GENRE: Gay Spicy Romance
LENGTH: 133,716 words
RATING:

Sequel to In Frame

Leo Whyte’s life just might be fantastic. He’s busy doing press for a film he’s proud to be in; he’s come out as bisexual, being openly himself for the first time; and he has Sam, the man he loves, at his side. But the press is exhausting, and Sam’s past work as a tabloid photographer isn’t exactly pretty. Leo trusts Sam completely -- it’s his own self-doubt that gets in the way, the fear that he’s never truly been good enough.

Sam Hernandez-Blake is pretty sure his new life’s a miracle. He’s head-over-heels in love with Leo, and he has a brand-new job as award-winning actor Colby Kent’s personal photographer, capturing the movie premiere and behind-the-scenes moments. But he isn’t sure he belongs in this celebrity world, or that he’s the best partner for Leo -- especially when his tabloid past resurfaces.

When sudden scandal threatens their friends, Leo and Sam will use all their skills to help ... taking the lead together.

EXCERPT:
Note: may contain sexually explicit scenes of a homoerotic nature.

“Okay,” Jimmy said, “our first guest is a great friend of the show, you know him from so many roles, tonight he’s here to talk to us about his latest project, Steadfast ... Leo Whyte, everybody!”

Sam, along with everybody else in the world or at least the Late Hour studio, cheered loudly.

Leo strolled in. Waved. Held up the mystery item he’d been handed by the assistants.

And slowly, theatrically, unfurled a homemade -- intern-made, given the backstage conspiracy -- banner. Relatively stiff, so it’d be readable.

“Oh my God,” Sam said out loud, unsure whether he was laughing or petrified or impressed to the core. By the audacity. The jumping out in front of every story, headfirst. The sheer ludicrous courage of it. “Leo ...”

Leo’s banner shouted, Yes, I’m Bisexual! in unmistakable sparkly rainbow letters. It had rainbow ribbons. And jingling bells.

It waved itself proudly at the studio audience, which shrieked in delight. Because Leo Whyte knew how to put on a show. How to take the personal, the intimate, and spin it into cotton-candy amusement.

And, because he was Leo, when he turned the banner around, the other side listed four LGBTQ youth charities, two local to Los Angeles, two in London. Underneath, in loopy magenta pen, it said, Support us! Thanks!

Sam said again, “Oh my God,” and then he said, “Leo, I love you,” and no one heard except a nearby Late Hour intern, who had no idea who he was and therefore looked extremely startled.

Jimmy Myers was standing up, laughing, applauding. Leo marched his banner over to the couch, tapped Jimmy on the shoulder with it as if knighting him, and announced, “Hello, Jimmy, how’ve you been, any big changes on your end, major personal revelations about oneself, that sort of thing?”

The crowd roared. Loving this, loving Leo Whyte. As ever.

Jimmy took Leo’s offered hand, and then hauled him in for a hug, chortling. “Welcome back, and thanks for the best entrance we’ve had on the show in, I don’t know, maybe ever! And you stole my first question, there, but what a way to do it!”

Leo hugged him right back, sat down, and stuck the banner into his chair. It stood upright and proud beside him. “Oh, don’t worry, Jimmy, if you’d like some help with your job, I’m happy to trade places tonight!”

More cheers. More adoration.

“Come on, hey, I’m sure I’ve got something ...” Jimmy made a show out of checking fake notes, on his hand, up his sleeve. “Oh, here’s an easy one. Gosh, Leo, anything new in your life lately? New, I don’t know, hobbies, adventures, last time you were here you said you were learning how to ride a unicycle, how’d that go?”

The crowd laughed at this too. Byplay. Banter.

“Well.” Leo leaned in. “I’m very good at riding a ... unicycle, as it turns out. No, honestly, I really am.” Another pause. Showmanship on full display. “Do you want to know the secret to riding a unicycle, Jimmy?”

“Yes,” Jimmy said, around laughter. “Please.”

Leo made a come closer gesture. Jimmy leaned in more. So did Leo. Over the arm of the chair. “Well, Jimmy ... as I’ve figured out ... the secret is ...” He paused again. This made the audience scream even more.

Of course they did. Leo had a ringmaster’s sense of timing plus a heart that’d turn his own personal revelations into free advertising for LGBTQ youth support. Sam wanted to kiss him everywhere.

“The secret is ...” Leo’s grin lit up the room. Flawless delivery, the world in the palm of his hand. “Not falling off.”

Jimmy collapsed with laughter. “That’s it, is it?”

The crowd thundered with amusement. Entertainment bounced off the fake skyline set backdrop. The universe quaked, merry.

Leo took a rainbow ribbon off the banner. Tucked it into Jimmy’s coat-pocket. “Here you are. A prize for putting up with me.”

Jimmy beamed at him. “I’ll treasure it. No, seriously, we love having you on, you’re always so great, I don’t even have to do any work.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Leo said. “Do you recall that time you made us play hot sauce truth or dare? I feel as if that was definitely work, in all sorts of ways.”

The crowd was undergoing pure paroxysms of delight.

“Never again,” Jimmy said, “I swear. Okay --”

“Yes, and I’m English, so you even had an unfair advantage, we didn’t know what flavor was until about ten years ago.” Leo held up a hand, though, amid the riotous audience response. “No, entirely kidding, I love living in London, we’ve got literally any sort of food you might want, and we’re very good at extremely sticky sweets and puddings, just ask my father, he’s a dentist.”

Amid the endless merriment, Jimmy put in, “This is why I love interviewing you, I never even have to talk, and now I’m wearing rainbow ribbons and we’re talking about sticky pudding --”

Leo spread both hands, adorably sheepish.

“But, now you’ve mentioned them, how are your parents?” To the audience, he added, “Oh, hush, it’s not a weird question, Leo’s been a friend of the show for years!”

“I have,” Leo agreed. “They’re marvelous as usual. If you’re asking how they felt about my rainbow ribbons, that was also marvelous, they told me they’d in fact thought I was not entirely straight all along, so they’d just been waiting for me to tell them, which was hilarious because it would’ve been nice if someone’d told me.”

“Well, apparently someone did ...?”

“Oh yes,” Leo said, and for a second his eyes shot toward Sam, in the wings; and softened, quieter, happy. “Yes, he did. Wonderfully so.”

Sam nearly ran out on stage to fling his arms around the man he loved. On the spot.

He didn’t. No interrupting. But he would’ve.