Chapter One #2
Kayden Hart and Nate Walker were a Hollywood husband power couple and very good friends of mine.
They’d been together for several years and out publicly for nearly two, having announced the fact that they were married on the red carpet of one of their premieres.
They now lived on a sprawling estate in LA that often gave me fairy-tale vibes.
They’d been my rock when I’d come out, and they’d spent hours video calling me while also sending me two enormous flower arrangements and a box of doughnuts shaped like penises. I hadn’t laughed so much in years.
“You found us then,” said Tamsin Chu, strolling across to us and giving me a hug.
Tamsin was playing the younger of my two sisters, and we’d already developed a fun, playful relationship that I hoped would translate to the screen.
Mostly she just sent me TikToks and teased me about being old, which I vehemently denied even though there was a good thirteen years between us.
“Secretly he just wanted to be late and make a grand, dramatic entrance,” Kane said, giving me a wry smile.
“Of course. What else am I supposed to do? Be early?” I grinned. “Anyway, I can’t be the very last one. Where’s Gemma?”
“She’s over there,” Tamsin said, pointing to the other woman Kane had waved to, who was still deep in conversation with one of our directors.
Gemma Lee had been cast as my other sister, and I was looking forward to working with her again.
The last project we’d worked on had been a film called The Night Hours, which I’d won a BAFTA for.
It had been the last thing I’d worked on before getting thrown into the world of superheroes, and it was almost poetic to see Gemma on both sides of that nightmare.
“I’ll steal her later,” I said before glancing around the room to see if I could spy any kind of refreshments.
A couple of people were holding glasses of water or the small white cups you usually got at conference centres, but neither of those instilled confidence.
“What’s the coffee situation like here?”
“Honestly, not great,” Kane said. “It’s just one of those catering urn things. And it’s pretty weak.”
I frowned. I hoped craft services would fix that ASAP because I was not going to function for six months with shit coffee on set. Hopefully, there was somewhere locally that did decent drinks that I’d be able to get to. I glanced down at my watch. “How long do we have before the tour of the house?”
“Er, not sure,” Kane said. “I think they said they’ll start it about half eleven and then lunch at one.”
It was only half ten now. That had to be enough time to find something drinkable. Plus it would give me a chance to stretch my legs and have a wander.
“Is there a coffee shop in the house we could raid?” I asked but Tamsin shook her head.
“I asked that but apparently the house is closed while we film. I think the catering staff are providing craft services, but the house’s coffee shop is closed.”
“Bugger. Maybe if we asked nicely, they’d open the shop and make us lattes or something.”
Kane chuckled. “Or we could walk down into town. Austin and I found a cute little coffee shop there yesterday when we were looking round. Book something? I don’t know, but I think I remember where it was.”
“Oh, is Austin here too?” Tamsin asked.
“No.” Kane shook his head. “He’s gone off to Manchester for a few days, but he’s coming back at the weekend.
” He looked at me and smiled nervously. “We’re all in shared cottages on the edge of the estate.
I think you and Cas are in with me, but if you mind Austin staying, then he can find somewhere else. ”
“Of course not,” I said. “I like your boyfriend. He’s funny.” I reached out and slid my arm into Kane’s. “Come on, show me this coffee shop. I desperately need caffeine and fresh air.”
“I’m coming too,” Tamsin said. “I’ll let Alice know in case she wonders where we are and I’ll promise to be quick.”
“If it helps, we can take my car,” I said. “I’ll just need to get the keys off Cas.”
“Why are you taking the keys?” Cas asked, suddenly popping up beside me and damn near giving me a heart attack in the process.
“Fuck me, Cas! You can’t do that!”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“I want the keys so we can drive into town and get decent coffee. Unless you fancy driving us?” I gave him my best charming smile.
Cas raised an eyebrow. They were dark and thick and the only hair on his head.
One day I was going to pluck up the courage to ask him how he got the top of his head so smooth.
“Fine, I’ll take you. But someone’ll have to direct me. I don’t know how to get into Heather Bay from here.”
“It’s pretty simple,” Kane said. His arm was still linked with mine and I thought that was adorable.
I wondered if he was nervous about shooting now that we were here, especially given all the shit he’d gone through to get here.
I’d have to ask him later. It wouldn’t be too hard if we were sharing a cottage.
“It’s only about five, maybe ten minutes. ”
“Let’s go then,” Cas said, pointing to the door and directing the three of us out of it. “We haven’t got all day.”