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On a lighter note, it had been good for Harry, too, Dillon told me the evening I’d gotten home from filmingGood Day LA. He’d never had so manyswipe rightsin his life.British Triathlonhad even benefitted from the exposure, shining new interest on the sport.
But most important to me, Dillon had laughed it off. There was nothing in the video to link me to her. Blurred in the background were a few glimpses of her and Sam at the table, but theirs were just two faces amongst dozens of others. It was hardly surprising for Sam to be at one of her regular haunts with her best friend.
Only, this reporter had apparently covered Sam’s birthday party, too. He’d remembered seeing me with Dillon. According to Elliott, he even had a photo that showed us standing together in the background. It had inspired the newshound to do some digging. When he saw Dillon at the nightclub, he’d drawn his conclusion, deciding the coincidences were enough that he could get away with running an opinion piece on the topic.
“Now, it’s obvious,” Elliott was saying, “that the guy has nothing. He was just looking for an easy payout. He’d banked on the hope that the studio would be willing to fork over some petty cash to bury the story. Even if there is no solid evidence, these kinds of articles always lead to rumors…”
Again, I was sure I should be defending myself—denying whatever it was Elliott was getting at—but I didn’t have it in me. I didn’t care about a tabloid speculating my relationship with Dillon—but Dillon would care, and that was all that mattered.
“What did MacArthur say?” My mouth was dry. One of the ibuprofen felt like it was lodged in my throat.
“He told the guy to fuck himself. That no one would believe it—you were too hot to be a lesbian. He said he wasn’t willing to touch the topic with a ten-foot pole.”
“So he didn’t… care?” I asked carefully, trying to sort the situation out.
“Oh, don’t be ignorant, Kameryn—of course he cares. He cares alotif his prized romantic lead actress suddenly pops up as a full-blown lady lover! He just knows he can’t get involved. If word got out he spent studio funds on hush money to squasha story like this, it’d be a one-way ticket to labeling him a homophobe.” Elliott paused. “And heisa homophobe, Kam. Make no mistake.”
I swallowed, unable to find the outrage I knew I should be feeling. “So why are you calling me?” The pill rattled around, forcing me to cough. I wanted to tell Elliott that he could be the one to fuck himself. That I wasn’t ashamed of who I was. That he and MacArthur could ride their bigoted locomotive on the fast bus to hell.
But I was scared, actually.
Not about what it could do to my career—that came secondary. I was scared of what Dillon would do. How it would make her feel.
“I asked MacArthur for the guy’s number. I’ve already been in contact with him. One of us is going to pay him off, Kam—be it you or me.”
“Youwhat—!” Now Iwasangry. Not because it wasn’t the sensible thing to do. It was. Not for the reasons Elliott thought—because Ididneed this to go away—but because Elliott had taken the liberty of making the decision for me. “She’s afriend, Elliott! How dare you—”
“I’m not your enemy, Kam.” He didn’t rise to my anger, remaining completely even-keeled. The same way he had on the cliffs above Stonehaven. It was infuriating. “Honestly, I don’t give a shit what you do in your personal life. But that’s beside the point. If this story runs, it will change things for you. I’m not talking about our film—the franchise is too big, the fanbase too loyal, to be thrown off by these kinds of things. That’s why MacArthur won’t step in. It won’t affect his bottom line. Hell, it might even help things. But for you, on a personal level… Kam, this industry is brutal. On the surface, it may be all love-is-love kumbaya, but I promise you, it’s not. Rumors start floatingaround about your deviating love life, and I guarantee you, the big, starring roles dry up.”
Deviating love life. I thought I was going to throw up.
I couldn’t tell him I didn’t care about the starring roles. I just didn’t want my girlfriend to leave me.
“What am I supposed to do?” I whispered.
“First, we’re going to get this guy twenty grand—”
“Twenty gra—!” I started, appalled.
“—he wanted fifty, but it’s not worth it.The Sunwouldn’t even give him a quarter of that, not when it’s nothing more than speculation.” Elliott went on as if this were just daily business. “I’ve already got my lawyer drawing up a contract. This guy breathes a single word after payment, and he’s finished.”
“Elliott, I don’t just have twenty grand to…” It was ridiculous to be embarrassed. But the way he talked about the money, it was like he was discussing chump change. He and Grady had been paid more than ten times what they’d offered me for the first film.
“I’ll handle it, Kam. I’ll get him paid off, the story goes away, the picture disappears, and then,” he paused, and the weight of the pause was enough to distract me from arguing that I couldn’t possibly allow him to spend twenty thousand dollars on my behalf.
I waited.
“And then, Kam,” he resigned to continue, “we have to find you a boyfriend.”
Oh, yeah, no.This was where this madness ended. I’d heard of the beards of Hollywood. I wasn’t about to allow myself to give in to that deception.
“No way. Out of the question—”
“Get a grip, Kam! You don’t have to fuck him! But you need someone to stand in!”
To stand in… like my life was in need of a stunt double. Like this was a lighting test or blocking rehearsal.
“Don’t you have a friend—someone you trust,” he asked, “who’d be willing to go to functions with you? Someone you can take on holidays, plaster their face on your socials? If you don’t, I know some guys—”
