“Let’s say I overestimated my appeal.”
“Shocking.” He blows air kisses at me until I push him off the sofa with a thump. Doesn’t stop him from laughing, even if he’s doing it from the floor.
“You love it, don’t you?” he says. “That he treats you like a regular guy. Probably even that he said no to you like you’re someone who ever hears the word no.”
“It’s not like that,” I say. “And I hear the word no a lot. Got turned down for that dog movie last year, didn’t I?”
Vin snorts. “You didn’t want to do a family movie anyway. You were trying to make a point to Roberta.”
Well, yeah. I was trying to prove that my brand extended beyond explosions and car chases, but the plan had been for me to turn them down when they offered me the role, not for them to say they thought my high-profile reputation would distract audiences from the dog. When Roberta heard, she patted my cheek and told me to trust the formula.
“You can’t control everything,” Vin says.
“I know that.”
“And pretending you’re someone you aren’t doesn’t solve anything.”
“I’m David.”
Vin rolls his eyes, then the rest of himself as he wiggles and squirms until he’s able to get to his feet. Even standing in front of me with his hands on his hips, he’s still only a head taller than I am sitting down.
“You’re Damian Marshall. Maybe it still says David on your birth certificate, but you haven’t been that person in a long time.”
“Well, what if I don’t want to be Damian anymore?”
He throws his head back with a sigh that’s moved beyond world-weary into galactically weary. “You’ve only ever wanted to be Damian. You’re pouting because Jack doesn’t want you, and your shitty ex has made being Damian a little bit harder. Guess what? Being anyone is hard. You don’t want to do the work.”
I nearly point out that Jack does want me, he just wants his job more, but that’s not really his point. And spending time with Jack is a fun distraction, but it won’t magically solve my problems.
I glance at the pages Vin was working through when I walked in.
“Is this my script?” I ask.
“You should read it. And call Roberta. She has some ideas for how we can get you back into Hollywood with limited fuss.”
Limited fuss sounds good. We can pretend this whole thing never happened. Someday, Jack will figure out who I am, but by then this trip will be a fun story he can talk about at parties. Two fishing boats passing in the night. That’s all we can be to each other.
