Find a quiet spot, turn the page, and let’s see what this story has been hiding 🌙 ✦ Their lips met softly at first, then with a slow pull that made Naomi forget which of them had moved first.
She would not have cared even if she remembered.
They had been sharing the apartment for several days.
There had already been awkward moments, half-dressed mornings, careful turns toward privacy.
Even so, Naomi had mostly thought of him as young, earnest, and too bright to be dangerous.
She had not expected him to be this gentle.
Or this careful.
She had called him because she had no one else she wanted to break down in front of.
It was not that she had no friends in Los Angeles.
She did.
But they had comforted her too many times.
Say the same hurt often enough, and even good friends began to sound tired.
In that moment, the person she thought of was the young man she had known for less than ten days.
Naomi had heard plenty of encouragement over the years.
What Adrian said was different.
As he had admitted, maybe his experience was thin.
Maybe his words did not carry the authority of someone who had endured a decade of rejection.
But they gave her something she had not felt in a long time.
The sense of being needed.
It was only a little.
Tonight, it was enough.
The drinks had loosened Naomi’s guard earlier, but they had not made this decision for her.
What remained was shared humiliation, grief, and the warmth of someone holding her as if she mattered.
“You’ve kissed a lot of women,” she murmured when their mouths parted, still feeling the little shocks it had sent through her.
“I have,” Adrian said, not pretending otherwise.
His fingers brushed lightly along her cheek.
“But none as captivating as you.” Naomi almost laughed.
She had not expected him to be such a smooth talker.
Before she could answer, he kissed her again.
This time, his hands began to move.
When his hands moved over her and settled at her waist, Naomi closed her eyes and let out a muffled sound.
Her breathing turned heavier.
Then something soft and furry brushed the top of her foot.
A second later, Naomi’s whole body went rigid and she yelped.
Adrian jerked back, startled, and snapped on the bedside lamp.
Puck stared up at them from the mattress, looking painfully innocent.
Somehow the little dog had climbed onto the bed and was watching as if he had no idea what crime he had committed.
For several seconds, Adrian and Naomi simply stared at him.
Puck seemed to realize, in some small canine corner of his mind, that he had made a terrible mistake.
He lowered himself flat against the bed, covered his head with his front paws, and gave a miserable whine.
As if to say, I didn’t mean to.
“You are far too much trouble, Puck,” Adrian said at last.
He picked the dog up, climbed out of bed, and carried him to the bathroom.
“So you can stay in here and think about what you’ve done.” Puck barked in protest.
Adrian shut the bathroom door anyway.
When he turned back, he hesitated.
For a second, he sat on the edge of the bed with his back to Naomi, fingers in his hair, apparently unsure what to say.
Curled against the wall, Naomi suddenly wanted to laugh.
He looked impossibly endearing.
Whatever haze the drinks had left was already fading.
Naomi knew exactly what she was asking for.
She shifted forward and wrapped her arms around him from behind.
“Keep going,” she whispered against his ear.
Adrian turned, surprised.
He searched her face.
“Naomi, are you sure?” “I’m sure,” she said, steady enough that there was no mistaking it.
“This is my choice.” Before he could speak again, Naomi kissed him and reached for him.
The spark caught again at once.
Their breathing grew ragged, and soon they were holding each other with nothing left between them.
Naomi drew him close, her head falling back as pleasure rose through her in waves.
In the bathroom, Puck whimpered and scratched at the door.
He was very upset.
He had not meant to do anything wrong, so why had he been locked away?
Unfortunately, no amount of wounded dignity earned a response from his master.
At last, Puck slumped against the door, ears drooping, and tried not to listen to the storm outside.
* * * By the time Adrian’s apartment building came into view, his breathing had settled into the long rhythm of a run.
Morning sun touched his shoulders, but the air was still cool.
The dampness in his T-shirt came from exercise, not heat.
That was one of the small mercies of the Mediterranean climate: in spring and fall, the temperature could swing sharply between early morning and afternoon.
He slowed for the last stretch, walked the final few dozen feet, and opened his apartment door.
Puck was waiting inside.
The little dog bounced in front of him at once, trying very hard to be forgiven for the night before.
“All right, you menace.” Adrian tapped him lightly on the head and looked toward the bathroom.
As usual, water was running.
Their routine had formed without anyone naming it.
Adrian woke first and went running.
Naomi got up later, tidied the room, made something simple for breakfast, and usually showered around the time he came back.
He had expected today to be different.
The previous night had lasted a long time.
It had also been the first time he had slept with anyone since coming to Los Angeles.
By his old standards, that was almost unbelievable.
Even when he was working at McDonald’s, he had managed to date the prettiest girl in the store.
If his old friends knew how restrained he had been lately, they would have shouted that it was impossible.
None of that helped him decide what came next.
If last night had been only a one-night stand, Adrian could have moved on and thought nothing more of it.
But Naomi was different.
They lived together.
Their relationship had been platonic before this.
She had also, in a real way, encouraged him.
So what now?
The pager on the coffee table vibrated.
Adrian picked it up, frowned at the number, thought for a few seconds, and ran back out.
“Have you given up?” The moment the call connected, a stern, powerful voice hit his ear.
“No, sir.” Adrian answered almost by reflex.
He had only spent two days around Eric Reese, but the man’s voice had already burned itself into memory.
“Did you get drunk last night?
Smoke weed?
Use coke?
Cry, scream, and throw a tantrum because things didn’t go your way?” “No, sir.
I just finished my morning run.” Adrian’s voice steadied as he realized something was happening.
“I run every morning.
Staying healthy gives me more energy to work.” “Good.” Reese laughed, sounding very satisfied.
“I have a role here.
A damn good one.
It’s eight twenty-nine.
If you can get to Office 102 beside Stage 24 at Warner Bros.
in Burbank before ten and pass the audition, it’s yours.” After hanging up the pay phone, Adrian stood there for a second, slightly dazed.
Reese had said a role.
A damn good role.
Cold air brushed over his sweat-damp shirt, and he shivered hard enough to snap awake.
Then he ran back to the apartment.
He had not expected things to turn this sharply after only one day.
“What happened, Adrian?
You just got back…” Naomi had come out of the bathroom, but before she could finish, Adrian grabbed a change of clothes and rushed past her.
He took a quick hot shower, changed, checked that he looked normal, and came back out.
Before Naomi could ask again, he caught her by both shoulders.
“I’m sorry.
I can’t take you back to the Mulholland parking lot for your car right now.
A producer just paged me.
He says he has a role that fits me and wants me there before ten.” He watched her closely as he spoke.
Naomi only shrugged.
“All right.” “So I’m going?” “Of course.
Is there a problem?” “You won’t be…
disappointed?” He looked so serious that she paused, then understood.
A smile tugged at her mouth.
“No.
I know what’s important.
Besides, we…” She stopped abruptly, coughed, and turned her head away as if the rest of the sentence had embarrassed her.
“Anyway, it’s fine.
I can get the car myself.” Because she had been in such bad shape the night before, Adrian had driven her back in his Ford and left the Dodge at the lot.
“No, let’s do this,” he said, still holding her shoulders.
“The audition shouldn’t take too long, and the result probably won’t come immediately.
I’ll be back by noon at the latest.
Then I’ll go with you.” After a beat, he added, “I want to.
And I should.” Naomi sighed.
“All right.” “Wait for me.” Adrian kissed her quickly, grabbed the milk and bread from the coffee table, and ran out to Puck’s barking.
Naomi stood there for a moment, dazed.
A smile appeared before she noticed it.
Then she leaned back against the wall and let out a long breath.
“Adrian, over here.” He had barely stepped out of the car at Warner Bros.
when a familiar voice called to him.
Adrian looked around and quickly spotted Frederick nearby.
“Hey, Fred.
What do we know?” They met and started walking into the studio lot together.
“I checked everything I could, called a lot of people, and…” Frederick scratched his head, puzzled.
“There is no scheduled audition at Warner today.” “So Reese…” Adrian frowned, but rejected the thought almost immediately.
Reese had a temper, but he would not prank him now.
“Maybe it’s last minute,” Frederick said.
“And Office 102 is right near Stage 24.” “What does that mean?” “What does that mean?” Frederick stared at him as if Adrian had grown a second head.
“You don’t know what’s on Stage 24?” Adrian spread his hands.
The agent shook his head and clapped him hard on the shoulder, excitement creeping into his voice.
“That’s the Friends stage.
Central Perk.” ✦ ✦ ✦ Ready for more?
CREATORS’ THOUGHTS TheBacklot Thank you for reading.
I hope this chapter drew you further into the story.
Stick around, because there’s still a lot waiting just ahead.