Chandler took a deep breath, and a sip of champagne. “No, she’s not here. She’s out of the country. Of course her work is so much more important than this party, but…. I don’t know. I don’t see her much, lately. She’s doing well, to be sure, but… to be honest, it’s been tough.”
For the first time I caught a glimpse of something other than brilliant joy in Chandler’s face—when he spoke of his wife, there was a glint of sadness.
I almost felt like I was suddenly intruding on an intimate moment, Chandler laying bare his emotions to Leo, with me standing right there. How did Chandler do that? It was like he was completely comfortable in his own skin, with no insecurity or care what anyone thought of him. He was totally in his element.
“I’m sorry to hear that, Chandler. Maybe things will get better, now that you’re back in L.A. for a while? She’ll be back soon.”
Chandler nodded. “I do hope so, Leo. I really do. But enough about me, God, what about you? Any romance on the horizon? I want so badly for you to settle down, Leo. You deserve it.”
Leo looked at the floor, then up at the ceiling. “Oh my God,” Leo said, “Are those balloons dipped in gold?”
Leo had completely and utterly deflected Chandler’s question. Chandler turned to me and gave me a knowing smile and shook his head. “Leo,” he said, “is the master of avoiding questions. How in the world are you managing to write a biography about him?”
I laughed, probably a little too hard. “It wasn’t easy at first,” I said, “But he opens up after a while. Sometimes after some alcohol.”
Chandler laughed, his smile crinkling all the way up at his eyes. “Speaking of which—you do have to try my champagne. Come to the backyard, we’ve got all the food and drinks back there.”
And so I followed Leo and Chandler back to the yard, which was a whole new level of stunning—lights everywhere, incredible décor, 20s music, and a big, gleaming pool in the center of it all. I grabbed champagne and Leo abstained, knowing that he’d rather drive his own car home at the end of the night. Chandler eventually was whisked off by some woman I had seen in a movie last year, and Leo and I stood by the bar, gazing out at the party. We were by the edge of the yard, with huge trees behind us, so Leo surreptitiously snuck a hand onto my back and dragged it up and down. It was a small touch, and certainly felt nice—but the fact that Leo had forbidden us from showing any signs of intimacy at the party made it feel like the most tempting thing I’d felt all night. I reached behind him and grabbed his ass, and he gave me a hard stare that seemed to communicate two things: don’t you dare and don’t you dare stop.
“Leo!” A voice cut across the crowd, and we quickly took our hands off each other. Two seconds later a gorgeous woman in a silvery beaded flapper dress and a feather sticking out of her headband came bounding over to us. “Where have you been Leo, I’m so glad to see you!”
Leo hugged her and then introduced us.
“Tracy, this is Jamie, who is writing my biography. Jamie, Tracy and I were good friends back in the 5*Star days. She used to work on our music videos.”
“Oh, we’re still good friends, Leo, you just never come out anymore,” she said, smiling at me and shaking my hand. “Are you why he never goes out anymore? Is Leo finally settling down?”
“Oh!” I said, laughing nervously. “No, no, it’s not like that—we’re not—together. I’m just writing my book—our book.”
She nodded, giving me a look that meant she didn’t believe a word of the bullshit I’d just spouted out.
“Well, Leo would certainly do well to be with you. You are the cutest thing I’ve laid eyes on all night, and there’s like, countless models in this room. And you’re a writer? You must be smart, too.”
I felt myself blushing, warming my already champagne-flushed cheeks. “I mean, I’m a… fledgling writer. I’m just getting started with my career. I graduated this year.”
“Oh, where’d you go to college?”
“Branwin University. In New York state.”
“Holy shit, Leo, he really is out of your league,” Tracy said, her eyes widening. “That’s a top-10 school. So you want to be a biographer?”
“I actually want to work in movies,” I said, “It’s why I originally came to L.A. But writing for Chandler was the first job I was offered, and so, of course I took it.”
She laughed. “So you mean being subjected to writing about Leo isn’t your dream job? I can’t blame you for that,” she said, sipping champagne.
“I do like writing about Leo. But… actually,” I said, “I heard today from a tiny studio that they might be interested in my screenplay. I’m super excited about it. I’m meeting with them this week.”
“Good for you, kid!” she said. She didn’t have any surprise in her face, and it disappointed me a little. “Gotta get used to rejection, though, in this career. Don’t get your hopes up, you know?”
“I know,” I said, taking a quick sip of champagne. “I know.”
She reached down into her tiny purse and then pulled out a cigarette and a small card.
“Well, I don’t have half as many industry connections as most of the people at this party, but here’s my business card. I mostly direct music videos but I’ve done some TV as well.”
Adrenaline ran through me as I realized what was happening. I was fucking networking. It felt so… so… adult. I reached into my blazer and pulled out one of the cards I had resting in there.
“Wow, thank you so much, Tracy, you have no idea how much I appreciate it. Here’s mine, not that you’ll ever need it, but I got ‘em made so I might as well use them, right?” I smiled.
“You’re a sweetheart,” she said, to me, stuffing the card into her purse and lighting her cigarette. “He’s a sweetheart,” she said again, this time to Leo, with a smile.
As if on cue, some other woman came up behind Tracy and they disappeared into the crowd.
I turned to Leo, smiling like an idiot, but he was staring off into the crowd, past me.
“Are you okay?” I said, touching his arm. He shrugged me off.
“We can’t touch like that,” he said. “Also, what the hell, Jamie? You’re meeting with a studio? You didn’t tell me that. Congratulations.”
“I just found out. I didn’t know you’d… care, really. But yeah, this small studio is interested.”
Leo nodded at me, biting his lower lip.
“And did you see that?” I said, “I networked! I mean, my card is probably gonna end up crushed under a pack of cigarettes, but still, cool.”
“She was really impressed with you,” Leo said, giving me a small smile. “I didn’t even know you had business cards, let alone brought them here.”
I shrugged. “I bring them everywhere now. Never know when you’re gonna meet someone in this city, so I stay prepared. It’s like carrying condoms.”
Leo nodded, but he’d stopped smiling again, and was looking at the crowd.
I took a deep breath. “Wanna go mingle?” I offered.
He paused but then eventually nodded. “Yeah. Let’s go.”
I didn’t know if he was just being his usual antisocial self, but I hoped that bringing him into the crowds would cheer him up a little. We walked by someone I was 99% sure was one of the Lumineers. Then Bruno Mars. And then Katy Perry. There were plenty of people in the crowd that I didn’t recognize, but I was sure they were all famous in some capacity.
As we walked by the pool and towards tables set up with endless plates of sweets, fruit, and mini plates of food, Leo slowed to a stop.
“Holy shit,” he said, his voice low.
I turned to him, but his eyes were looking past me, to an area of the yard with a gorgeous gazebo strung with—you guessed it—more glowy lanterns.
“What is it?” I said, looking over.
“He came. He actually came.”
For a second my blood pressure spiked—was it Damien, Leo’s horrible ex?
“Um… who came, Leo?”
> I turned my eyes back to the people near the gazebo and a tall, impressively built man with dark hair turned and made eye contact with Leo. The smallest smile appeared on his lips.
“Adam.”
A smile crept over my face as I realized that I was going to meet every single member of 5*Star that night. I knew they weren’t like dime-store toys—“collect them all”—but still, it was exciting to meet all of the people that Leo had spent so much time with, and risen to fame with, all those years ago.
“Come on,” Leo said, and we started off toward Adam. He was holding a beer and sort of leaning on the side of the gazebo, his gaze hard but not unkind. He stood up straight as we approached him and as Leo went in to hug him, I realized just how tall Adam really was.
“So good to see you, Adam, you have no idea,” Leo said, hugging him. “This is Jamie. He’s actually writing my biography.”
I shook Adam’s hand, which felt huge and rough compared to my own. “Very nice to meet you, Jamie.” His dark eyes smoldered into mine, and I realized that he, too, had an incredible presence—though completely different from Chandlers. Everywhere Chandler was light and breezy, Adam was dark and deep. He had a gravity to him that was kind of remarkable.
“So I know you hate this question, Adam, but… where have you been? It’s been two years I think since I last saw you,” Leo said, peering at him.
Adam nodded, as if he was expecting the question. “I’ve been around.”
I waited, expecting him to elaborate, but he seemed to have no intention of doing so. But it didn’t seem rude, just comfortable.
“Well, I’m glad you’re ‘around’ for this party. How long are you in town for?” Leo said.
“Just two days, I believe,” Adam said, “I’ve got some stuff to take care of in the place I’ve been staying. But really—I want to hear about you. What have you been up to, Leo?”
Leo sighed, shrugging slightly. “Oh, I don’t know, Adam. However I answered that question two years ago, the answer is the same now. The only new thing now is that Jamie’s been subjected to writing my biography.” Leo turned to me and smiled.
“How have you been enjoying it so far, Jamie? Encapsulating someone’s whole life in one book has got to be difficult,” Adam asked, turning his gaze on me.
I nodded, trying to remember how to speak. “Uh, yeah, it definitely isn’t easy… but I’ve been having an amazing time with it, actually. It’s so nice to finally dive deep into one subject, after doing so many short-term projects in college. I’m just glad to be here, and that I get to do cool things like this.”
A pained look came over Adam’s face. “You’re enjoying the party? Well, that’s a good sign. Maybe you really will fit in here in L.A. I’m here to see old friends, but I’m not much of the partying type.”
“Yeah, that’s an understatement,” Leo said, smiling. “Adam’s even less of a partying type than I am.”
“I didn’t know that was even possible,” I joked.
“But really,” Adam said, looking to me with an intent stare. “I get the sense, even after just meeting you, that you’ve got the spark, Jamie. You seem like you… fit in, in a place like this. Leo and I are standing around waiting to get out of this party, and you’re lit up like a lightbulb. I think you’ll do great in L.A.”
I could feel myself blushing. “Wow, thank you so much, Adam. I really appreciate that.” I felt like praise coming from him was worth more than it would be from most people. He had never been the most talkative member of 5*Star, but everything he said seemed to be the truth.
Adam conversed with Leo for a handful of minutes before Eric came over and seemed just as surprised to see him there. We laughed and chatted with them for at least a half hour, and it felt like the night was turning around. Leo had seemed somehow sad or out-of-place earlier, but with Eric and Adam, he seemed at home.
When Eric and Adam went off to go locate a chocolate fondue fountain, Leo turned to me and gave me a fierce stare. He leaned down to my ear, smiling, and said softly, “Come with me.”
Just hearing him talk low and soft into my ear like that already had me half-hard. As I followed him into the house, I tried to think about other things, because the last thing I needed was for someone to see me sporting a hard-on as I walked just behind Leo.
When we entered the house Leo took me down a dark hallway where no one was around.
“Uh, Leo,” I said, looking around.
“What? Come on, follow me,” he said softly, continuing down the hallway.
“Isn’t this, like, off-limits? To the party?”
“I dunno. I mean, yeah, probably, but it’s Chandler’s house. He’s not gonna care. Trust me. I’ve slept in one of the guest rooms down here before.”
He led me down a staircase to the lower level of the house, that was just as beautiful as the top level, but with none of the intense party decorations. There were rooms down there—a game room, and then a couple bedrooms.
Leo pulled me into one of the bedrooms, and shut and locked the door. It seemed like someone was staying in the room—there was an open suitcase on the floor, and random clothes strewn about, but the room was deserted.
“Who’s stuff—”
“Leo always has, like, 10 guests staying over. He has a posse, and assistants, and all that kind of stuff. Don’t worry about it.”
As soon as he locked the door behind us, he pressed me up against the door and kissed me, deep and hungry.
“Mmmh,” I moaned, shocked by the sudden contact. Leo was absolutely wild, pushing his hands into my hips, and moving one down to my now totally hard cock.
I pushed him back gently, barely able to see him in the dim room. “Leo,” I said, and felt him kissing against my neck. “Leo—seriously, wait a second.”
He moved back gently. “Jamie, I fucking need you,” he said, his voice broken, full of craving.
“God, you have no idea how sexy you sound—but seriously, just talk to me for a second. Were you okay earlier?”
He moaned a little. “No, but I definitely am now,” he said, running a hand down my chest.
“What was up earlier?”
He sighed. “It’s just… this party. I knew it would be like this. Tons of L.A. types, who aren’t like me at all. I mean, everyone’s way more interested in what you’re doing anyway. But… it’s fine. Nothing I wasn’t expecting. Now can I please kiss you?”
“Leo,” I said gently, “Fuck any people who don’t respect you. They don’t know the real you, and they don’t matter anyway.”
He paused for a moment. “You’re right.”
“I know I am,” I said, leaning toward him. My eyes had adjusted to the dim room, and I could see him in front of me. I wrapped my arms around him and leaned up to kiss him.
He kissed me back, not quite as intensely as before, but still needy. He pulled me over to the bed and pushed me gently back onto it.
“Oh, fuck,” I said, breaking his kiss. Something was on the bed.
“What happened?”
“I sat on something.”
Leo reached over to turn on the light on the nightstand, and we realized that there was a bunch of makeup and clothing strewn across the bed. Leo gingerly gathered it up and put it on the floor.
“I’ll put it back when we’re done here, they never have to know.”
And then he was on me again, his body warm and his hands all over me. It was good—it was always good with Leo—but it was made even better by the fact that all night, we’d been unable to kiss or touch or even insinuate that we were more than business colleagues.
It felt wrong and bad, like playing hooky or sneaking around, but that only made it better. His hands were already at my waistband, zipping down my fly, and exposing my now achingly hard cock. He palmed me first, stroking up and down lightly, and then wrapped his hand around me into a fist.
“Oh God, Leo,” I said, trying to keep my voice down. I was buzzed from champagne, and buzzed on the party itself, and Le
o’s hand around me was the culmination of everything I’d wanted all night.
“You were good tonight, Jamie,” Leo said, his voice low. “So good.”
“Was I?” I replied. “Dunno what you’re talking about… I’m just your biographer, Leo. You know this is just business.”
A smile played across his face and he wrapped his mouth around the head of my cock, slowly and methodically, and then moved down until he’d taken me to the hilt.
Then he came back off again, dragging his tongue along me the entire way up.
“Yeah,” he said, hoarse, “Just business.”
And then he was on my cock again, his warm, wet mouth bobbing up and down. He alternated with tonguing slow and steady across my balls, painting hot strokes against them and then traveling back up again, and then cupped me as he worked around my cock.
“Fuck that feels incredible,” I said, gripping the back of his head. He lifted off me again, just briefly.
“I want to taste you, Jamie,” he said, “So come in my mouth.”
I nodded. “Fuck yeah,” I whispered as he went back down. And I knew I was so close—had been close from the minute we walked in this room. I watched him between my legs, one of his hands pressed against my inner thigh and the other cupped against my balls.
“Oh God, it’s so fucking good, you’re so fucking good,” I murmured, and he hummed around me. And it was so good—after a night surrounded by strangers, finally finding ourselves together in this room alone. It was like no one else existed, just me and him, and he actually wanted me, more than he wanted to be out there with anyone else.
I felt like I had found my person.
I realized I had been squeezing my eyes shut and as I felt myself drawing closer to losing control, I forced them open, looking down at Leo. His lips were wrapped around me and a moment later he looked up, meeting my gaze, as he worked me up and down.
“Oh, Leo, you’re gonna make me—I’m—”
His only response was to hum around me again, and the combined sensation pushed me over the edge. His mouth around me and his hands pressed into me were the only things in the world, and I let go with a moan, bucking my hips up to meet his mouth as I came into him. Thought was gone, and instead I was in some champagne and post-orgasm haze, Leo’s mouth still wrapped around me for a minute afterward. He sucked off of me, swallowing, and wiped his hand against his mouth.
Your Fallen Star: Under the Stars Book 1 Page 16