Page 54 of Shine For Me

This week has been a fucking nightmare. We see each other every day on set and she’s…fine. She treats me the same way she does the rest of the crew and our other co-stars. Cordial and professional. She spends her off-camera time playing word games on her phone like always.

But she eats her meals in her trailer, alone. And she doesn’t stop by my room when we get to the hotel. I’m thinking of inviting her to watch a Bachelor marathon or some shit just to get her to talk to me again, the way she used to.

Is that what I want, though? To go back to the way we used to be? Buddies? Co-workers? I wasn’t bullshitting her when I told her she was my best friend. That friendship meant a lot to me. She’s basically the only reason I survived my first few years in the industry. I’ve rarely found anyone as easy to just be with as it was to be with June.

Going back to that should be the goal, right? But every time I think that, I remember how June’s face had looked in those moments where I moved inside her. And all of a sudden,buddiesdoesn’t hold the same appeal.

“Earth to Fox,” my brother says, and I give myself a mental shake.

“I’m fine, man. A little tired. This is my first day off in a while.” I give him a smile. “Go ahead and rag on the whiney, overworked movie star. Poor me, right?”

He raises an eyebrow, looking so much like our mom I have to bite back a laugh. “I wasn’t going to rag on you. I know how hard you work on this stuff.”

I grin at him. “River definitely would have ragged on me. Guess I forgot I was talking to the considerate brother.” I point at the little box in the corner of the screen that contains our chess board. “Your move, by the way.”

“I know it’s my move,” he says. “I’m thinking.”

Ash and I have a long tradition of weekly chess matches. When I moved out of the house a few years ago, I made sure to find a decent online version so we could continue our games even when I wasn’t home. Of course, that became even more necessary once I started acting and traveling all the time. We try to meet up online at least once every week to play.

“Tell me what’s going on at home while you think.”

“Oh, there’s been some drama,” he says. “Did you hear about Nix?”

Nix is Alex’s younger brother—not technically our cousin but those two are as good as family to us. “What’s going on with Nix?”

“He’s refusing to tour with the band this summer.”

I groan. “The girlfriend?”

Ash smirks. “The girlfriend.”

A group of my cousins started up a band when they were in high school. They did some small gigs—mostly parties of their friends—but they’ve been working on taking things to the next level for the last year or so, starting with a string of gigs booked in the Seattle area at the end of the summer.

“He says he doesn’t think he can leave her,” Ash says, rolling his eyes.

Nix has been dating the same girl since sophomore year of high school. We all like her and she fits in with our crazy family, but…“He’s twenty years old. It’s not like they’re going to get married soon.”

“That’s what Silas told him. They had a huge fight, like, an about-to-throw-down kind of fight. Uncle Cash had to break it up when they started pushing each other.”

I whistle. “That doesn’t sound good.”

“Yeah. They’re talking about going without him, but Lyric says she doesn’t want to, so now Silas and Presley are pissed at her, and it’s this whole thing.” He makes a face. “And you know how the dads get when any of the kids are fighting. They keep butting in and trying to get them to talk, which just makes it worse.”

“Man, you weren’t kidding about drama. Suddenly I’m not feeling so homesick.” But that’s a lie. Drama or not, I wish I was home right now. Especially with how shitty things have been between me and Jules.

“There’s that clenchy face again,” Ash says.

“Are you ever going to take your turn?” I ask, trying to divert him back to the game.

“I’m still thinking. I’m also asking you what’s wrong. I can multi-task.”

I chuckle. “You’re such a little bastard sometimes, you know that?” I run a hand through my hair. “Nix isn’t the only one having girl problems.” I point at the screen. “And if you tell anyone about this conversation, I’ll kick your ass.”

“I’m not going to tell anyone anything.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Even Violet.”

His nose scrunches slightly before he agrees. “Even Violet.”