“Sebastian Shaw, I know you aren’t making a mess in my trailer.” My mother came in, hand on hip. She was in costume, a matronly fuchsia dress. Her black hair, normally soft and smooth, was curled and teased to resemble a woman from the eighties. Fake blood had been splattered all over her dress, face, and arms. She kicked off her thick pumps and huffed. “Don’t you have something better to do than make out with my daughter and get popcorn all over my expensive furniture?”
I blushed and glanced over—Sebastian was grinning ear to ear.
“Actually, I don’t, ma’am. My scenes aren’t for another hour.”
“Lita,” she corrected. She wagged a finger at us. “Just because you two are dating doesn’t mean I’m an old lady. And I got done early, so they’ll be calling for you soon, I bet.”
Her costume suggested otherwise, but I wasn’t going to be the one to tell her. She was turning forty-nine this year, but in Hollywood, that was basically thirty.
I patted Sebastian’s knee and looked up at him, taking in just how cute he was. I was so lucky. I was living every teenage girl’s dream. I was dating Sebastian Shaw, the Hollywood bad boy. He was on the cover of magazines, movie posters, and had already won awards, at just sixteen. With his long, jet-black hair, green eyes, and chiseled jawline, he was easily the most handsome boy I’d ever seen. Even before he’d started getting tall and working out, I’d had a crush on him.
And he was in love with me.
“We have such sights to show you,” I said—our secret way of telling him to go with it because it would be worth it after. Which, in this situation meant prepare to shoot a scene. I squeezed his hand. “I’ll come see you after your scenes,” I promised. Now that my mom was done with hers, Sebastian would be called to set shortly, which meant, if we were lucky, he’d get out early. Reluctantly, he left, giving me one last lingering kiss before running out.
“You two are too cute,” my mom sighed as she peeled off her costume and headed to the shower. “Remember, I’m going to dinner tonight. I won’t be home.”
Oh, I knew.
“These are very important men, and I suspect I may be out all night, so you’ll need to catch a ride with Sebastian in the morning. I presume he’ll have snuck in to keep you company.” She shot me a look that was equal parts motherly warning and sisterly amusement. I cringed. She’d given me the sex talk the day before, and it was just as awkward as one could expect. Made worse by how pro-sex she was. I would have rather had the “stern-purity-bullshit” speech over the “lubrication-is-your-friend” one.
“Maybe.”
Despite being far too interested in my pending sex life, I loved the relationship between us. Lita Reyes had spent almost twenty years in the spotlight before deciding to have me. She claimed she wanted a best friend who, in her words, “was more beautiful than she could ever be, but just as smart.” While I wasn’t so sure about the whole “more beautiful” part, I appreciated the sentiment. My mother was a Latina bombshell. I could only be so lucky to look like her.
Maybe then I could star in movies.
From day one, I tagged along with her to movie sets. The cast and crews always treated me warmly, and many of them, as we continued on with theSimon Saysfranchise, came to feel like family. They played games with me in between their scenes, and I’d help them run lines. I came to the premieres, and they came to my birthday parties.
It was how Sebastian and I met. My mother introduced us on the first day, despite Heather arguing that the talent shouldn’t be distracted. We were the only kids on set forSimon Says, so the production company set up a trailer for us to attend school in. In between classes and filming, we kept each other company in our trailers, watching movies, pretending we were part of those worlds, and for a little bit—pausing the world we actually lived in. We bonded over existing in a world meant for adults. I’d never hung out with a kid my age before him, so he was special to me. And later, as we grew up on set... I became special to him as well.
Later that night, as my mother was heading out the door in a gorgeous red, skintight cocktail dress, she paused to kiss me goodbye and to remind me to lean on Sebastian.
“Hollywood is an awful yet magical place. If, for some reason, I’m not there, you two need to stick together.”
Her eyes bore into me for a beat longer than comfortable. I cocked my head, curious.
“Who are you doing dinner with again?”
She inhaled deeply and looked away.
“Six men who don’t deserve the privilege.”
I didn’t understand. Lita Reyes was like that sometimes. Blunt when she needed to be, cryptic when she wanted to be. I suppose it didn’t matter who these men were. Her tone and grim expression told me I should be so lucky to never meet them.
She hugged me one more time and left without another word.
I watched from the window as she walked down the long drive and stepped into a limousine. Then, I called Sebastian.
“WHOA.”
Sebastian rolled off me and collapsed onto the mattress. Our bare chests rose and fell in matching rhythm. My skin was slick with sweat, and my heart was beating so fast, like I was the Final Girl in one of the movies we loved so much. My body was reacting as if I’d just sprinted through the woods, only to be caught by the handsome serial killer, and I wasn’t mad about it. I’d be Sebastian’s final girl any day.
“Was it good for you?” He turned and propped his head up in his hand.
I rolled to face him. “I mean, yeah. It hurt, kind of. It hurt a lot when you first started, but after a while, I forgot about the pain.”
“They say that’s normal,” he offered, running a finger down the middle of my chest, between my breasts. “I love you so much, Evie. I’ve never loved someone as much as I love you.”
