springs back to life, having been stoically observing the conversation as well as constantly scanning the room to make certain nothing is amiss.

Aside from the fact we had to add an umbrella bin to the cloakroom and a second doormat to minimize how much rain the guests were trailing in, it all seems to be going very well from what I can tell.

“Cassius has been focusing on recovery and settling here in Redwood Bay,” Bryan says smoothly with a bright smile. “But we’ve had fun filming some commercials recently. The one with that guy from New Zealand was pure art.”

“And hilarious,” I agree wholeheartedly.

“Rangi is a genius. He can make you feel so cool one minute, laugh your ass off the next, then suddenly you’re crying and you’re not even sure why.

” I shake my head. “Damn. Shooting that silly underwear commercial was probably the best I’ve felt since I had to retire from the field. ”

Bella gives her friends a knowing look. “It’s funny you should say that. Would you chaps mind if I stole our gentle giant away for a moment? And chappette,” she adds for Padilla. But the cop just gives her starlet friend a shove on her arm.

“You know I enjoy being one of the chaps,” she says with a grin. “Speaking of which: chaps? How about we go and find some insanely hot football players for this single lady to embarrass herself in front of?”

Corey and Bella’s husband, Tony, laugh, but Bryan manages to slip behind me and vanish rather subject himself to such an ordeal. Bless his heart, he really does suffer for me at times.

“It was awesome to meet you, Cassius,” Reyse says as he catches my hand for another shake.

He pulls me in and lowers his voice. “Listen, uh…Corey works for a housing organization that helps LGBT youth in tough situations. I know you didn’t get to enjoy it long before you had to retire, but what you did…

coming out at that moment? I’m sure you already know, but holy shit that meant so much to so many people.

Corey and his guys saw it firsthand. It was a gutsy, once in a generation kind of play.

I just wanted to say that I might not follow football as much as the other guys in my family.

But that kind of bravery made me a fan for life.

If you ever need anything, even if you just want to hang, just hit us up.

” He juts his head, and I realize he’s indicating Teddy.

My heart swoops. “You and your cutie pie.”

He winks, and in a flash, he’s let me go to take his husband’s hand again, heading off with the others to go help Padilla lust after some of my guys.

“Well, that was interesting,” I say as Bella slips her arm through mine. She has this uncanny way of making me feel like we’re besties at a slumber party and I can spill all my secrets to her. I wonder if she has that effect on everyone.

“Hopefully, it’s about to get even more interesting,” she says in a conspiratorial tone. “Did you enjoy acting?”

I frown and think about it. I didn’t really consider those commercials we did ‘acting’ in a real sense. That’s when you have a character and a plot and all that.

“Uh, well…I really loved working with Rangi,” I say honestly.

“He had a vision, and him picking me to see that through was a rush. His directing was dope. He just knew how to talk to everyone and get the best final cut, even if it took several takes. It reminded me of some of the best coaches I’ve played under. ”

Bella spins, pressing a glass of Champagne into my hand. I’m not sure where she got it from, but we’ve been gliding through the party, so I guess a server passed us with a tray? She’s also got one in hand and holds it up, looking like she’s about to cry with excitement.

“What if I told you that Rangi has already been signed to direct the next Fallen Angels Club installment…and he floated your name for a part.”

A good few seconds go by before I realize I’m staring at her with a slack jaw. I snap it shut, then open it again to take a gulp of Champagne. I’m not sure how well it’ll mix with the beer, but right now—fuck it. “You guys want me…for an action film?”

She shimmies and sips from her own glass, positively buzzing.

Because of me. That’s pretty damn cool.

“He told me after I mentioned I was heading down here to meet you. He made me promise to give you the hard, rugged, take no prisoners sale pitch.” She bats her eyelids and pouts before putting on a twee American accent, turning her knee inward and pressing a finger to her chin.

“Pwease be in my moobie, Mister Cassius, sir!”

I laugh and wave her off. “Okay, never do that again. But…seriously? Me?”

She straightens up and returns to her regular English rose self.

“Rangi loved your energy. He basically wrote this role for you. You’d be a rival secret agent who eventually sees sense and helps the girls save the world.

But the real kicker? We’d spend the whole movie playing you up as this Casanova, the hot muscle man who gets the job done, you know?

A real man’s man. Then at the end we reveal he is a man’s man—with a super hot boyfriend. ”