Page 47 of Cocky Bastard

“But I… I’m…”

“Fucking perfect? The most beautiful man I’ve ever met? Funny, charming, and demanding? Sharp and adorable? Do you need me to go on, kitten?”

“No,” he said breathlessly. “Just say it again.”

“I love you,” I said, kissing him. “I love you. I love you.I love you.”

“I love you too. More than I ever thought possible.”

“That’s good. I was worried this might be one-sided.”

“Not a chance.” Kanan kissed me again and then smiled, resting his head against mine. Then he chuckled softly. “Henry’s probably wondering where on earth we’ve got to.”

“He’s probably been listening.”

“I think we all need that glass of wine now. Or some champagne if you’ve got it.” I was only joking about the champagne but Kane grinned.

“I do actually. It’s always good to have a bottle on hand, just in case.”

“That’s the most pretentious thing you’ve ever said to me,” I said with a laugh. “And I kind of love it.”

“This is one of those moments where I try to pretend I’m shocked that fame and fortune have changed me, when I know damn well they have. And it’s seventy percent trauma.”

“Do we need to get you a therapist, darling?”

“Probably,” he said. “But for now let’s drink champagne, eat Mexican food, and let Henry tell us wild and fabulous stories.”

“I have a few of those too. So do you.”

He chuckled and kissed me again. “But some of those are definitely not suitable for sharing. Remember that time in the hotel hot tub on your twenty-first birthday?”

I winced and grinned. “Yeah, we’re never sharing that one.”

Kane stepped back and went to the fridge for the bottle of champagne, directing me to grab some flutes out of the cupboard instead. When we carried them through to Henry, helooked up at us and smiled. I was sure he’d heard most of our conversation, but his expression didn’t say that. He really was a phenomenal actor. “Are we celebrating something?”

“Yeah, we are,” Kane said. “Firstly, you for helping me potentially get my job back. And secondly, Austin, because he loves me and he came all this way just because.”

Henry beamed. “Those are definitely worth celebrating.”

I grinned as Kane popped the cork on the bottle, feeling lighter than fucking air.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Austin

Dinner with Henrywas delicious and hilarious, and we spent several long hours in Raphael’s, a secret Mexican restaurant hidden in the basement under a bar, eating our fill of incredible food—I’d be dreaming about their tres leches cake and carne asada tacos for years—drinking cocktails, and exchanging war stories from Hollywood.

Despite his status, and ego, it turned out that Henry was probably the most well-adjusted of the three of us, having grown up in London with a stable, loving family, taking part in theatre classes and not getting his big break until he was fresh out of drama school. And as far as acting went, that meant he was relatively normal compared to some of us.

He was suitably horrified by some of the stories from my child star years and Kane’s boy band days, and not for the first time I wondered whether both Kane and I would benefit from a healthy dose of therapy to unpack some of the shit we’d been through.

But that was for later.

Once we’d realised the staff were starting to clear up around us, we knew it was time to all head out, and after saying goodbye to Raphael, our very charming and handsome host, who definitely knew who I was but hadn’t batted an eyelid and had instead started asking Henry about football, we had all made our way upstairs and out into the cool summer night. Henry ordered his car and I flagged down a taxi for Kane and me, almost pouring my beloved into the back seat.

I’d thought staggering the drinks and mopping up the alcohol with food would help stop him from getting too drunk, but it seemed like the margaritas were finally catching up with him. And me, but I was less concerned about that because I wasn’t a messy drunk like my beloved.

“Come on, sweetheart,” I said as I reached over and put his seat belt on as the taxi pulled away from the curb. “When we get home, we’re getting you some water.”

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