Page 18 of Over & Out

“Three months.”

We shake hands. Then Tru leaves, telling me she’ll be in touch with details later tonight.

The moment she does, I drop into my chair, practically shaking.

What the hell have I done?

Chapter 6

Hopper

Iwake to the sound of whispering. Not that you’d call this haze fully awake. I get the sense there’s someone in the bedroom of this beach house we’re renting in Redbeard Cove for filming. Two someones, since they’re whispering to each other. But I’m too tired to deal withanysomeones, so I pull the pillow over my head. “Please, fuck off.”

There are too many people in my life and personal space at all times.

But that’s what I signed up for, right?

“Time to wake up, Hop.”

I groan at Tru’s voice. If I ignore her, she won’t stop. Still, I can put her off a bit longer. “Get lost, Tru.”

That would be rude as hell to anyone else. But that’s our rapport.

I grew up on the set of a show where during every episode, my on-screen dad and I would have deep talks on the family’s stoop about responsibility, peer pressure, and the dangers of drugs and alcohol. Then the minutethey called cut, he’d scream at me for blowing the take, scream at craft service if they didn’t have the right kind of sprouted wheat bread for his lunch, and leave the door to his trailer open while he did blow off a naked escort’s ass. Like, I was actually witness to that, walking by at thirteen years old. He didn’t get fired either. My own dad was almost as bad.

I’ve seen shit behavior for years in this industry, and I like to think I’m not at the bottom of the barrel. I’m certainly not winning any Mr. Congeniality prizes either.

But I just want to go back to sleep.

I was having a good dream, for once. I was a little kid again, riding down a hill on my BMX. Only, instead of jumping the puddle at the bottom like I used to do in real life, it turned into a lake and the bike turned into a magic floating bike. Don’t ask me. All I know is it was great. Reminded me of the before times. Normal times. Before all of…this.

More whispering. I curl the pillow tighter around my head.Mountain Manhasn’t started filming. I have no promo to do. I specifically asked for no meetings of any kind today since I’ve got an insane six-hour gym session later. I peek out from under the pillow to the window, which is streaked with rain. It’s still dark out too. But it always seems to be dark out here in the winter.

“Go away!” I grumble.

A weird rumbling noise follows. I’m about to lose my shit. I’m going to yell at Tru and she’s going to yell back and?—

GO-O-O-ONG!

I yelp. Loudly. The pillow goes flying. I swearmy head is doing that cartoon side-to-side wobble as the reverberation of the gong sound vibrates through my skull.

“What thefuck?” I yell, only half sitting up. My eyes are so bleary that my two assistants, Tru and Cindi, along with a giant round thing, appear in double. No. Quadruple.

I sit up fully, glowering. “A gong, Tru? Are you kidding me? What if I was hungover?”

Tru’s holding the gong stick or whatever the hell that thing is. “Like it?”

She bangs it again.

“No, I don’t fucking like it!” I flop back down, throwing an arm over my eyes.

“Good!” Tru says, sounding way too satisfied for my liking.

“Get it out of here!” I grumble.

“The gong stays,” says Cindi, my second assistant. The one who’s supposed to be nice to me. I lift my arm up to give her a stern look. She’s in her mid-sixties and all of four eleven, with pale skin, short white hair, and glasses perched at the end of her nose. And the energy of a goddamned teenager. I strongly suspect she’s the one leaking all the updates on my health and dating habits to my manager Mabel, since Mabel lives in LA and can’t keep her motherly eye on me all the time. Luckily for me, I’m in excellent health. And despite what the gossip sites claim, I haven’t dated anyone in months. I haven’t had the stomach for it. So I know the updates are far from juicy.

“The gong goes,” I warn Cindi. Everyone’s going tobang the hell out of that thing anytime they feel like getting my attention if it stays.

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