AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“No!” I ended that offer abruptly. I may have needed his twenty Gs, but I didn’t need him to find me a pseudo-boyfriend. “I… I know someone.” I coughed again, the pill burning a slow progression down my esophagus. “I… I’ll call him.”
“Good.”
“Why are you helping me?” I asked, filling the silence.
It was his turn to clear his throat. To dally on the other end of the line. “You have a huge career ahead of you, Kam,” he finally said, as uncomfortable as I had ever heard him. “You’re more than… you deserve more than playing the quirky best friend. The class clown. The serial killer next door.” He tried to laugh. “It’s bullshit, that that’s what it comes down to. But it’s the truth. Take it from someone who knows. We’re worth more than that—people like us—but this industry’s not there yet.” He exhaled. “Look—I have to go, I have some calls to make. Just hold up your end of the deal and this will all go away.” Again, he forced a laugh. “Oh, and make sure he’s cute, okay? No one’s going to believe a girl like you has hooked up with an ugly dude.”
And with that, the line was dead.
I stared at the blinking amber charging light on my computer across the room.
People like us. Had he really just said that?
Had he meant…? I shook the rabbit-hole train of thought from my mind. There were other things I needed to handle first.
Like calling Dillon.
But I didn’t want to scare her. Not until it was handled. Then I could explain it all.
FUCK! I wanted to scream. I had the urge to leap from my bed and tear the curtains off my windows for no other reason than to be destructive. To take out my fury on something that couldn’t talk back.
Instead, I pulled myself together and scrolled through my phone. I hovered over the first name that popped up under the letterC. Was this really the right thing to do? If I was just more careful… If we were just more discreet…
But I’d thought we had been careful. I’d thought we were discreet. And the thing that mattered to me above all else was protecting Dillon. She couldn’t go through this again.
I punched the number. Two rings later, a familiar voice came on the line.
“Hey, stranger! Long time no talk.”
I swallowed, already hating myself. “Hey, Carter.”
Scene 36
“Kameryn, the world has been waiting on the edge of its seat for the release ofSand Seekers. I think we’d be hard-pressed to find a single corner of the globe not talking about this movie. How does it feel, knowing the first premiere is less than a week away?”
Dillon tuned out the anchor’s chattering commentary, instead watching Kam’s easy confidence and relaxed posture, her legs crossed and smile genuine as she continued to field questions about the upcoming film. She looked very different sitting there on the set ofGood Morning Americathan she had months earlier, during the first press appearances Dillon had watched from lonely hotel rooms. No longer did Kam fidget in front of the camera, or force a laugh to hide her unease.
At this point, she’d certainly had enough practice. This morning’s interview marked the twenty-first TV appearance she’d made in the last two weeks alone. Seventeen cities across three countries, with more than a dozen stops scheduled over the next four days. All paving the way to the Hollywood premiere.
“I’m so sick of smiling,” Kam lamented to Dillon when she’d called her the night before.
One wouldn’t know it, looking at her now. She laughed and joked with the talk show host, answering questions in turn.
What was one word she’d use to describe filming in Greenland?
Frostbite.
How did it feel to portray a character who had been an inspiration in literature to millions, knowing her face would forever be connected to the role?
An honor—and a daily panic.
Had she seen herself in the eighteen-story-high ad in Times Square outside the studio?
Well, yes. It had been hard to miss.
The anchor shared in her embarrassed laugh.
The interview went on and Dillon’s mind wandered as she stared at Kam’s image on her mobile. She tried to decipher all the ways she looked different since they’d last seen one another five months earlier. Her hair was shorter. Her makeup heavier. Her eyelashes fuller than they’d been before.
