7. Chase

"Hey, Chase," Charlie called to me from across Adam's living room, holding a sledgehammer in his hand. "Keep an eye on the front door for me, would you? Jax is going to come by and drop off my protein shake. Left it at home like a doofus."

I squinted out through the front window into the morning sun, almost offended by the assault on my senses. "Ugh. Sunlight. Not good."

"Entered your vampire phase already at age thirty?" Charlie joked.

"I've entered stage two of my hangover," I said, rubbing at my temple.

"What are the hangover stages?" Charlie asked. "When I used to drink it was all just one big, long, bad stage."

"Stage one was me waking up and thinking I made a mistake," I said. "Stage two is now, where the sunlight makes me want to abandon humanity and crawl in a dark cave. Stage three will be when the rest of the crew gets here and everyone starts telling me I look tired."

"You do look tired, but the blue streak always adds a little bit of chaotic brightness to your look," Charlie said as he looked me over. "You went too hard last night?"

"Trivia night," I told him. "I was sucking down those strawberry-sunshine-whatever drinks that your boyfriend made for me. I know you don't drink, but I'm telling you, Jax pours heavy on the liquor."

I'd had one too many of the delicious pink cocktails last night as I sat across the table from Adam, forcing myself not to be overly flirty with him. Forcing myself not to blurt out very specific things that my brain kept focusing on, like how much I loved the way he gripped his cock in his OnlyShots videos. I'd successfully made it through the night without revealing that I knew he was Adam Dix, and we'd done pretty well in trivia.

All in all, it was an innocent night. Practically saintly, for my standards. The only touch we'd exchanged was a high-five at the end of the night, which did turn me on more than I'd like to admit.

Adam had gone home right after trivia ended, and I'd taken the quick drunk walk back to my apartment to pass out and wake up earlier than hell this morning for demolition.

Now I was paying the price for last night's liquor.

"Don't think you're going to have to wait long for that protein shake," I told Charlie as I saw movement in the front yard. "Jax is outside."

We were setting up for the first day of demolition. Demo days were the eye candy of home renovation shows, and I knew I was in for a long day of collecting static and handheld camera footage of the Fixer Brothers destroying walls and ripping out cabinets.

Charlie leaned his sledgehammer against the wall and jogged over toward the door, swinging it open as Jax walked up. "Look at you, strutting your stuff. You only get hotter every day."

"Protein delivery," Jax said with a smile. "Made one for myself, too. Going to hit the gym."

"Of course you are, Mr. Perfect," Charlie said.

They kissed as Jax arrived at the front door, and Charlie grabbed his drink.

Jax peeked his head in through the front door, glancing around. "Looking really good in here, guys. Time to demolish, huh?"

"I've got something you can demolish," Charlie told Jax, running his palm along the front of his jersey shirt.

"For fuck's sake, guys," I said. "I love PDA, and I still think you two need to get a room."

"Sorry, Chase," Jax said to me while Charlie ignored me, leaning in and pressing one more kiss to Jax's lips.

"Get out of here," Charlie said. "Love you."

"Love you, too," Jax said, waving and heading back down the front path.

"Oh, there's Nathan and Shawn," Charlie said as a Fixer Brothers van pulled up out front. "Going to help them grab the pry bars, and I'll be back in a few."

I leaned my head against the cool surface of the wall next to me, taking a breath. I knew if could make it through the morning, my hangover would improve. When I'd arrived, Charlie had told me that Adam was upstairs, getting ready to head out and drive to his company's office. He usually worked from home, but today that would be pretty much impossible with the construction noise.

I pulled out my phone, checking through all of the notifications I'd ignored last night while I was at trivia with Adam.

I lifted my eyebrow when I saw a notification on the OnlyShots app.

And when I opened it up and saw that it was a reply from Adam Dix himself, from last night—during trivia—every mischievous, horny little cell in my body did a twist, cutting right through my hangover.

AdamDix: You're the sweetest, ChillyIcyBlue. Appreciate the continued support… and you know I'll keep coming for you.

Well, hello to you too, Adam Dix, I thought, reading over the message another few times and liking it more and more.

My cock perked up immediately, and I was glad I'd checked my phone when I happened to have a moment to myself here in the living room, because holy fuck. I hadn't expected any reply from him, and especially not one that ended like that.

There was also a notification for a private message, which I'd never gotten before on OnlyShots. I tapped on it and I swear my groin ached when I saw that it was from Adam, too.

The app didn't allow people to message the video creators unless they messaged you first.

And Adam had reached out.

To me.

Without knowing it was me.

AdamDix: I just wanted to say thank you again for your support. I always love your comments.

The message had been sent a little while after Adam and I had gone home last night. He must have gotten home, gone on the app, and thought enough about my comments to take it to a private message.

Talk about catnip for my fucking cock.

I typed out a reply on my phone, feeling like I was getting away with something.

ChillyIcyBlue: Believe me when I tell you, the pleasure is mine. Nothing gets me off like your videos. Is that too much for me to say?

I bit my lip, sending off the message. My head was swimming. I was more than a little bit too turned on, so I went to my other notifications to try to clear my head.

A smile came over my face when I saw a text message from Adam's real number, in my regular texts app.

Adam Richardsen: Chase, I just want to say thank you for joining me in trivia tonight. You made me feel very welcome. Hope you drink some water after all of the alcohol, and have a good night.

That message had arrived just a little while before the one from his OnlyShots Adam Dix account. So he'd gotten home, been thoughtful enough to send me a thank you note, and then gone over to the OnlyShots app to send a thank you note to his number one secret admirer.

God, Adam was cute.

Chase Blau: Of course! You're a trivia god. I was proud to be on your team.

I sent the message right as Shawn, Nathan, and Charlie came through the front door again with tools in hand.

"Demo day," Nathan said as he saw me. "You look tired."

"There it is," I told Charlie.

"Stage three of the hangover," Charlie said.

I'd forgotten about the hangover altogether since seeing Adam's private message. Maybe that was a secret hangover cure that I'd never discovered: getting all the blood to rush down to your dick while messaging someone you shouldn't be.

"Are we about ready to start?" Shawn asked as he came in and dropped all of his stuff. "Morning, Chase. You look—"

"Tired. Yes. I am very tired."

"I was going to say you look particularly happy this morning, actually," Shawn said with a grin. "You get laid last night?"

"I played a few perfectly innocent rounds of trivia with our client last night, actually," I said. "Adam is great with trivia."

"Doesn't surprise me. He's smart as hell," Charlie said.

"Before we start, I need to at least set up my camera for a wide shot," I told him, moving into the shady section near the front door and pulling our main camera out of the bag on the floor. "Will you stand in the light over there near the kitchen archway so I can frame the shot?"

"You got it, boss," Charlie said idly, heading back over to pick up his sledgehammer and stand where I needed him. "And I probably don't need to say this, but sorry about earlier. I know I'm over the top when Jax is around."

"Don't sweat it," I told him. "Just because I'm a jealous little bitch doesn't mean I don't appreciate all the wonderful, happy couples around me. Move just a little bit to the right for me?"

Light was filtering in through the windows in the kitchen, and as I took my first test shots, I realized all over again that this house was a fucking wonderland when it came to filming. Every corner had better light than the last, and no matter where I set up a rig, I was able to get beautiful shots.

"Since when are you jealous of couples, Chase?" Charlie asked. "I thought you were a crazy-nights-at-clubs, hookups-only kind of guy."

I glanced down the hall on my side, seeing movement on the stairs. Adam walked down, dressed in a business casual slate grey button-down and blazer, with his glasses on. He looked every bit like a professional, even though I was secretly well acquainted with how good he looked under those clothes.

A guilty little part of me stirred inside, thinking of the message I'd just shot off to him.

"Hey, guys. Getting everything set up okay?" he asked sweetly, his eyes flitting between me and the Fixer Brothers guys.

"Ready to tear half of your kitchen to shreds," Charlie told him with a smile.

"Anything you need from me before I head to the office?" he asked. His gaze landed on me for a brief moment, and fuck, I wanted to lick every inch of him like a damn lap dog.

Nothing I need from you, Adam.

Plenty of things I want, though.

God, I felt so wrong. And so right. And while my hangover was feeling better, I certainly was in stage two of confused cock syndrome.

"We should be good to go," Shawn told him.

"I'll leave you to it," Adam said as he slung his laptop bag over his shoulder, heading toward the door. He looked at me from under his lashes, giving me an adorable, shy smile. "Feeling okay this morning, Chase?"

Fuck me, his smile almost did more for me than his private Adam Dix messages did. I really was screwed.

"I'm feeling a lot better now," I told him. My filter was good enough to not blurt out that I'd seen his videos, but I certainly couldn't keep to myself how much I enjoyed seeing him in person. "You look good as hell, by the way."

"Oh," he said, sounding genuinely shocked. "I just tossed this on. I was worried I looked too boring."

"You could never be boring, Adam," I said.

The faintest pink appeared on his cheekbones again.

God, I felt like a monster with my secret. I had to find a way to tell him the truth.

"Thanks, Chase. Have a good day."

Real-life Adam was so sweet, so pure seeming, almost. Guilt pooled inside me as I watched him walk off toward his car in the driveway, completely unaware that he had been exchanging messages with me online.

I couldn't live like this. I was too honest of a person, and I knew I couldn't keep this up.

I knew I had to tell him.

In person. As soon as I got the chance.