Page 41 of Shine For Me

“Oh. Okay, then.”

God damn it, I hate that expression on her face. The rejected, wounded one. I’ve seen her wear it a half dozen times around her so-called fiancé, and even more times around her grandfather. It’s an expression that says she’s not at all surprised to be cast aside and made to feel unimportant. Like she’s just been waiting for it.

“Hang on,” I tell her, reaching for her wrist. I don’t really have a plan here, I just don’t want June to have that look on her face. Especially not because of me.

“Sit down, okay?” She does and our eyes meet across the table. I’m reminded of the way she’d looked on the boat earlier, her hair messier, her face free of makeup. How her eyes held a measure of fear—but even more determination—when she told me about Adam. She’d trusted me today.

Could I do the same thing now?

“I have trouble with this shit,” I blurt out, before I can talk myself out of it. “With, uh, reading.”

Her eyes widen just a fraction but she doesn’t say anything, waiting for me to go on.

“I’m dyslexic,” I explain, forcing myself to hold her gaze, even though I’m afraid I’m about to see pity in her eyes. But her expression doesn’t change in the slightest. She just watches me, patient and listening.

I let out a shaky breath. “I’ve gotten pretty good at managing,” I tell her. “I’ve had lots of support and learned all kinds of tricks.” I slide the script back onto the table. “It’s just hard when we get big changes without much warning.”

She nods, her expression thoughtful. “What kind of tricks?” she asks. “What do you do that helps?”

I shrug. “Lots of stuff. Using a book mark under each line of text helps my eyes from going all over the page. Changing the font helps. Colored paper is easier than white.” I study her face for a second. She doesn’t look the slightest bit weirded out by any of this. Not that I thought she’d be a bitch—June isn’t that person. But finding out your co-star can’t read his fucking script has to be a shock. Still, she just looks thoughtful, like maybe her brain is working to think of a way to help me through this.

I sigh, figuring there’s no point in not coming clean now. “The thing that helps the most is tohearthe lines,” I admit.

She brightens. “So you have someone read them with you?”

“Kind of.” I rub the back of my neck. The embarrassment isn’t going anywhere. In fact, I think it’s about to get worse. “My mom reads all my lines and records them for me. Then I can listen to them while I read. For some reason, that’s the only way I can get the words to stick.”

Her eyes widen. “That’swhat you’re always listening to on set. I’ve always wondered.”

I nod. “Yeah. Usually.”

“So your mom is pretty awesome, huh?”

I chuckle. “Yeah, you could say that.” I point at the new sides. “But she’s out with my dad at a charity thing tonight, so I can’t send her pictures of these changes to read.”

For the first time, June looks surprised. “She records the changes, too?”

I rub my neck again as my face heats. “Yeah. Pretty pathetic, I know.”

“Hey.” Her voice is sharp and when I look up, she’s scowling. “It’s not pathetic. I’m just…you know you could get in trouble for that, right? Taking pictures of scripts is a pretty big no-no.”

“I know. Believe me.” I shrug. “Just never figured out a better way to do it.”

Her eyebrow goes up. “Really? ‘Cause it seems pretty obvious. Why don’t you have an assistant? If you had a PA, they could do this for you. Even the last-minute stuff.”

I sigh. “That’s what my mom keeps saying.”

“And…”

“And what?”

“And why haven’t you hired one?” She shakes her head. “You should have one anyhow, even without the script challenge.” The script challenge. I kind of like her putting it that way. Like this difficulty is not some massive character flaw of mine—it’s just something that needs to be dealt with.

“I held off on getting a PA because…” Jesus, this is going to sound stupid. “I didn’t want my brother to give me shit.” I say the words real fast, part of me hoping that she won’t hear me, but she definitely does. Her eyes narrow, arms crossing over her chest.

“You’re seriously willing to make your life a hundred times more difficult just so River doesn’t tease you?”

“Not just River,” I say quickly. “Ash can be brutal when he wants to be. And there’s Will and Wyatt—” I cut off at the look on her face. I’m clearly not making my situation any better here.