Chapter 2

Danny’s eyes went wide. What the hell could Trevor have done in five seconds to piss Ashley off this much? She got along with everyone. “What happened?”

“He called Kinky Boots a ‘cute little show’ and said he wished he could’ve come early enough to see our last performance, but his manager wasn’t able to get him tickets.” She shook her head, rolling her eyes as she handed him his jeans. “A sold-out show, of course he wasn’t getting in, but he was talking like it was a personal offense.”

Yeah...that sounds like Trevor.

Danny peeled off the Spanx and the nylons, not worried about Ashley seeing him naked. She was one of the few people who ever had, and only to give the papzz something to run with after Jamie was outed by Trevor. A dick move, but Trevor had been really upset about the whole drug bust and reporters caught him in the middle of one of his epic rages when he held nothing back.

Having his ass plastered on tabloids for a few weeks just to avoid suspicion had been awkward as fuck, but Ashley made it kinda fun, teasing him as he’d climbed into bed with her while she was surrounded by all her favorite treats on one of what they called their ‘cheat days’. Nudity didn’t matter much when he could indulge in some carbs, and she hadn’t made it weird.

Then, anyway.

The look she gave him once he was dressed now made him self-conscious as fuck. “You can’t even get form-fitting jeans? And what is this hoodie?” She folded her arms over her chest. “You have nicer clothes. Why not show off that you have your own style now? You’d never go out with the cast or crew looking like that.”

Groaning, Danny grabbed his colored contact lenses, slung his bag over his shoulder, and headed for the bathroom a few doors over, not surprised when she followed him in. After washing his hands, he put the contacts in, making his eyes the uniform dark blue that had been deemed more appealing when he’d gone to his first tryout at eight years old. Having one light blue-gray eye and one green might look cool to some, but wasn’t the sweet, unassuming look the label had been going for. He hadn’t been meant to upstage Trevor or Jamie, just blend in well with them. Which he always had.

And still would.

“Ashley, that’s not my style. It’s just how I blend.” He straightened, ruffling his fingers through his hair, grateful that the cut effortlessly fell into place. He needed to shower and shave, but that would have to wait until he got to Jacks’ place. The model, a friend of Jamie’s, was letting him and Trevor crash at his condo while they were in Anniston Falls. From what Trevor had told him, Jacks seemed nice enough. Apparently not as bothered by Trevor’s high-strung tendencies as Ashley was.

Which was a good thing, since Trevor showing up probably meant he wanted to leave tonight. Damn it, Danny should’ve gotten Jacks’ number so he could warn the man before they showed up unannounced. Trevor tended to...forget common courtesy. He was so busy and had so many demands on his time, it was understandable that he overlooked what his manager would usually handle for him, but Danny always hated when he ended up putting people on the spot.

Arms folded over her chest, Ashley watched him for a moment before stepping forward to fuss with his hair. “I’d tell you again not to go, but there’s no point, so I’ll just say don’t be a stranger.” She leaned forward, pressing a kiss to his cheek, leaving a small rosy lipstick mark he didn’t bother wiping off. She jutted her chin at his bag. “You have anything besides your gym clothes in there?”

“No, but it’ll be fine. I’ll pick up a few things once we get there.”

“Or you can go home and pack and have Trevor wait outside.”

That made him laugh. “No one makes Trevor wait for anything.” And like hell would he have Trevor in the flat. The mess of costumes and makeup and Broadway-musical-themed-everything wouldn’t be at all what Trevor would expect. Or the fact that Danny lived with five other people in the first place, while Trevor still had his gorgeous mansion in La Costa.

“You’re impossible.” Ashley shook her head but didn’t comment further as he left the bathroom, hurrying to the green room before Trevor decided to come looking for him.

For a minute, it seemed like he’d have nothing to worry about, because Trevor was sitting in a big, plush chair, sipping champagne and nodding as the leading man, Robin Fitz—who’d gotten the role Danny had tried out for and knocked it out of the park every single night—told him how impressive his resume was, writing songs for so many blockbuster movies. Trevor began his usual humble speech about the struggle of finding the muse for the music, and how magical it was when something finally clicked.

Apparently, he’d written one song in fifteen minutes, under the moonlight, after making love to his now ex-ex-girlfriend.

Nails dug into his palms, Danny kept his mouth shut. That song had taken him three weeks to write in whatever spare time he could find between rehearsals. Fine, no one else could know that or it would complicate the rights that had already been sold, but he hated it when Trevor made up these elaborate stories.

“There you are.” Trevor stood, smoothing his hands over his soft blue shirt which brought out the bright blue of his eyes. He flipped his golden-blond hair away from his forehead. “Robin was just telling me about how close you came to getting his part and that you were amazing for your first time. I can’t wait to hear more on the drive.”

“Yeah…” Danny shuffled in place, holding his rucksack loosely at his side as the room full of cast members looked at him expectantly. He cleared his throat. “You ready to go?”

A quick nod and Trevor led the way out to his car. He was strangely quiet on the drive, racing along the dark highway, gaze locked forward, expression thoughtful. Danny dozed, worn out after the back-to-back performances. He didn’t care if there was nowhere to sleep beside the floor when they got to Jacks’. After he cleaned up, he was gonna crash.

“You’re going to that club tonight.”

Sitting up so fast he almost cracked his head on the window, Danny stared at Trevor, hoping he’d heard wrong. “What?”

“The club.” Trevor shot him an irritated look. “Jamie never texted to confirm. I think he’s backing out. You’re going to convince him otherwise.”

Is he out of his mind?

“Why me? Jamie won’t listen to me. You two always talked more.”

“Why you? I don’t know Danny, maybe because out of the two of us, you’re the one who’s comfortable around...those kinds of people.” Trevor’s jaw worked. “And if you’re strutting around in heels I’m guessing you can at least act gay.”

Stomach dropping, Danny slid lower in his seat. This couldn’t be happening. He couldn’t be forced out of the closet by Trevor, of all people. He shook his head. “I didn’t...bring anything to wear to something like that. Maybe I can try tomorrow? Go to the Arts Center. He’ll still let us use it, right? Maybe record a few songs with us?”

“You can borrow something of mine.” Trevor’s tone left no room for further discussion. He gave Danny a quick once-over. “But you should nap until we get there. You look like shit.”

Helpful, man. Thanks.

Raking his teeth over his bottom lip, Danny curled into his seat and pillowed his head on his arms. This night was going to hell fast. He wouldn’t survive that club.

At least death would save him from complete humiliation.

Or facing the papzz when they started putting two and two together.

Once they reached the new condominiums at the edge of Anniston Falls, Danny was woken with a start and practically dragged inside. For some reason, the doorman let them right in, saying Jacks would be with them shortly.

Danny wasn’t going anywhere without a shower. He left Trevor to pick out the clothes he was going to wear and made his way to the bathroom, still half asleep. The hot water didn’t do much to wake him up, but at least he’d gotten the stage sweat off. He stepped out of the shower, rubbing his hands over his face and walked right into someone very tall. Almost threw himself back into the shower before a firm grip on his arm kept him from cracking his head on the tiles.

He gaped at the man he presumed was Jacks, then pressed his eyes shut. “All right, I’d just like to die now. Thank you.”

This would be a very good time for someone to yell, ‘Cut!’