Under the Lights

“My old therapist would say you’re emotionally exhausted.”

“The hot one you screwed on her couch?”

“That’s the one.”

Loud, high-heeled footsteps have both of us turning our heads. Liam replaces the barbell as Ally lets herself into the gym, protein shakes in hand, with my agent right behind her. Holly’s eyes widen for a second at the sight of us, sweaty and in nothing but gym shorts, and I give her my best wolf grin and watch as she sets her face back into stone.

People trying to make Serious Names for themselves in the industry are always the least fun.

Ally’s a little less immune to the sight, and I have to snap my fingers to get her attention as she drools over Liam’s sweaty, shirtless body like she hasn’t seen it a zillion times. “That envelope for me?”

“Shots from the Aspen shoot. You wanna go to your office?”

“Nah, let’s see ’em here.” We lay them out carefully, and I can see I look pretty damn good. “Don’t let them use this one,” I order, pointing to one by a palm tree. “I look short.” Not that I am.

“Your complex about being two inches shorter than me is getting a little pathetic,” Liam says smugly as Ally hands him one of the shakes and me the other. “So you’re not even six feet. So you’re basically only half a man. So what?”

“Fuck you.”

“Are they always this awful to each other?” Holly asks Ally.

“Yes,” Ally responds without hesitation.

“Delightful.” Holly turns to Liam. “So, Liam, Josh tells me you have a callback for Lassiter tomorrow. How the hell did Evan Cooper score that?”

Liam narrows his eyes at me. “You didn’t tell her Coop had nothing to do with it? What’d you do, Chester, make her feel like crap for not getting you an audition you didn’t even want in the first place?” He turns to Holly. “We met Lassiter in a club. And I’m better-looking and a better actor than Josh. That’s it.”

“And Mickey Davis is gonna let you do this?” she asks, referring to Daylight Falls

’ showrunner.

“I have no idea.” He mops off his face with a towel, then takes a long drink of the shake. “Haven’t gotten that far yet. You know Mickey, though. Think I got a shot?”

“Depends on their plans for you this season. How’s your storyline?”

“I surf. I hook up with Bailey, then cheat on Bailey, then get caught, then hook up with her again. Oh, and I surf some more. It’s all very exciting. Clearly, I’m indispensable.”

Everyone’s quiet for a moment, and then Ally snaps her fingers. “Okay, I know Van’s gonna kill me for suggesting this, but I think I might have a slightly brilliant idea.” She turns to Liam. “What if you got a guest star to be a love interest for Bailey? Like, a multi-episode arc? Would they let you go then?”

Liam shrugs. “It’s not impossible, I guess.”

“No, definitely not,” I agree, taking a sip from my own shake. “But if you write off or de-bang-ify a show’s biggest piece of ass, you have to provide a replacement of equal or greater bangability. So, who?”

Uh oh. She’s turning scary, determined Ally face on me. “You.”

“Me?”

“You.” She turns to Holly. “He doesn’t actually have any work lined up right now, does he?”

“No, he does not,” Holly confirms, her voice sweet, as if she’s not pissed I screwed up that one audition and then refused to go to any others. “But TV…”

“What’s wrong with TV?” Ally asks bluntly, cutting a glance at Liam.

“It’s a lesser form of entertainment,” Liam informs her, rolling his eyes. “Clearly, you’re just blind to my pathetic-ness because you like my body.”

“Oh, man, this is awkward. I’m not sure if I still want to make out with you after this.” She taps her mouth thoughtfully. “No, wait, I definitely do.”

Holly ignores them both. “If you’d just read one of the scripts I brought you at dinner—”

“I’ve read them,” says Ally. “Which one of those is a higher form of entertainment, exactly? The one where he’d have to play a prince in a complete crap-fest of a misogynistic Disney-wannabe movie? Or the absurdly pseudo-intellectual one that subtly advocates for eugenics?”

My eyebrows shoot up faster than my dick at the Playboy mansion. Ally must really want this for Liam; she never talks that much shit about potential projects on the table.

Holly scowls. “I think you’d better leave decisions about his projects to your boss.”

“I don’t know; I think I just made my decisions about those.” I grin at Holly before pouring half the shake down my throat. Sometimes it’s easier just to get rid of all the shit at once.

She smiles tightly. “Okay, then. I’ll send you some more tomorrow.” She stands, and Ally immediately steps aside, as if removing any obstacles to the door will get Holly out faster. Their passive-aggressive smile-off is a thing of beauty as Holly sees herself out.

“Well, that was unexpected,” Liam says, amused. “Thanks for the shake, by the way.”

“Is it as gross as it looks?”

“Worse.” He takes a final sip and tosses it in the trash, then turns to me. “I gotta go. But are you really interested in a guest arc? I could talk to Mickey.”