Megs sighed. “Are you really already talking in celsius?”
Bobbi started to defend herself, but a banging sound made Sylvia and Megs perk up like house cats.
“Is that the door?” Megs asked.
Her mom was already throwing the blanket off. “It might be Frank. I told him he didn’t need to take another load over to the house, but he’s an overachiever.”
Megs turned back to the screen and took another sip of her herbal tea. Muffled voices wafted down the hall, but she didn’t pay attention until her mom called her name.
“Yeah?” she called back.
“Can you come out here?”
Megs sighed and set her tea on the nightstand, then stood and wrapped the blanket around her since she was braless in a soft cotton pajama shirt. She walked out into the hall and stopped dead in her tracks when she looked up.
Gideon was standing in the entryway.
Twenty-Three
“Hey.”Megs swallowed hard, pulling the blanket tighter around her.
“Hey. I called, but you didn’t answer your phone.”
Megs’ heart picked up speed.He’d called her?“I didn’t know. My phone was charging.” It sounded lame even to her own ears. This had to be about the last audition. She should’ve told someone she wasn’t planning to attend, but after what happened with Oscar, she didn’t feel like it.
Not that she wasn’t willing to confront the issue. She was. Eventually. But with everything else going on in her life at the moment, she didn’t have the strength to stand up to Oscar’s cajoling.
Gideon’s brow furrowed. “I was worried. You weren’t in class, and then when you didn’t answer—”
“I’m sorry. I should’ve texted back.” She motioned at the mess of boxes. “It’s been a lot.”
Her mom took this as her cue to exit. She mumbled something about needing to get back to the movie and left them alone in the front room.
Gideon shifted on his feet. “When do you move out?”
Should she invite him in?She wasn’t dressed, and she didn’t have any idea what he wanted. “Monday. Why are you here?”
Gideon pushed up his glasses, ignoring the bluntness of her question. “You didn’t show up for the audition.”
"Because I'm not doing it.” Megs crossed her arms over her chest. She thought back to that moment with Oscar in the corn maze. How every compliment Oscar had given her, every word of encouragement, every invitation was instantly soured by him leaning in close. Had any of it been real, or had he only been searching for his own romantic storyline?
She looked up at Gideon and was already formulating her arguments for when he inevitably said “you’re too good to quit” or “you can’t give up on this,” but what left his mouth left her slack-jawed.
“Matt told me he tried to kiss you in the corn maze. He wasn’t thinking about the fact that he’s the gatekeeper for you making a lot of money and securing a narration contract, and that’s on him. It was wrong, and I’m sorry.”
Megs’ throat worked. The tears that had been sitting behind her eyes during the entire movie broke free and puddled. She swiped at her eyes. “I did the exact same thing to you.”
Gideon looked affronted. “No you didn’t.”
Megs groaned and stepped over a line of boxes to sit on the couch. “Yes, I did. You told me what your boundaries were, and I crossed them.”
“Megs, you’re not my boss. You didn’t—”
“Don’t pretend I didn’t do anything! I heard you in the maze! You told Alli there was a complaint filed against you.” She dropped her head in her hands.
Gideon rounded a stack of crates and sat in the chair across from her. They sat a few moments in silence, besides Megs trying to swallow her tears and not break out into full on sobs.
Finally, Gideon said, “There was a complaint filed, but it was filed before—” He stopped and cleared his throat. “It was filed before that moment in the classroom.”
