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“Just a reminder that we all burn sometimes,” had been her answer as to why she’d decided on the mythical bird. “It’s who we are when we drag ourselves out of the ashes that counts.”
“Holy shit!”
The blurted exclamation from Dani’s little brother, Marcus, drew me out of my daydreaming, back to the land of thirty-year-old scotch and spoiled brats dissatisfied with twenty thousand dollar handbags. There was something about the sharpness in his tone, the excitement behind it, that made me look up. I felt an uneasiness begin to tingle at the bottom of my spine when I found him staring straight at me.
“You’ve got a serious Doppelgänger, Kam!”
Marcus and I seldom spoke. Mainly because he’d developed an obsessive crush on me when he’d hit puberty, and when he was younger, if I said anything to him, the encounter would send him running from the room.Probably looking for a sock, Dani’d always teased.
His eyes were wide above his acne-crusted cheeks. “I mean, like, no fuckin’ lie—this chick looks exactly like you!”
“Marcus,” Darlene warned, but her son ignored her rebuke. His attention was flashing between me and his iPad, propped against his whiskey sour.
“Wow.” His best friend Nate leaned over to get a better look at his screen. “I’d do her.”
“Yeah, yeah, totally.” Marcus’s whole body nodded the affirmative as he reached out to continue scrolling. And then he stopped. “Wait. This is a joke.” He looked up at me again.
The tingle in my spine turned into a full-fledged quiver, raising every hair at the back of my neck with its uncomfortable icy chill. He looked down. Up again. Nate’s gaze followedsuit, the pair resembling a couple of young cockerels, clearly confused.
The guests around the table had gone silent, all staring at Marcus, waiting for him to elaborate. It was only Dillon’s eyes I could feel on me, her fork paused from where she’d been idly pushing around a bite of brie crostini.
Shit.
Shit shit shit. I hadn’t been ready for this.
“This has to be a joke.” Marcus continued to scroll.
Annoyed, Dani stood from two seats down and leaned over, snatching her brother’s iPad. “What are you going on about, Mar—” she stopped short, pausing to read. “I don’t—” her brow knitted, her face contorting in disbelief. She scrolled a few seconds longer, then darted her eyes to me. “Is this real?”
There was no point in playing dumb, they were going to find out eventually. It had just come sooner than I’d expected. If I hadn’t left my phone in my purse hanging on the hall tree, I imagine I would have seen a heads-up from Aaron and the studio.
“Yep.” It felt surreal, saying that. Having it out in the open. For months I’d been caught in limbo, stranded between exhilaration and disbelief that this was really happening. Every morning, part of me anticipated waking to an email, aDear Kam, we’re sorry, but… not allowing myself to truly commit to the excitement. But today—with whatever was on that screen—this was it. It was my turn to be someone. To take up space. To be more than just a seat filler.
Dani could kick rocks with her Birkin bag.
“I don’t believe this.” She tossed the iPad like a frisbee back to Marcus. “If this was true you would have said something.”
“I couldn’t. The studio wouldn’t allow it.”
Slamming herself into her seat, she upset a bowl of grapes that scattered across the table. “You said you were working ona project, Kam. Aproject. That—” she thumbed to where her brother had resumed an obsessive perusal of his iPad, “—is not aproject.”
“I signed an NDA, Dani. I wasn’t allowed to say anything until the casting announcement was released.”
Her sharp features warped into anger. It was exactly what I should have expected from her, but still it surprised me.
“Didsheknow?” She chucked her chin toward Dillon, her blue eyes smoldering.
“What? No one knew.”
“Then why isn’t she surprised?”
“No one knewanything,” I snapped, my own resentment rising. I swore to God, if Dani referred to Dillon assheagain—as if she wasn’t sitting right in front of her—I was going to take her plate of tête de veau and cram it down her Giorgio Armani sweater. “Couldn’t you just be happy for me?”
“Sweetheart,” my mom was concerned, “what’s going on?”
“Your daughter’s apparently been holding out on a little secret,” Dani seethed.
“It’s fine, Mom.” How was it I suddenly felt like I needed to defend myself? This was supposed to bemymoment. This was the best thing that had ever happened to me. “I got a role in the upcomingSand Seekerstrilogy.”
