For Immediate Release Read online

  For Immediate Release

  Lucy Hawkins

  Copyright © 2018 by Lucy Hawkins

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Contents

  Prologue / Christian

  1. Jonah

  2. Christian

  3. Jonah

  4. Christian

  5. Jonah

  6. Christian

  7. Jonah

  8. Christian

  9. Jonah

  10. Christian

  11. Jonah

  12. Jonah

  13. Christian

  14. Jonah

  15. Christian

  16. Jonah

  17. Christian

  18. Jonah

  19. Christian

  20. Jonah

  21. Christian

  22. Jonah

  23. Christian

  24. Jonah

  Epilogue / Christian

  Afterword

  About the Author

  Also by Lucy Hawkins

  Prologue / Christian

  There were a number of reasons the McGreggor family’s lake house was Christian’s favorite place in the world. For starters, the land around it was beautiful—miles of trees, water, and hills. Besides that, staying at the lake house meant Christian wasn’t at his own house, and that was always a plus. But maybe the best thing about the McGreggor family’s lake house was Jonah. Not that he would ever tell Mason that. Mason didn’t need to know Christian liked his cousin. That would just make things weird.

  It didn’t stop Christian from liking him, though.

  Reaching into a bag on the table, Christian grabbed a marshmallow and stuck it on his skewer. It was really too hot to be making s’mores. Christian’s t-shirt stuck to his skin and his swim trunks had long since dried from their earlier dip in the lake. But it was the last time they’d be here for a while, the last hurrah at the cabin before school started again, and Richard and Annabeth had insisted on making the last night perfect.

  “Hey Chris, grab me another marshmallow while you’re up,” Jonah called.

  Christian’s face flushed. At least in rapidly-setting sunlight, it wouldn’t be as visible. And if it was, he could always pass it off as sunburn. Ordinarily, he hated being called Chris. The long string of his mother’s boyfriends always called him that, when they actually called him by name, instead of ‘stupid shit’ and ‘little bastard.’ But when Jonah called him that, his stomach swooped and electricity sparked along his skin. He picked up another marshmallow.

  There was an empty space by Mason, but instead of taking it, Christian walked over and sat in the chair next to Jonah. Smoke billowed toward the sky from the top of the fire pit, the logs below crackling as they were consumed by flames.

  “Here you go,” he said, holding out the marshmallow.

  Jonah took it, their fingers brushing together, and Christian’s cock twitched. No. He’d done so well this entire trip—just as he had every trip before—to make sure Jonah didn’t notice. The last thing he wanted was for Jonah to think he was a creep. He needed to be in control of his body, especially tonight of all nights. Tonight, he was going to tell Jonah he liked him.

  “So, junior year, huh?” Jonah said, threading the marshmallow onto the skewer. “You excited about getting your license?”

  Christian shrugged. He had his intermediate license, sure, but he’d had to forge his mom’s signature on the driving log most of the time. Besides, it wasn’t like he’d get to drive much even once he got his unrestricted license. His mom didn’t like him taking the car unless it was absolutely necessary—and nothing was necessary unless it was a booze and scratch-off run at eleven thirty at night.

  “I don’t have enough money for a car, and I don’t think Mom’s gonna let me drive,” he said, staring hard into the fire.

  He didn’t talk about her much around the McGreggors, but he didn’t need to. It was an open secret that Debbie Miller was not only a terrible mother, but was also generally disliked by the other parents in town. She was known as a trouble-maker and had a reputation for hanging out with the wrong sorts of men. But the McGreggors never treated him any differently because of it. They threw birthday parties for him just like they did Jonah and Mason, and every year he had a Christmas stocking on their mantle.

  “I’m sure Uncle Richard would be happy to go down to that used car lot of Joe’s and see if he couldn’t hook you up with something,” Jonah said. He pulled his flaming marshmallow back and blew it out before sandwiching it between two graham crackers.

  “I dunno. It’s not important. Anyway, what about you?” he said, desperate to turn the conversation from himself. “You’re all graduated and everything. What’s next? Still planning on moving to LA?”

  “Yep,” Jonah said around a bite of s’more. “Been saving for four years.”

  Christian’s stomach plummeted. It had always been Jonah’s dream to move out to Hollywood and become a big-name actor. And if anyone could do it, it was him. Christian had gone to every single play he’d ever been in since middle school and sat in the front row each and every time. He could do everything, from playing a lovelorn soldier in South Pacific to a cheating resident of Salem in The Crucible. No, Jonah would have no trouble landing roles. He could do anything he wanted, once he set his mind to it.

  “I’ll miss you,” he said quietly.

  At first, he didn’t think Jonah had heard him, but a few minutes later, Jonah said, “I’ll miss you too.”

  Christian sneaked a glance under the pretense of grabbing a piece of chocolate. Jonah was the most gorgeous boy he’d ever seen. Tall and broad shouldered, with jet black hair that hung slightly too long and dimples that looked like little crescent moons when he smiled. He was perfect.

  “I don’t want to go back to school,” he said. “I wish we could stay here forever.”

  “I know, but it’ll be fine. And in a couple of years, you’ll graduate and then you can come see me in California. I might even have a guest room by then.”

  His heart beat faster at the thought of visiting Jonah. California seemed like another country entirely, one where he could finally be who he wanted to be. No one would blink twice at the fact that he was gay. And if he and Jonah got together, they might actually be able to get married.

  But first, he actually had to tell Jonah how he felt. He swallowed hard and cleared his throat, doing his best to steel his nerves.

  “Hey um… I’ve got something I need to talk to you about,” he said.

  “Funny you should say that. I’ve got something I wanted to talk to you about, too.”

  His heart skipped a beat. Could it be? Could Jonah really feel the same way about him as he felt about Jonah? Christian forced himself to remain calm. Jonah might regret telling him if Christian freaked out on him.

  “Okay,” he said, doing his best to sound relaxed about the situation. “What is it?”

  Jonah pulled out his phone and flipped it open. A moment later, he turned it around so Christian could see the picture of Jonah, his lips pressed against the cheek of an attractive blonde he was pretty sure had graduated with Jonah. It felt like his s’mores had been replaced with concrete.

  “Who, um… who is she?”

  “This is Samantha. We’ve been going out for a couple of months, but we decided to make it official last week. It’s gonna be tough, the whole long-distance thing, but she’s planning on transferring to UCLA in a year or so, so it’s not forever.”

  “Oh.”

  The fire in fr
ont of him blurred, and he blinked slowly, doing his best to keep the tears from spilling over and down his cheeks. He didn’t want Jonah to suspect he was anything other than thrilled for them.

  “I’m sure it’ll be great,” he said, trying and failing to keep his voice from cracking. He cleared his throat. “I’m happy for you.”

  Jonah beamed, his smile shattering Christian’s heart even more, if it were possible. “Thanks. I knew you would be.” He took another bite of s’more and then stopped. “Oh shit. I forgot. What was it you wanted to tell me?”

  “Nothing,” he said quickly. “Just um… I decided my major. I want to go into journalism. I really liked working on the paper last year, so I’m gonna try and do that.”

  Still smiling, Jonah slung an arm around his shoulder. “You’ll be great at it. I know you will.”

  Christian hoped that were the case. At least, he hoped he was better at it than he was at not falling in love with straight guys.

  1

  Jonah

  It was only a matter of time before the kids in the booth across from Jonah approached him for autographs. They’d been stealing glances at him for the past five minutes and whispering among themselves for the last three. At best, Jonah had another ten minutes before they finally worked up the courage to send someone over, just to check.

  Ordinarily, being recognized didn’t bother him. It was just part of the job. Being an A-lister meant being recognized, and Jonah had gotten used to it over the past few years. Today, though, all he wanted to do was eat his tuna melt at this hole-in-the-wall diner in peace.

  Part of the reason he’d chosen the place was because of its location—just far enough away from Hollywood that he wouldn’t be gawked at by tourists who’d just finished their shopping on Rodeo Drive. But the diner was also genuinely one of his favorites. He’d been patronizing the Limestone Cafe ever since moving to LA seven years earlier. Something about the rustic wood floors and stained-glass light fixtures set it apart from every 50s wannabe diner he’d seen in Hollywood, and made the place seem more authentic. And they also had the best tuna melt he’d ever had in his life.

  One of the girls in the booth glanced back at him and then murmured something to her friends. Eight minutes left. He checked his watch. Really, he didn’t have time to drive all the way out here just for lunch, especially since he had an interview that afternoon, but if he didn’t get out of the city, he was going to go crazy.

  He needed a vacation, if he were being honest with himself. Four years of constant filming and press tours was amazing for his bank account—and his ego—but he was tired. Tired of the same dog and pony show year after year where every minute of his day was planned and accounted for. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had a day to just relax and enjoy the unstructured-ness of it all.

  His phone buzzed and he fished it out of his pocket. Aspen had added an event to his calendar. He knew without looking exactly what it was—another date. Just what he needed: more pretending. The same thing happened with every girl. His agent would arrange the date and send him any and all relevant information, they would go out a few times (usually conveniently after one of their films premiered,) and a few weeks later announce their breakup. That had been the extent of his dating life for the last three years, and while the women were occasionally genuinely nice to get to know, it was hardly what he would call his ideal scenario. Then again, he wasn’t sure what his ideal scenario would be. Preferably something with sex involved.

  Aspen’s face popped up on his screen and his phone buzzed again. Jonah rolled his eyes but slid his thumb to the right, accepting her call.

  “What’s up?” He didn’t even bother to say hello.

  “Did you see the update to your schedule?” Aspen asked.

  One day, there was going to be some modicum of warmth in her voice. She might even ask how his day was going. Jonah huffed a quiet laugh. Yeah right. Hell would freeze over before that ever happened.

  “Yeah.” His stomach tensed. The date had been scheduled for Thursday at Nobu—three days from now. Three days of continuing madness, being hounded by the press and asked to sign a billion autographs and being forced to sit through half a dozen interviews. Something inside of him snapped, but he didn’t care. For once, he was going to allow himself to be selfish. “I’m not going.”

  “You… what?” Aspen’s voice was as brittle and sharp as a glass shard. One Jonah knew she would love to stab him with.

  “I’m not going on the date with Hannah.” The teenagers weren’t even trying to hide their interest now. Jonah couldn’t say he blamed them. “Look, I appreciate everything you do for me. You’re like a one-woman army. But I don’t think I can do this right now.”

  Aspen scoffed. “Oh come on, Jonah. It’s a few dates and that’s it. It boosts your image and her new TV show. Surely you can do that, right? It’s just business.”

  That’s all it ever was. And all it would ever be if Aspen kept calling the shots.

  “I get it. Really, I do. But there’s got to be some other way I can help her that doesn’t involve me pretending to be interested in someone I don’t even know.”

  “So get to know her on your date,” Aspen said, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. “Do you have any idea how hard I worked to book a table at Nobu on such short notice?”

  It was amazing how Aspen never failed to make him feel three feet tall, even though she was a good head and a half shorter than him with six-inch heels on. Two years ago, he would have backed down. She’d risked a lot by agreeing to be his agent, and he really was grateful for what she’d done for him. Without her, he never would have gotten his big break, and he certainly never would have gotten the part of Northstar in the upcoming Alpha Flight film. But now that he was a household name, there was no way she could drop him no matter what he did. And he intended to see just how far he could push.

  Jonah took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Like I said, I appreciate how hard you’ve worked on my behalf. You’re a better juggler than I ever could be. But I need a break, and I don’t just mean from dating.”

  The line went silent, but Jonah could still hear Aspen breathing on the other end. Finally, she cleared her throat. “What exactly do you mean, you need a break?”

  “I mean I need a break. I want to go home.” The words left his mouth before he could think about them.

  “You want to go home? Fine. Go home. I’ll clear your schedule for the day.”

  “No.” Jonah shook his head, even though she couldn’t see it. “I don’t mean the penthouse. I mean I want to go home. To Kentucky.”

  Aspen laughed, a tittering sound that had always grated on Jonah’s nerves. “Good one, Jo. You almost had me worried.”

  “I’m serious. I want to get away for a bit.” His mind wandered back to the summers he’d spent on the Cumberland River with his cousins. That last one before he’d moved out to California had been the last time he’d known any real measure of peace. God, he could certainly use that again.

  “You can’t just drop everything and leave. You have interviews, a photoshoot, your date.”

  “I already told you I’m not going on the date, so that’s one thing you don’t have to worry about—”

  “I made a reservation!”

  “Break it,” Jonah snapped, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Look, I don’t care how you do it, but I need the next week off.”

  He really should have felt worse, making her do all this, but he hadn’t had a vacation in nearly two years, and it had been longer than that since he’d gone home. Getting away would do him good.

  “You have no idea how much you owe me,” Aspen said after a moment. “I’m not kidding.”

  “I’m pretty sure I can guess. I’ll send you some goldenrod,” he teased.

  He could practically hear her eyes roll. “Why do I even put up with you?”

  “Because I make you a shit ton of money?” There was no need to sugar-coat it.

/>   “Fair enough. One week. That’s all you get. And you sit through three interviews with reporters of my choosing.”

  That was the best he was going to get, so he took it, along with another bite of his tuna melt. “Fine. Book me a ticket for tomorrow. I want to get out of here as soon as possible.”

  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw one of the guys from the group of teenagers slide out of the booth. His ten minutes were over.

  “Hey Aspen, I’m gonna have to call you back,” he said, already pulling the phone away from his face. “Hugs and kisses. Toodles!”

  She would kill him for that, but he didn’t care. He had a fan to talk to.

  Said fan made his way over hesitantly, looking anywhere but at Jonah. That boded well for him. The worst fans were the ones who barged over like Jonah owed them a conversation. He didn’t think he would ever get used to that.

  “Um… hi.” The kid scrubbed a hand across the back of his neck. “I’m Dylan. My friends and I were, uh, trying to figure out if it was really you.”

  Jonah tried and failed to choke back a laugh, and it came out a bit strangled. “It really is me,” he said with a nod. “It’s nice to meet you, Dylan.”

  A beaming smile lit up Dylan’s face, and he looked back at his friends before trying to school his expression. “Cool. Um… I just…”

  Wanted an autograph or a selfie, more than likely. Jonah didn’t blame him, not really. He’d wanted to do the same thing with more than one actor he’d loved when he was a kid. It made things a little awkward when he worked with some of them now.