CHAPTER ONE
2006
“Jonah. Yo, Jonah, wake up.”
I opened my eyes with a start. “What?”
Nick was a blur as my eyes adjusted to the light. “I’ve heard you talking in your sleep before, but this was a full-on monologue.”
I closed my eyes and rubbed my damp face, my heart gradually settling down. “Sorry.”
“You said some weird things.”
“Let it go, okay?”
“Yeah, okay.”
I cracked open my eyes when he shifted on the bed before rising to his feet.
“You can go back to sleep,” I said, hating feeling embarrassed by something I couldn’t control.
Nick turned around, his bare chest covered in shadows from the blinds. Even fresh out of bed, he still looked handsome and very young. “I better get back home to go over my lines.”
I stretched my stiff body. “You know them better than whoever wrote them.”
He snickered as he started to dress. “Thanks for going over them with me. I was okay, right?”
It felt strange being asked about anything acting-related, but I tried not to overthink it. “You were great. Just remember to enjoy the audition; they can sense if you’re not having a good time.”
“Enjoy it? Unlikely.” He sighed dramatically. “Greg from my acting class already snagged a shitty pilot, and Sarah did two tampon commercials. Two! This audition could be my big break.”
The hope in his voice pulled me back fifteen years to the early 1990s, when it was me who relentlessly pursued my big break. At one point, I had been naive enough to believe I had found it.
I shook my head to derail the memory train. “Want a sandwich for the road?”
“Jonah Carter, are you spoiling me?”
“It’s just a sandwich.”
“Empty carbs is what it is!” He hurried out of the room as if I’d offered him poison.
I exhaled and glanced at the clock next to my bed, my stomach churning at the sight of the date.Two more days.It felt like a ticking bomb, though I wished it would detonate already, because the waiting was its own torture.
I got dressed and stepped into the living room, wincing against the sunlight.
“I’m making myself a sandwich,” Nick said from the kitchen area with his back to me, his blond hair messy.
I crossed my arms. “What about the carbs?”
“Are you calling me fat?”
I didn’t bite.
“You have plans today?” he asked.
“I’ll head over to the studio soon.”
“Really? On the Lord’s Day?”
