Seeing clients long-term suited her, as she’d discovered. Tracing their progress and helping them surmount obstacles in their lives and minds week by week … it was hard but satisfying work, and it didn’t leave her scraped empty at the end of each day.
In fact, her life overflowed with so much friendship and love and warmth and adventure, she could afford to share some of it with an unseen audience.
Normally, she didn’t let herself be dragged directly in front of the cameras, but sometimes she did. By Sionna, or Carah, or—most often—Alex.
At their urgings, she’d take a deep breath, tilt her chin high, and describe what she’d seen that day, and she’d do so with absolutely no neutral remove. As a participant in her own life, rather than a spectator. Then Alex and Carah would tease her until she scowled at them and snorted with laughter.
In the third episode, Lauren had even kissed him on camera. Caught up in their usual banter, she’d forgotten their audience. But when she remembered, she didn’t shy away from his arms clasping her tight, because she wasn’t ashamed of herself or of him, and she refused to act as if she were.
“Here’s how Alex and I think about it.” Lauren took a sip of water, still smiling at Vika. “Unleashed isn’t just a show. It’s our lives on camera. And we want to share our lives with the people who matter to us, so we’ll always welcome our friends and family on set. We’ll always encourage them to come as often as they can and stay as long as they can, because their presence is a joy. We’re also grateful for StreamUs’s support of that decision and their help coordinating everyone’s schedules.”
There. She’d answered the question without fumbling her words, and her hands weren’t shaking anymore.
She could do this. With Alex at her side, she could do anything at all.
FOR A MOMENT, Alex could only stare at her beloved face, awash with pride.
Her answer had been confident and clear. More than that, though, it was diplomatic and thoughtful and sincere and kind.
It was Wren, laid bare to the world.
He pressed a kiss to her cheek, then forced himself to turn back to Vika. “Yeah, filming with our friends and family is great. Especially when a bunch of them can visit at the same time, like in Vegas.”
Vika leaned forward. “Speaking of Las Vegas …”
Well, they’d both known this was coming.
“So far, your Gold Coast visit with your mother is your most-viewed episode.” She was nearly vibrating with eagerness, her expression avid and delighted. “But I suspect the upcoming Sin City episode will surpass those numbers. Care to tell our viewers why?”
The Gold Coast trip remained special to him for so many reasons. The pleasure of revisiting treasured sights from his childhood. The extended time he got to spend with his mom, all without a decade of grief and guilt tainting their love for one another. The way she’d adored Wren. The moment she’d told the camera, tears pooling in her gray eyes, that she was so proud of him it hurt sometimes, and he’d cried a little too.
But even with all those amazing memories, yes, Vegas was better.
Not just the highlight of the show, the highlight of his fucking life.
“Ahhhhhhh. Good question.” Grinning like the fool he was, he kissed the top of Wren’s head and breathed in the familiar scent of coconut. “During our trip to Las Vegas, after countless weeks of pleading and lamenting my lost virtue, I finally got Lauren here to make an honest man out of me. On Christmas Day, because I’m clearly the most enticing present imaginable.”
You’re my wish come true, Wren, he’d told her in their blackout-curtained suite on the Strip, resting naked in her warm arms after one of their very frequent and delightful pegging interludes. Please be mine forever. Please make me yours.
They’d called everyone the next morning, and three days later, he became Mr. Wren Clegg. Or, rather, still Alex Woodroe, but they both knew that was just a formality.
“The hundredth time he complained about how cheap he felt, I couldn’t take anymore, Vika,” Lauren said, completely deadpan. “It was either a ring or a muzzle.”
The frown was hard to muster, but he tried anyway. “Why was I not told about the muzzle option? We both know I enjoy—”
Her hand covered his mouth, and she spoke over him. “It was a lovely ceremony, and we’re delighted so many of our friends and family could come on such short notice.”
His mom and her parents. All his Gates castmates, other than Ian. Sionna. Dina.