Page 41 of Dream (Fighting Fate)

Lucas laughed. “It’s fucking ridiculous. The funny thing is, I haven’t actually slept with any of them, but none of them want to admit that because they don’t want to be the undesirable one.”

“So, what does Nicko want you to do about it?”

“Fucked if I know. I could understand if I was really out there fucking every chick I saw, but man . . .”

We both sighed. This was the downside to fame.

“So, what about you?” he asked.

I groaned. “You don’t want to know.”

He laughed. “I fucking do now.”

Taking a sip of my beer, I searched for a way to explain Liv. Hopefully, it was something good. “I met someone.”

“And?”

“She doesn’t know who I am.”

Silence came over the line for a moment. “Serious?”

I laughed, but there was no humor in it. “She really doesn’t. She’s been living in Uganda for the last six years—part of some world aid group or something.”

Lucas whistled. “Shit. What that would be like . . .” he said in wonder.

“Amazing,” I said. “She’s amazing. She’s so relaxed around me, you know? She laughs and jokes, and teases me like I was just any other person. Earlier today, she was just hanging with us, playing pool and fucking around. It was great. And she surfs.”

“She sounds great. What does she think you do?”

“I told her I’m an actor,” I said carefully. “I just didn’t elaborate how successful I was at it.”

I heard him murmur a little. “That’s fair. So, what’s the problem?”

My shoulders slumped a little more. “She’s nineteen, and she has zero experience.”

“Oh.”

I exhaled in a huff. “I would probably go for something a little more graphic than that. ‘Fuck’ works pretty good.”

I could practically hear his sympathy streaming down the line. “I can imagine. Have you thought about telling her the truth? Seeing where it might go?”

I shook my head, even though he couldn’t see me. “It can’t happen. I’m off to Florida in the fall.”

“Bummer, man.”

I slumped even farther against the railing. “I know.”

“Fuck, man. That’s shit. Typical, though, isn’t it? It’s like we have to give up any chance of something real when we give up our privacy. I can’t see myself ever settling down. Not because I don’t want to, but because the only chicks that’ll put up with the shit are our female equivalents, and they’re all bitches.”

They weren’t all bitches, but I knew what he was trying to say. It was the price of success in our business.

“This shit is depressing. Let’s change the subject,” he said suddenly. “So, Steven Wilder, hey?”

Steven Wilder was the director for The Silver Gate. Neither of us had worked under him before, but he’d done some amazing work. “Yeah, man. I’m really looking forward to it.”

He murmured with agreement. “Yeah, I’ve heard he’s good. He’s supposed to run a pretty tight ship. Hannah’s good to work with too. She doesn’t go for any of that bullshit.”

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