Page 26 of Cocky Bastard

“You did well today,” Henry said when we finally finished and I was grabbing a drink. “Very well. I think you’re fucking perfect for this, actually.”

“Thanks,” I said before glancing around to see if anyone was listening, but the others were all talking quietly amongst themselves. “I really want this. Is that bad to say?”

“No, why would it be?”

“I just don’t want to jinx it.”

“I don’t think you will.” He grinned and put his hand on my shoulder. “See you soon, Jude.”

“Thanks,” I said as I picked up my bag to say goodbye to everyone.

It was only afterwards when I was stood outside waiting for my taxi and about to text Austin a full debrief that I realised what Henry had said.

See you soon.

Did that mean I’d gotten the part?

No. It couldn’t have.

But if Henry liked me… I doubted Jenny would ignore his opinion.

All I could do was keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best.

A little bubble of hope fizzed in my stomach as I opened my phone and pulled up my message thread with Austin, hitting the microphone button to leave him a voice note because there was far too much detail for a single text.

The only thing I planned to leave out was how much Austin had inspired me.

Because despite everything, I still wasn’t ready to cross that bridge and admit my feelings… to anyone more than myself.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Austin

I smiledas I listened to Kane’s excited voice notes about his chemistry read, chuckling to myself as he rehashed all the details. It was pretty much a play-by-play for the entire session, but I didn’t mind.

For one, it gave me an excuse to stop editing and lounge on my office sofa in the sunshine like an overgrown cat. And two, because Kane’s excitement was adorable as fuck. It was like listening to an overgrown puppy.

I wondered if he’d been bouncing in circles while he spoke too.

The revelation that his scene partner was Henry Lu had made me whistle in surprise because he was a big fucking name. Almost too big to be attached to a project likeLlewelyn. Although if I’d done as many superhero films as him over the past few years, I’d want a fucking break as well.

Having Henry attached was a good sign, though, because it meant the project was being taken seriously, but it did worry me they’d have spent all their budget on him.

Kane and I had never talked about money—we’d had no reason to—so I had no idea what he usually got for projects. He had a good agent, though, so it wasn’t like he didn’t have someone to bat for him, but having a background like his had pros and cons to it and he’d muttered offhandedly once or twice about people not taking him seriously for having grown up in a boy band.

I’d never said anything, but I agreed. Getting serious projects was going to be harder for him because casting directors and executives would only see a pretty face, hot body, and the audience dollars they’d get from slapping his face on all the marketing.

Still, I was really fucking proud of him for making it this far withLlewelyn.I just hoped everyone else could see what I saw: a dedicated, passionate, gorgeous man who’d work his fucking arse off.

When Kane had finished speaking and no more messages had popped up, I tapped the microphone button to leave my own response because I couldn’t be bothered to type everything out.

“Hey, sweetheart, it sounds like you kicked ass today and I’m so proud of you. It’s really cool they’ve got Henry attached to this. I’ve not met him either but I’ve heard he’s a nice guy. And a huge bloody flirt. But that’s also, like, half my personality, so I’m not gonna say anything against him because then I’d be a fucking hypocrite.” I stretched out on the sofa and smiled up at the ceiling, wishing Kane was here so we could have this conversation in person.

Although… it wasn’t as if that’d be too difficult to arrange. All one of us would have to do was get on a train.

“Also, if Henry thinks there’s a good chance you’ll get it, then that’s seriously fucking awesome. We should celebrate. What are you doing tomorrow? You should come up to York for a few days. We can go out to dinner and chill and shit—it’ll be fun. Letme know. Fuck, you can even come up today if you want. I’m not doing anything except editing.” My heart did a funny flip as I spoke, something clenching in my chest. I didn’t know if it was guilt over blowing off my work or something else. I guessed I’d never sought out Kane’s company like this.

Even more recently when we’d hung out at his house for the day, we’d started with fucking. The whole situation had been sex first. And what I was suggesting wasn’t…

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