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Fuck.
He was right. I was screwing up. Again.
I dropped my hand and stepped back, cursing myself. Then I did what all actors do when they’ve run out of script—I left the scene.
I avoided Reed as much as I could for the rest of the night and focused on my ‘date’.
That night was another turning point for our careers and our friendship.
The movie collaboration we teased to the press, the one directed by Jared Elwood? It made Reed and I the biggest stars in Hollywood.
But like everything in this business, when one thing rises, something else falls.
I just never thought that it would be us.
CHAPTER 10
REED
THREE YEARS AGO
“I’m worried Tate’s using again.”
Henn’s statement wasn’t surprising but it was alarming all the same.
“I went round to his house to check on him and there was a man there that I didn’t recognize,” she continued. “I don’t know if it was one of his hookups or his dealer, but Tate and, whoever it was, looked strung out in a bad way. I booted the stranger’s ass out of the house. Then Tate ordered me to follow.”
I stared silently at Henn as we sat in my backyard.
My stomach flipped over in the worst possible way, but at the same time, what could I do?
Tate wasn’t taking my calls again and I was so pissed off, I couldn’t form words.
“What happened?” she asked me. “He was doing so well, and then for the past year, you two just stopped talking.”
I sighed and took a sip of my gin and tonic. It was only noon, but whatever. A meeting with my agent, even one I loved as much as Henn, called for liquor.
Especially if we were talking about Tate.
“What happened was, he—” I paused and stared at her. “You cannot repeat this, Henn. Swear to me on your botox.”
“I swear.”
“At the gala last year, when we were doing the photo op, I thought he was acting strange. He never touches me in public. So, I pulled him aside and asked him what was going on. Then he… he tried to kiss me. But I wouldn’t let him. Because I knew, I just knew, that once he had, he’d deny it ever happened and then I would be devastated. We didn’t even kiss and I was fucked up afterwards! My relationship with Jules tanked and then Tate stopped contacting me. The only time I saw him was on the set of our fucking movie and even then, he refused to talk to me unless we were filming. And the whole thing is his fault! He was willing to throw almost six years of friendship down the shitter that night because he was horny! What the fuck was he thinking?”
Henn swore up a storm and shoved her sunglasses to the top of her head.
“Jesus Christ, you are two of a kind! And I don’t know what he was thinking, Reed, but my best guess is, he finally realized that he has feelings for you. Feelings beyond friendship.”
I scoffed at that.
“Tate doesn’t do romantic feelings. And even if he did, he’s not out, and probably never will be. I can’t do that to myself. I won’t.”
Henn stared at me with knowing eyes. “You’re still in love with him.”
I took another long sip of my drink and shook my head.
“I was. Past tense. Not anymore.”
