Something Real

by Nellie Christine

  He cheered on his girls after every song, and watched the crowd’s reaction to their music. Dana looked like she could cry, but she knew she couldn’t unless she wanted her sister and friends to tease her for the rest of their lives.

  It was a special night.

  Grayson took his friends along with Elijah’s family back to his trailer around 8:30. They gave him flowers, wished him luck, and took about a billion pictures. Josie got her lipstick all over him, and hair and makeup had to hurry to get him ready again, but she was unapologetic. Grayson was grateful that they gave him a minute alone with Elijah before he had to go out on stage.

  His boyfriend was nervous, despite not wanting to admit it. Nervous or not, he’d kill it. Grayson was confident in that much.

  “So… Anthony says the Internet seems to be reacting positively to our little make out photos. Well, those who aren’t homophobes, at least.”

  Grayson leant against the dresser and smiled. “He’s your publicist. He would know good publicity. He’s probably thrilled that we were caught.”

  Elijah chuckled, getting up and walking over to him. His hands found Grayson’s waist immediately, and he smiled when Grayson kissed his forehead. “This is for you. For believing in me.”

  Grayson nodded, pulling him a little closer. “Thank you for believing in me first.”

  Elijah smiled. “You fucking know it, Peanut.”

  ∞

  His performance killed in the best way possible.

  There were screaming girls, and screaming boys, and screaming moms and dads. Isa seemed to be in love, and Derrick and his date seemed to be enjoying themselves as well. And according to Oscar, Harvey Paul shouted “That’s my boy’s boy!” after Elijah sang “Paradise,” but Grayson wasn’t so sure he believed that. What he did know was that he was happy to get pictures of Elijah’s family’s reaction, and that he didn’t at all blush when Elijah blew him a kiss after his set was over.

  At least after he thought his set was over.

  The Pretty Committee demanded he come back on for one more song after they sang “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” with him. The crowd agreed with them. He smiled, sitting down on the stool in the center of the stage, and looked out at the audience.

  The crowd was cheering his name. His parents were here. His sister and niece were here. His best friends were here. Grayson was smiling at him like he was the only person in the world right now.

  This was something Elijah never even envisioned for himself. Luckily, he had people that knew he could do it, and that he’d get something from it.

  “I wrote this for someone here tonight, and because he loved the rap part so much, I’m going to sing it again.”

  Grayson burst out laughing.

  Epilogue

  “Are we going to hell?”

  Grayson shrugged. “Probably. But why do you ask?”

  Elijah looked up at the ceiling of his new apartment as he wondered how much it would hurt if he moved right now. Regrets were starting to sink in. He shouldn’t have stopped Grayson when he suggested they move to the bedroom, only it was hard to agree to that while they were in the middle of a beautiful 69 on his new living room floor.

  “We’re now seven hours into Christmas Day and we’ve fucked, oh, what? Probably six of those hours away? This is not what this day is about.”

  Grayson smiled, stretching his arms a bit. “You’re right. But I’m more concerned about the fact that my dick is hard again and we haven’t eaten since we got back yesterday. I don’t want to die of starvation during Christmas marathon sex.”

  Elijah smiled.

  “And at some point, we have to go to Josie’s. Lily is probably up looking for you already.”

  “We both know she likes you better,” Elijah said, finally rolling over and wincing when he landed in something wet. “Oh no.”

  Grayson sat up. He looked around and saw mostly boxes and furniture. Elijah hadn’t really gotten the chance to do much of anything around here since signing his new three-album contract. He’d been on the move a lot, as expected, but the good thing was that people now knew they were an item, so they didn’t have to hide.

  The bad part was that Harvey didn’t want Grayson managing him. He guessed that part was understandable. It’d be a conflict of interest, and that wasn’t good in the long run.

  Elijah’s stomach growled.

  Grayson smiled. “You should eat.”

  “We’ll have breakfast at Josie’s,” he tried to get up and rolled his eyes at the used condom he put his hand on. “There’s signs of sex literally everywhere. Jesus didn’t die for this.”

  Grayson laughed, standing to his feet with ease. “I can’t believe I have to do the walk of shame on Christmas morning. Maybe we are going to hell.”

  Elijah checked his phone and smiled at the text from Oscar. “Well if you decided to move a few things in here… or all of your things.”

  Grayson rolled his eyes. “I’m not moving in this soon.”

  “Yeah, I know, killjoy. Just come over and fuck me whenever you want and leave. That’s fine, too.”

  Oscar (de la Hoya):

  Since you’re the only one who pays attention to your phone, tell dipshit that I’m popping the question today and that if you two aren’t at Josie’s by the time everyone opens presents, then you’re missing it. Sorry! Love you. Bye. XOX

  “Your best friend is going to pop the question without us there if we don’t hurry up.”

  Grayson’s eyes went wide. He smiled, and then pulled his lazy but hot-as-hell boyfriend to his feet. Elijah sighed when his back cracked.

  “I’m getting old. This industry is taking a lot out of me, Little Paul.”

  Grayson kissed him on the lips and started to back away. “That was your first present.”

  “Oh?” Elijah smiled, following him towards the hall. “I love it. What’s my second?”

  Grayson turned around and walked away. “I’ll show you in the shower.”

  Sweet. Elijah licked his lips, staring at his ass as he walked away. He wouldn’t miss that little hole in the wall in Hell’s Kitchen if these were the types of memories he’d be making in Chelsea. “Let’s make that seven out of eight hours!” He chased Grayson into the bathroom as his boyfriend laughed.

  Elijah didn’t know he wanted something real until he had it, and he was not letting go.

  THE END

  Acknowledgements

  I’d like to take the opportunity to thank each and every reader – old and new alike. Some of you have been encouraging me to take this step for years, and I’m grateful that I’m finally able to give you something. I hope it was worth the wait!

  Eleanor, thank you for making me name a character after you. Hoping you like her! Oscar sure does.

  To the gentleman whose iPhone I found outside NYU one night – the gentleman who paged it at 4 in the morning and scared the shit out of me – thanks for giving me inspiration.

  Val, Jane, Marie, Keryn, Frannie, and to all my friends who replied to direct messages and emails at all hours of the night, you’re crazy for putting up with me, but I love you all the more.

  Until next time,

  Nellie

  Web:

  www.nelliesjournal.com

  Twitter:

  twitter.com/nelliextine

  Goodreads:

  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16306297.Nellie_Christine

  Someone True – Millennium Records Book #2

  An Excerpt

  Grayson laughed as Elijah collapsed beside him on the bed. They both were gasping for air; chests rising and falling with each sharp intake of breath.

  “Where did you find that position? I’m a huge fan.” Grayson tried sitting up and failed miserably. “But next time, I get to bend you like that.”

  Elijah licked his lips. “Move in with me, Grayson.”

  The reaction was one he expected. He felt Grayson tense before he turned to face him. It was only Elijah’s third time bringin
g it up, and each time, there was a noticeable change in Grayson’s mood.

  “When you keep asking me like this I feel like the bad guy for saying no.”

  “Then say yes,” Elijah told him.

  He made it sound like it was the easiest thing in the world. Yes, Grayson was happy, but they’d only been together for two months. They didn’t have to rush into anything. The pace they were taking was nice for a couple guys who weren’t big on dating all that long ago.

  “I don’t want to feel like I’m pressuring you,” Elijah continued. “It’s just that we’re pretty serious, yeah? You come over to my place and you stay the night, or I come and see you. All our friends get along with each other. Your dad finally started acknowledging me as a human being, and you know my parents dig you. What’s stopping us from taking the next step?”

  “A lot,” Grayson answered.

  Clearly, it wasn’t good enough an answer for Elijah. He looked at him expectantly, hoping for some supporting details.

  Grayson took a deep breath and rubbed tiredly at his eyes. “It’s a huge commitment, Eli. You’re about to go on tour, and I’m crazy busy with the label. I just don’t want to rush into this and – ”

  “You do realize that the only thing that would change would be you moving your things into my place,” Elijah interrupted. “That’s all. We’ve been serious. We’ve been rushing.”

  “But if you decide that all of this is overwhelming and you need space…”

  Elijah was honestly confused. “What? If I need space from anything, it’d be the rest of the world. You’re what I want. You know that, Sonny…”

  Grayson decided to stay quiet and think. Cohabitating with a boyfriend sounded good on paper, and waking up next to Elijah was something that Grayson for sure wanted. He honestly believed that. One day. Not necessarily right now. He had so many things that he wanted to be sure of, and he had to admit he wasn’t 100% sold on Elijah being a changed man. He didn’t think that he could make someone change that much. Elijah was about to be a fucking Rockstar. Investing himself too deeply and getting hurt would be so S-T-U-P-I-D on his part.

  “Can I have a little while longer to think about it?” Grayson asked him.

  Elijah turned onto his side, kissing Grayson softly on the lips. When his boyfriend smiled into it, he kissed him again on the tip of his nose next.

  “Yes,” he answered. “But I’ll need an answer by midnight.”

  Grayson looked over his boyfriend’s messy hair at the alarm clock. “Eli, it’s 11:42.”

  “Then you better get to thinking, sugar. Make a Venn Diagram if you must. Need a notepad?”

  “Can I have a damp cloth instead?” Grayson teased, looking down at the mess on his stomach.

  To be continued…

  Coming Summer 2017

  Coming Soon…