Page 55 of The Dramatic Life of Jonah Penrose
Jonah lowered the phone. “But social media would love it, Dex,” Jonah said, imitating Colbie’s voice. “You know what she said to me the first time she pushed for us to be nice to each other? She said we don’t have to suck each other’s dicks, but make people think we are.”
“Do you mean I didn’t have to give you blow jobs this whole time?” He picked up his costume and pulled it on over his head. “I could have saved myself a lot of jaw ache.”
“What’s her fascination with wanting people to think we are a thing?” Jonah asked, sitting himself in Dexter’s dressing room chair. “Best friends, boyfriends, whatever it is she wants us to be, is bloody weird.”
“I know. It’s why she hasn’t talked to me about it since, because I told my agent it made me uncomfortable.”
“What? Really?” Jonah’s voice came out higher than intended. “And Colbie backed off? Who the hell is your agent?”
“Stephen Carrington.”
Jonah sat up straight in the chair. “As in...theStephen Carrington? How did I not know this?”
“He’s very discreet. Everyone wants him to be their agent, but he actually has very few clients.” Dexter adjusted his costume, then cleared his throat. “He’s a dickhead, though.”
“But the best dickhead in the business, right?”
“He’s highly manipulative and doesn’t care about anyone other than himself. He’s formidable, sure, and represents some huge names, but I wouldn’t call him the best in the business.”
Jonah stood up and helped Dexter to fix the back part of the collar on his costume. “He’s not done right by you?”
“He’s... he’s actually the ex I told you about, the one who I wanted my dad to meet.”
Jonah’s hands froze midair as he considered the weight of the admission Dexter made. “You were a couple?”
“Yeah. He signed me and about a year after that we started sleeping together and it went from there.”
“That’s... I don’t think that’s okay, Dex. He’s a lot older than you. Like... he’sold.”
Dexter sucked in his bottom lip, then shrugged. “His age didn’t bother me.”
“But you were young, and he was in a position of power.”
Dexter grimaced. “It wasn’t like that.”
“All right, we’ll have to agree to disagree on that,” Jonah said. He couldn’t see how it wasn’t a relationship created around a power imbalance. “Isn’t it weird he’s still your agent now that you’re not together?”
“It was at first. Especially when... fuck, I don’t want to get into it. Either way, I signed an ironclad contract with him and I couldn’t get out of it. I could leave now, but I would be stupid to. It’s all in the past, and he gets me work. He got me Hector.”
“But not Achilles.”
Dexter scowled as he glared at Jonah. “Was there any need for that comment?”
“I’m just saying he didn’t get you the role you wanted, so why stay with him?”
“What does it matter? It’s nothing to do with you. And this is exactly why I said it’s not good to date people you work with. It makes things awkward.”
Jonah raised his hands up to his chest in surrender. “Okay. Sorry. I only came in here to get a picture so I could post it and write about how amazing you are.” Jonah paused for a moment. “Wait. I thought it was Henrik you were talking about dating when you spoke about it before.”
“Henrik? No.” The way he scrunched up his nose as he said his name told Jonah there would never be any inkling of romance between Dexter and Henrik. “That’s... way too complicated, and I can’t talk about it right now. Just take your picture, then leave me alone.”
Jonah couldn’t tell if Dexter was actually pissed with him or if the sullen attitude came as an accessory to the pout on his lips. He encouragedhim to smile, then took a picture of him, his face illuminated by the lights surrounding his mirror, costume slightly out of place, eyes still filled with annoyance.
“Is it okay?” Dexter asked, swiping the phone from Jonah’s grip to critique himself. “My hair’s a mess.”
“It’s cute.”
“Cute?”
