A stricken Shawn retrieved a pair of shattered sunglasses, far more chic than the lenses he currently wore. “These are designer, and you know it!” He raced toward the house, but I intercepted him, lifting him over my shoulder. I was surprised to see him lose it, given how docile he’d seemed, but property damage was as good a reason as any. “You’re paying me back, Greta!” he shouted from my grip.
“Exactly! Iampaying you back! You stole everything from me, you slut!” she cried.
Troy signaled me to ferry Shawn across the yard, which only agitatedhim more. “No, I need my stuff! Those are all the clothes I own, like,in my life!”
“I got it,” Erika volunteered, making uneasy eye contact with me as she stepped forward. We’d yet to speak since my reprieve, and though she’d allowed me to stay, I doubted she wanted to pal around. Moreover, I had a contractual obligation to carry a thrashing, weeping adult film star into an Italian garden.
We trooped past generic replicas of classical statues until we reached the waist-high stone wall at the property’s edge, where I released him. “Shawn, that was intense, huh?” Troy began, unnervingly gentle. “How about you tell Luke your side of things?”
Shawn sank in shame onto the little wall, his glasses smudged and stained with tears. “Here, give me those,” I said, sitting beside him to clean them with my shirt.
“My prescription ones. I usually wear contacts when we’re filming, but I guess we weren’t wrapped tonight after all,” he sniffed. “They’re hideous, huh?”
I handed them back, our fingers grazing. “Personally I like a classic tortoise shell.”
“You really don’t watchBeverly Blonde?” he finally asked, catching his breath.
“Somehow it’s eluded me.”
“I got cast two years ago. My agent pitched reality TV as a ‘lily pad’ to legit acting gigs,” he explained, and I tried not to be cynical about how many porn stars had graduated to studio blockbusters. “Of course, the whole cast absolutely savaged me over the porn. Except Greta. She was always on my side, even when we weren’t shooting.”
“She probably needed new blood to film with her,” I said, my tone far from neutral.
“No, it was real! Like, she knewEndeavorwas my favorite show and recommended me last year. That was before she started dating this douchey real estate developer, Nyle.” Shawn spat his name with disdain. “She woreall this branded gear for his company. God, there was even a diamond-studded phone case. They got engaged at a big party for theBBmid-season finale… which is when Greta found all this porn on his phone.” Shawn swallowed grimly. “All videos of me—and that jackass saidI’dsent them!”
Well, I understood why she hated him. “Yikes.”
“I never sent him anything. I offered to let her go through my texts, but Greta just kept saying I was a liar and she’s been on the warpath ever since.”
“She probably can’t stomach the truth,” I replied. “Sometimes the lies we tell ourselves are all that gets us through the day. God knows that’s the only way I endured the Log Cabin Republicans’ annual BBQ.”
He chuckled lightly, a smile sneaking up his cheek, as Troy’s hands clapped swiftly to our left. I blinked, stunned I’d somehow forgotten we were being filmed.
“Nice. We really got your perspective, Shawn.” Troy grabbed his walkie. “Zara, go to two… Is Norma Desmond still perseverating? Copy that. Okay, guys, Greta remains on her tear, so I’d chill here. There’s only so much footage that fits in one hour of TV.”
Troy and his camera team departed right when I saw Fortune emerge from the house to swim languid laps in the pool, despite Erika still fishing out Shawn’s clothes.
“Does nothing faze that guy?” I marveled.
“Not unless you cross him,” Shawn replied. “A bunch of dudes targeted him last year, so he volunteered for the Trials until he’d sent them all home, including Camdon. Full scorched earth. But he’s fair. He never fires the first shot.”
“What show did he come from?”
“A docuseries calledHeartbeat from Greatness. It was about celebrity bodyguards, but he didn’t use his real name. He joked once that we both had secret identities.”
“What was his alias?”
“Butter Knife.”
We both cracked up. “Well, Butter Knife handed me my ass today in the Tribulation.”
“Luke, I’ve been obsessed withEndeavorforever. Every fan knows you will always be the GOAT with anything physical. You’ll get your mojo back.” He bumped my shoulder with his. “Thanks for rescuing me, by the way.”
“Least I could do. You had my back the other night. Quite literally.” I blushed, my hand flitting to cover my scars like I was twenty-two again, bewitched by a cute boy. As our calves grazed each other against the wall, I knew I should leave, but I couldn’t resist the warmth of his attention. “Those glasses seriously make you look twelve,” I teased.
“Probably why I got cast inHairy Otter and the Sorcerer’s Bone. You know, they drew a dick-shaped scar on my head instead of a lightning bolt?”
“Okay, isn’t that a missed opportunity? Why not a lightning bolt on your dick?”
