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  Danny’s hands shook when he uncapped the bottle and drizzled some of the liquid onto his fingers. Then he leaned over to kiss Elliot and slid his fingers back to where they’d been. It felt weird and tingly, like something Elliot wanted but was scared to want. Danny played with his skin and muscles, giving him pressure but nothing else. Elliot grew desperate. Danny’s fingers were slick and sexy, his touches so gentle, as if he couldn’t believe he was allowed to touch like he was. Elliot didn’t need Danny to be careful. He just needed him.

  “Please,” he groaned.

  “You sure?” Danny asked.

  “Fuck. Yes.” Yes, yes, yes. He’d been wanting to be with Danny like this since back at the Band Camp house. No matter how close they got, how much he was allowed to touch and taste and love, Elliot wanted more.

  Danny’s breath hitched. Then he slowly pushed one slick finger inside. There was a stretch, new but not unpleasant. Elliot squirmed.

  “Is it okay?” Danny asked.

  “Weird, but yeah. Keep going.”

  Danny watched, awe on his face as Elliot’s back arched. He worked slowly with one finger then two. It started to feel less weird. Good, actually, then really good. Then Danny hit a spot with his fingers that sent shivers all over his body. Elliot couldn’t hold back his moan.

  “Good?” Danny asked. He still looked nervous, but his Danny smile was coming back.

  Elliot rolled his hips, trying to get the sensation back. “More,” he groaned. “More fingers.”

  Danny closed his eyes for a second, then leaned over and kissed Elliot as he pushed a third finger in. “You’re so fucking sexy,” he whispered. “I can’t believe I get to have you.”

  Elliot had to touch Danny. He wanted Danny panting and moaning and about to lose control, just like he was. He patted around the bed with his hand until he found his bottle of lube. Then with a slick hand, he reached for Danny, who was hard and hot and thick.

  “N-no wait,” Danny choked out. “I’ll get too close.”

  “Don’t care,” Elliot muttered. “Wanna touch you.”

  Danny knelt between Elliot’s legs, held up on one elbow, his hand tangled in Elliot’s hair, the other one deep in Elliot’s body. Elliot worked at Danny’s erection until his moans matched Elliot’s—deep and desperate, full of need. Elliot couldn’t stop. He couldn’t stop touching Danny, couldn’t stop writhing on those fingers, torturing him, making him shiver and moan, couldn’t stop loving the amazing guy he got to call his. Elliot wanted the rest. He wanted that final step, to be as close as they could get.

  “You want me, D? ’Cause I need you inside me,” Elliot finally forced out. Danny shuddered hard and froze. His teeth sank not so gently into the skin of Elliot’s neck.

  “Yes.” Danny’s breathing was ragged, pupils blown wide with lust.

  “I’m ready. I want you.”

  Danny squeezed his eyes closed and withdrew his fingers gently, then with hands that shook he squeezed more lube out and slicked himself up. He lowered himself back onto his elbow and kissed Elliot, wet and slow.

  “I love you so much,” he whispered in Elliot’s ear as he lined himself up and pushed in, slowly, an inch at a time until he was all the way in. “Oh my God.”

  “Good?” Elliot echoed Danny’s earlier question. He was shivering at the fullness, how close he felt to Danny, how right it was.

  Danny pulled out slowly and sank in again. “Holy hell so hot and so tight. I had no idea it would feel this amazing.”

  Elliot tipped his hips, and Danny’s cock dragged across that spot again. He convulsed a little and tightened his grip on Danny.

  “Okay?”

  “Right there,” he breathed out. “Just… right there. Don’t stop.”

  Danny didn’t stop. He rolled his hips and kissed Elliot so deep and long he nearly passed out. But it didn’t matter because it was Danny and they were so close and so in love and everything was so damn perfect. Elliot wrapped his legs around Danny’s waist and moaned into their kiss. Danny kept hitting him inside in the exact right spot, and he got friction against his aching cock when Danny’s slick, sweaty stomach rubbed against it. Elliot thought he might lose his mind.

  It built in a rush—the most intense, heady rush, until Elliot was crying out and coming between them, eyes squeezed closed, clutching at Danny as hard as he could. Danny moaned against Elliot’s neck and froze. Warmth spread inside Elliot, and Danny collapsed against his chest.

  They were still for a few moments. Elliot tried to collect himself, but he barely managed to breathe. He just ran his fingertips up and down Danny’s sweaty back and let his heart slow. Danny finally dragged himself up onto his elbows high enough to kiss Elliot. He slowly pulled out and flopped next to Elliot. He pulled Elliot into a long hug, sweaty, sticky bodies and all.

  “Thank you,” Danny said quietly.

  Elliot couldn’t help but chuckle softly. He was so damn happy it was hard to react any other way. “Thank you for what?”

  “Being you, loving me back… I don’t know.”

  Elliot grinned into a long, soft kiss. “Of course I love you. How could I not?”

  “You know,” Danny started. “I didn’t mean for this to happen. I tried pretty damn hard not to feel it at the beginning. But now? I wouldn’t want my life without you.”

  Elliot’s heart melted. They were being cheesy as hell, all lovey and sappy, but he didn’t give a damn. He’d say anything, do anything, to make Danny happy. To keep things exactly as they were. “I wouldn’t want it either.”

  “’MORNING.” Elliot’s voice was scratchy with sleep. He curled around Danny just like he always did, warm skin, lanky limbs, comfort—home. Danny was more at home with Elliot than he’d ever been anywhere else in his life.

  “’Morning, love.” Danny kissed Elliot on the tip of his nose.

  Elliot grinned at his words and shivered into a tighter embrace. “So last night….”

  “Amazing,” Danny mumbled. Images of the night before, sweaty and hot, tight and oh so close flashed into his mind. It had felt damn good. Even as amazing as everything else with Elliot had been up to that point, it hadn’t prepared him for how intimate it would be, how perfect and loving and everything he’d never known he could feel. They’d done it two, no three times, Danny sinking into Elliot, then rolling over and letting Elliot inside him before they fell asleep. Sometime in the middle of the night, they’d woken up and started all over again. He shivered.

  “Yeah.” Elliot’s slow morning smile grew even wider. “I want more already, I’m just kinda sore.”

  Danny chuckled. “Me too.” He didn’t regret it though. And as soon as his body was ready….

  EVERYONE looked pretty rough at the breakfast table. Rough, but happy. Even after too much champagne and hardly any sleep, not a single one of them could keep the smiles from their faces. Still reeling from a number-one single and love for his boys and a whole different kind of love for Elliot, Danny shook his head, disbelieving. Elliot’s hand crept into his lap, and he twined their fingers together. Danny understood. They’d always had to touch, always wanted to be as close to each other as possible, but after the night they’d just had, after waking up in each other’s arms full of so much love Danny didn’t know how he could hold it in, well, things had changed. Again.

  “Guys?” Danny said quietly.

  “What’s up?” Reece asked around a mouthful of scrambled eggs.

  “Elliot and I… well, it’s getting harder to hide what we are. What would you think about us not really trying to hide it anymore?”

  Reece shrugged. “I don’t care. You guys are like the masters of being obvious anyway.”

  “Yeah,” Tate agreed. “Half the fans already think you’re together. Might as well not worry about it.”

  Elliot squeezed Danny’s hand. “I don’t think we need to make any big announcements, but maybe if anyone ever point-blank asks, we just don’t lie?” he said quietly. Everyone looked at Webb. He was the on
ly one who hadn’t spoken.

  “What?” Webb looked up from his breakfast. “You think I care? Just don’t screw with the band’s vibe and I’m cool.”

  “We would never….” Danny and Elliot had promised that before, and they’d never broken that promise. Danny was more than willing to promise it again.

  “Then we’re all good. Tate’s right. Anyone who doesn’t see what’s happening between you two is blind anyway.” He rolled his eyes. “Or deaf.”

  Danny cringed. “Really?”

  “Yes.” Reece snorted. “Jesus. Next time we book a hotel there needs to be soundproof rooms. I swear.”

  Danny didn’t get embarrassed often, but that was enough to do it. His cheeks went all hot at the idea the other three had heard him and Elliot. Especially the night before. Neither one of them had been quiet.

  “Sorry,” Elliot mumbled on a giggle.

  Tate reached over and popped a light punch on Elliot’s shoulder. “Hey, at least we know both of our bros have skills,” he joked.

  Oh my God. Danny was officially dead from embarrassment.

  IT FELT good to be home. Danny and Elliot dragged their bags into the apartment they’d barely had a chance to settle into and collapsed on to the bed fully clothed. They were both exhausted. Danny could barely keep his eyes open, and Elliot had been drooping all day. The whole band needed a break. They weren’t going to get much of one.

  “This is nice,” Elliot murmured. He turned on his side and wound his arm around Danny’s waist. “I swear I’m not leaving this bed until our meeting with Sasha on Monday.”

  “We’re going over to your parents’ house for dinner tomorrow.” Danny’d been looking forward to seeing Elliot’s mom, and he knew Elliot missed her. He hadn’t missed his parents much and didn’t have any plans to see them. He had traded a few texts with Katie, though. A small part of Danny missed her, at least the friendship part. He wondered if they were ever going to be friends again.

  Elliot groaned. “Can’t my parents come here?”

  “El. It’s your mom. She hasn’t seen you in over a month.”

  “I know. I’m a jerk.” He dropped a tired kiss on Danny’s mouth. “I’m just tired. I’m sure I’ll be fine tomorrow.”

  Dinner with Elliot’s parents was nice, comfortable, easy. The meeting with Sasha on Monday was anything but.

  “’MORNING, gentlemen.” Sasha gestured at the chairs they’d sat in before, on the day he found them, the day they were signed as a group. Danny hated those chairs. He sat anyway. “First of all, congratulations again. ‘Fool for Love’ is doing far better than we’d hoped. I’m proud of you.”

  They all thanked him quietly. Sasha was smiling, but he wasn’t as happy as he should have been. At least Danny didn’t think so.

  “It’s time to start gearing up. The single was a test—a successful one. Now it’s time to get serious. We’ll need to deal with image, do some intensive media training, start talking about a tour once the album is dropped….”

  Danny’s head spun thinking about how much more there could be. The single had seemed huge already, but to think of the album, a potential tour? He couldn’t even imagine. The others were smiling nervously at each other.

  “But I have a question before we start all that. I wanted to talk to you privately before we bring in the management team. I need to know what I’m dealing with.”

  “What do you mean?” Tate asked. His brows drew together.

  “This question is for Danny and Elliot.” Oh. “I think you know what I’m about to ask.”

  “I think so too.” Danny raked his hand through his hair. Not good.

  “There are quite a few fans who’ve noticed something between you two,” Sasha said. He looked at Danny and Elliot speculatively. “I’m a little concerned about it.”

  “We’re all close,” Reece said defensively. “The fans love it. They love when we joke about our little bromances.”

  Sasha raised his eyebrows. “And that’s what we have here between Elliot and Danny?”

  Tate, Webb, and Reece all looked around and mumbled. None of them looked like they wanted to answer the question.

  Not going to lie anymore. “No, it’s not.” Danny’s voice barely trembled, which was amazing. He was terrified. Danny wasn’t stupid. Sure, lots of their fans saw it; sure he and Elliot were practically public with their feelings. But Sasha with the dollar signs in his eyes when he looked at Elliot wasn’t going to like it.

  “What exactly is going on?” Sasha asked. “I need the truth.”

  Elliot, sweet, shy Elliot, sat up straight and reached for Danny’s hand. He twined their fingers together rebelliously and looked right at Sasha. “Danny and I are together.”

  Sasha shook his head.

  “Well, then we have a big problem.”

  STATIC was called into another conference room the next afternoon. There was a large round table filled with faces, some familiar, some not. Rebecca looked at them, sympathy in her eyes. So did Peter. Sasha’s face was harder to read.

  “Have a seat, guys. We have lots of work to do.”

  Sasha’s assistant passed out thick packets to each of the guys at the table. “What’s this?” Reece asked, thumbing his packet open.

  “It’s called an appearance clause. I’m sure you noticed on your original contract that we reserved the option to add one of these if needed.”

  “An appearance clause?” Webb asked. His eyebrows flew together as he scanned the first page.

  “Yep. Sometimes it’s necessary to outline exactly how an artist or artists behave in public scenarios to maintain an optimal image for the fans.”

  A chill settled in the pit of Danny’s stomach. “What do you mean?”

  “We’ll go over this a section at a time so you all have a clear understanding, okay?” Rebecca said quietly. Peter nodded. The other three new faces at the table said nothing, just stared at the boys accusingly. Danny had a good idea why.

  “Let’s get started,” Sasha said. “First of all, this is your management team. You boys know Peter and Rebecca from White Star. They’ll work the closest with you when you go on tour, schedule your appearances, run your publicity. Also, we’ll have Leslie—she’s an intern. She’ll help Rebecca with your online presence. Mark and Katrina are product liaisons. A lot of companies are going to want a piece of Static very soon.” Sasha gestured. “These people are going to make you boys very successful. But we’re going to need some help from you.”

  The others nodded warily. Danny just waited—he wasn’t stupid. He knew whatever was going to be coming had to do with him and Elliot, and it wasn’t going to be good news.

  Mark, one of their new team members, spoke. “You boys are a product—” Reece went to protest, but Mark held up his hand. “Yes, I know you’re a musician, but I’m sure you like selling singles and when the time comes albums too.”

  None of them could argue with that point.

  “With successful sales come things like product endorsements, tours, awards. Real money. It’s our job to make you as appealing as possible as that product, as a band, so the girls will keep buying your music.”

  “No drinking?” Reece had been flipping through the pages of their contract. His face slid into outrage. “We’re not children.”

  “More like limit public displays of drunkenness. Read the rest of it,” Peter answered. He looked sorry, like he hated for the boys to have to deal with this. They hadn’t been with Peter long, only about two months, but he was a good guy. Danny didn’t want to hate that Peter was on the other side of the table, but it felt like the others were the enemy, facing them down. It felt like they were drowning.

  “We need you guys to be clean, not Disney clean because that’s not who you are. You can be cheeky, irreverent, but still be the boys that moms want their teenage girls to like. Any public misbehavior is going to cause problems, drugs, sloppy drinking, pretty much anything with underaged girls. Outside of sanctioned events stay away from an
y of them you’re not related to.”

  “So we just have to look like good guys,” Danny said. “That’s fine. We are good guys. None of us are like huge partiers or anything, and we’re not gonna hit on little girls.”

  “Well, there’s more to it.”

  Here we go….

  “To appeal to the girls, we need you to seem available to the girls—even if you’re not. I’m sure you remember that discussion. Tate, you’ve had a girlfriend the whole time. The fans actually seem to like when you talk about—?”

  “Felicia,” Tate said.

  “Yes. Felicia. Obviously, that situation is going to stay the way it is… but the rest of you need to remain publicly single, appear available to the fans.” Sasha shot a searching look at Danny and Elliot. “Except you two. One of you needs a very visible girlfriend. Now.”

  Elliot shot up in his seat. “No!”

  “El,” Danny said quietly. He didn’t know how he was going to get them out of this whole thing, but he would. He had to.

  “Sales would tank if girls knew that two of the boys they dream about at night are going to bed with each other. It can’t happen that way.”

  “This isn’t the fifties,” Webb argued “They’re not going to care. Our fans like us for being who we are.”

  “Don’t be so naive.” Sasha sat coolly in his chair. “You’re selling a fantasy, an image, just like makeup companies, just like clothing companies, like every other celebrity on the planet. Sure, if your single was a mediocre performer, if you were destined to do small shows in unimportant venues, then it wouldn’t matter. But we see major potential in you. We want you to realize it.”

  “And part of realizing it is to hide who we are?” Elliot sounded outraged.

  “To make yourself as appealing to the record-buying public as possible.”

  “But if one of us has a girlfriend, he’s not single. Isn’t that just as bad as people thinking we’re together?” Elliot asked.