Lib Novel Page 38
All three of us let out an exasperated sigh.
“The worst part of it is, I can tell he really likes her!” Julian gripes, adding fuel to the metaphorical fire.
“Right!? It’s almost comical how much he tries to ruin things for himself.” I shake my head, spreading the glowing coals in the bottom of the grill, carefully adjusting my containers of marinating meat on the side table, and checking my phone for any sign of Cosmo’s imminent arrival.
“So, you called this little meeting to–what? Make sure we keep Cosmo on the right track?” Magnus pontificates as he puffs away on his blunt.
“Well, it’s not just about Cosmo.” I fidget with my tongs–eyes fixed on the setting sun on the horizon.
“Oh? What else is there?” Julian sniffs, swishing what’s left of his drink in the bottom of his glass.
“Well, there’s the small matter of Pack Dubois—as y’all well know. Those boys are kind, smart, talented, and handsome as all get out.” I shift nervously from foot to foot.
“Ah yes, this is true,” Magnus concedes, leaning back in his chair and kicking his feet up on the low table between him and Julian.
“But, if there isn’t any chemistry between them…” Julian wags a finger in the air.
“Then it doesn’t really matter. Does it?” He takes another dramatic sip of his drink.
“And what makes you think that there isn’t any chemistry there?” I press, interested in which piece of gossip the pack spider has been able to pull from his web.
“Well,” Julian begins, his expression deliciously devious.
“A little birdie told me, that Benton Dubois actually decided against casting her in his new western film because she was, and I quote ‘So obviously smitten with Sol Cooper during the screen test, that it just would have been awkward to cast an omega that was downright electrically charged on screen with our lead stuntman from one of our most trusted pack of colleagues,’” Julian preens, proud as a peacock, as he delivers the welcome news—a truly treasured morsel from his clever beak.
“Well, that’s certainly good to hear.” Magnus, who has been hard at work fishing two long-necked beers out of the cooler during Julian’s anecdote, finally manages to pop off their metal caps with the end of his plastic lighter I’d left out for him. He hands me one of the bottles, along with the blunt.
“Ok, great. Pack Dubois is out of the running, but don’t forget about that creep Johnny Angel and the rest of his sleazeball band,” I groan, taking both the cold beer and the half smoked cannabis cigar from Magnus.
“From what I heard that night in the alley, I don’t think Daphne wants anything to do with those guys,” Magnus barks a laugh.
“Yeah well, I also hear that Daphne’s agent, Vinny, is a bit of a skeeze himself.” Julian kicks back the rest of his martini before he continues to dish out gossip. “Vinny has been around for a long time, basically an institution amongst some of the oldest placement agencies in Hollywood. He’s buddy-buddy with Ruben Horner and DD Richards, and of course, Melody Harper, manager for the Lost Daze pack.”
Julian’s rattling off names like they should mean something to me other than ‘rich assholes who continue to make money by perpetuating their own industry circle jerk and milking young talent for a staggering percentage of their earnings.’ I’m getting impatient, not to mention I’m more than a little sexually frustrated.
“So, what are we going to do about this well-connected skeezy agent who also happens to be how we got connected to Daphne?” I growl, my temper rising.
“Woah, down boy.” Magnus lays a hand flat on my chest for a moment to keep me from rocking off of my heels into a cagey round of pacing.
“Please, have a drink—unwind a bit.” Magnus soothes.
I take a drag, exhaling a long stream of smoke, then wash it down with some cold beer. I can only manage to take one hit—otherwise I’ll be on the floor.
“Listen, we don’t owe old Vincenzo anything,” Julian sniffs imperiously.
“Daphne has been paying his retainer and all his fees, no doubt. He helped get her connected at the placement agency, he’ll get a handsome commission once she’s officially placed with us–” Julian blushed and quickly corrected himself, “I’m sorry, if she gets placed with us.”
“He’d be getting a healthy commission once she was placed with the Lost Daze pack, too,” I press, though Julian’s endearing flub is not lost on me.
It takes the edge off my frustration, my anger, to see my packmate has come to the same conclusion that I did earlier today. Daphne is going to be ours. As long as she’ll have us. Not Vinny, or Melody, or Johnny Angel, or any of his boys are going to get in our way.
As if on cue, Cosmo appears—dragging all 6’5” of his gorgeous frame through the open sliding doors from my living room onto the patio—his expression somewhere between bored and upset.
“Why did you make me drive through that traffic tonight, Sol?” he whines, like a spoiled child.
“Because we have something important to discuss.” I pass Magnus the blunt and abandon my own beer in order to fish out a cold cherry soda from the cooler.
He takes the sweating, cold bottle from me and quickly swoops in to kiss my mouth. A tiny smile twitches the corner of his lips before he’s looking moody and broody again.