Even though I could fall asleep standing up, a nervous energy courses through my body.I take one last look at myself, inhale a deep breath, and head to my car.
As soon as I set foot inside the huge mansion—one of those private estates built for maximum discretion at parties for the ultra-rich—in the Hollywood Hills, it feels like all eyes are on me.
Some people I’ve never met call my name.It only takes me a moment to realize this isn’t the sort of event I should have showed up to alone.Not anymore.I’m no longer the invisible soap actor fromEcho Bay.I’m one of the hot lesbians fromQueer Girl Summer.
“Avery, hiiii,” Ingrid, Leslie’s first assistant, takes me by the elbow.“Leslie is over the moon that you could make it.She knows you’re just off the plane.How are you?”
“I’m fine.”
Ingrid grabs two glasses of champagne from a waiter who has suddenly appeared next to us.She gives me one.I hold up my hand.
“I don’t drink.”
“That’s right.Sorry, I forgot.”She stands awkwardly with the two full champagne flutes in her hands.“Do you want me to take you to Leslie, or would you rather just work the room a little?”
Work the room?I thought this was a birthday party and not a networking event, although, I guess, in this town, those two might as well be synonymous.
“I’ll just wander for a bit.”I smile at Ingrid, who is being very nice to me on what must be a stressful day for her.“Thank you so much.”
“Of course.Find me if you need anything.”She smiles back, her gaze lingering.Oh.Is this one of those moments Stella was talking about the other day?Is Ingrid flirting with me or am I too tired to adequately assess this situation?She’s probably just doing her job, though.“I’ll send someone over with the alcohol-free selection.”
The next half hour, I’m swallowed up by group after group of people who act as though they’ve known me forever.I’m profusely complimented onQGS—“If you’re not a shoo-in for the Oscars, the Academy has really lost it,” some gray middle-aged guy says to me—and a woman even commends me on my performance inEcho Bay.
It’s all a bit much for my jet-lagged brain, but at least I haven’t had to shove any dickheads yet.I shouldn’t, but I smile at the thought.Also because it makes me think of Nic, who explicitly told me I can shove as many misogynists as I want to.I haven’t seen her.She was right.This is a massive party.
I see Leslie, though.I make my way over to her to give her my best wishes.
“Ah, my favorite client.”She opens her arms to me, and I step into her embrace.
“You don’t look a day over thirty-five, Les,” I say, because, from the start, Leslie has encouraged this kind of familiarity.
“Thank you, darling.”She presses her lips to my cheek.“Good god, look at you.”She winks at me—I soon learned that Leslie really likes to wink.“Let’s get a lunch on the books this week.Ingrid will call you, okay?”
“That would be great.”I scan her face for any resemblances with her sister.They have the same deep-brown eyes, but Leslie has clearly had more Hollywood beauty treatments than Nic.Her hair is much darker and her face much sterner because of all that Botox.
Everyone wants a piece of Leslie today, of course.Oh my god, that’s Sadie Ireland heading toward her right now, her hot wife—again, Sienna’s voice in my ear, saying that I can’t refer to a woman like that because of the patriarchy—in tow.I grew up watchingKing & Princeon our shitty little TV and if I ever thought I might be heterosexual, Sadie Ireland in her tight leather jackets killed that thought instantly.I huff out some air.I’ve come a long way from watchingKing & Princein our perpetually hot single-wide—a very long fucking way.
I’m looking at Sadie Ireland, who leftKing & Princeyears ago, in the flesh.Back in the day, when I watched it with my mom, Sadie was married to her male co-star.And look at her now.I wouldn’t mind playing opposite her someday.Maybe in a scorching age-gap—oh, fuck.There she is at last.Dr.Nic Forbes in all her glory.
I only see her from the side, but I know it’s her.She’s wearing a glittery dress with a thigh-high slit, showing off her gorgeous legs.And she’s talking to Ida Fucking Burton.
I am light-years away from the trailer park, indeed.
Chapter10
Nic
“Oh, fuck, I’m so sorry, Nic.”Ida looks past me.“I just spotted Avery Hall.”
“She’s had a massive crush on her sinceQueer Girl Summercame out.”Faye may roll her eyes, but her voice is full of mischief.
Ida and Faye’s banter is just background noise as I turn around.I look straight into Avery’s face.I try not to smile, but the corners of my mouth seem to have a life of their own.It’s completely wrong to think of a client this way, but she looks smoking hot.To the point of smoldering?—
“Excuse us.”Ida and Faye barrel past me as they walk over to Avery.
“Hm,” Derek hums in my ear.“It looks like Faye and Ida may enjoy something in their sandwich, after all.”He puts a hand in the small of my back.“Let’s go meet the toast of the town.”
My heart hammering in my chest, we take the few steps that separate us from the group of three that Avery, Ida, and Faye have formed.
