TWO
MADISON CRANE FELT HELPLESS, TRAPPED IN an unbreakable cycle. Alone, lying on her couch, she opened her text thread with her ex-girlfriend. The most recent message was from four and a half weeks ago. That might be her new record.
Maddie: Busy?
Kim: Just waiting for you ;)
The first time Maddie had invited Kim to a party in the Hollywood Hills with her, she noticed Kim’s wandering eyes.
Suddenly, Maddie felt outshone by any woman even slightly more famous than her.
In public, Kim made Maddie feel dull. But in private, well, Kim fulfilled a physical need.
Even after their breakup, Maddie had secretly held onto the hope that one day their chemistry in the sheets could turn into something real.
A warm summer breeze pushed against Maddie as she stepped out of her car into the Los Angeles night. Each step toward Kim’s front door seemed to grow heavier as the wind howled around her. She tried not to read into it.
Maddie found Kim leaning against the door jamb with her arms and legs crossed, wearing nothing but an oversized T-shirt. The faint glow of her front porch light lit Kim’s face just enough that Maddie could see the satisfied gleam in her eye.
“Miss me?” Kim asked with a smirk that showed off a single dimple.
It doesn’t help that she’s so hot, Maddie thought to herself, hating the way her body responded to Kim. And then a smaller, weaker voice chimed in, Maybe this time will be different.
Letting muscle memory take over, Maddie’s five-foot-five-inch athletic frame smoothly lifted Kim by her bare ass, hiking up her legs until they latched around Maddie’s body.
She kicked the door shut behind her, and with her eyes closed and Kim’s lips on hers, guided herself down the familiar hallway toward the bedroom.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” Kim mumbled against Maddie’s lips.
Maddie tossed Kim onto the mattress and stripped the loose T-shirt from her body in one clean motion. She then stepped back and removed her own clothes, not wanting to draw this out.
Moving to the bed, Maddie crawled on top of Kim, sucking on her neck until she elicited a moan from her ex beneath her, leaving a bruise the size of her mouth.
Maddie sat up straight and angled her body against Kim’s, sliding into place until their two aching centers met.
Biting her bottom lip, Kim watched as Maddie ground against her. “Don’t stop,” she groaned, now gripping Maddie’s hips and guiding her movement.
Maddie rocked harder and faster. She could feel Kim’s body coiling tighter in time with her own until, in unison, they let loose a final, shaking cry. She collapsed next to Kim as their breathing steadied.
As Maddie stared up at the ceiling, still panting, she felt Kim shift beside her. She turned, opening her mouth to speak, but then stopped. Kim was already on her phone, with her back to Maddie, swiping through Her.
She had to check her fucking dating app? Unbelievable.
Too tired to care that night, Maddie rolled away and closed her eyes, putting the width of the mattress between them.
THE SUN HAD ALREADY RISEN OUTSIDE the window when Maddie peeled her eyes open.
She had no idea what time it was, and for a moment, she couldn’t remember where she was.
Something tickled her face. Maddie grumbled, annoyed, as the night before came back to her in a rush.
She swept Kim’s brunette locks from her own eyes and climbed out of bed.
Kim squinted, waking slightly from the motion. “Where are you going?”
“We’ve got to stop doing this,” Maddie insisted quietly, putting on her clothes hastily. She realized too late that her shirt was on backward. In the time it took for her to fix it, Kim seemed to wake fully.
“Why do you always say that?” Kim asked as she sat up, holding the sheets against her chest. “There’s clearly something here, or we wouldn’t keep coming back to each other like this.”
“We don’t work, Kim. We’ve tried, and it ends the same way every time.” It was exhausting, if she was being honest.
“Exactly. It always ends with you screaming my name over and over and over,” Kim drawled, her grin slow and cocky.
Maddie suddenly hated it.
“Yes, I know the sex is great, but can you honestly tell me you want this?” Maddie jammed her foot into one of her sneakers. “With me. Exclusively. No more flirting with other women?”
“Stay for a little longer, baby,” Kim crooned as she let the sheets fall around her bare waist, avoiding Maddie’s question. “I promise I’ll make it worth your while.”
“I’ve got a plane to catch.” Maddie’s tone was a dead end. She couldn’t get out of LA fast enough.
“I’d tell you not to forget about me, but…” Kim smirked, flashing that one dimple in a final attempt to change Maddie’s mind.
Maddie stalked out of the room before she could give in.
Thankfully, it was still early that afternoon when Maddie got into her car and drove to her Studio City home—a modest mansion, thanks to Hollywood’s money.
She’d grown up in Woodland Hills with two parents who spent their entire careers in the entertainment industry, and Maddie had always known she’d follow in their footsteps.
While her mom produced and her dad managed sets, Maddie preferred to be in front of the camera.
She had only been twelve when she watched Megan Fox hold up the hood of a yellow Camaro in Transformers for the first time, and she’d discovered two things in that moment.
Number one—she wanted to be Megan Fox. She wanted her fame, her body, her everything.
And number two—she also wanted to be with Megan Fox.
When she had shared this with her parents, they accepted her lesbian label with grace, but they balked at the word actress. Under the condition that she finished high school with straight As, they finally reached an agreement to support her desire to begin auditions after graduation.
Now, as Maddie walked into her home and headed toward the living area, her eye caught a small beam of light reflecting off the glass frame in her office. She used the room as both an unofficial shrine to her career and a home for the mess of scripts she had received throughout the years.
She pushed her office door open, the hinges squeaking softly in the stillness, and looked closer at the first picture hanging in the top row.
It was a photo of her at eighteen, holding up the first movie contract she had ever signed and standing next to her longtime agent, Sandy.
Her eyes scanned over to the next photo—her first big role.
Ticket to Tokyo.
It marked the first life-changing success that Maddie and Caitlin had achieved together after becoming best friends and roommates.
In the picture, they were both smiling from ear to ear, their arms wrapped around each other’s shoulders, fully covered in mud from the scene they filmed in the Tijuca National Park.
Maddie had covertly taken the brown leather vest she wore during most of the movie, unable to part with it afterward.
Her office had become a gallery of every movie set she’d ever worked on, and the photos all shared a single constant—Caitlin.
Maddie sighed, missing her other half. She owed her career to Caitlin, and Hollywood hadn’t felt the same since she left the West Coast. Maddie was genuinely happy that Caitlin had gotten the love of her life back, but it was making it harder to ignore that she still hadn’t found hers.
The thought of Caitlin roused Maddie from her daydream. She pulled herself from her room of memories and rushed into her bedroom. She needed to pack so she wouldn’t miss her flight to New York.
Before the day could fade, Maddie sank into her first-class pod. She gazed out the window as they took off, leaving behind a sunny afternoon, palm trees, and an ill-fated situationship.
——
After flying through the dark sky for five and a half hours, she landed at John F.
Kennedy International Airport. A driver, holding a sign with “Crane” printed in bold letters, met her at baggage claim before whisking her away to Greenwich Village.
Caitlin had insisted that Maddie stay in the guest suite of their brownstone, since she’d be in town for the next four months as they prepared for the wedding.
“Louise, you made it!” Caitlin shouted, her arms wide, as the driver unloaded her bags onto the curb.
“Thelma!” Maddie ran up the handful of steps and threw herself into her partner in crime’s embrace.
Gemma came to the door and greeted her next. Together, the three of them wheeled her oversized suitcases and carry-on into Maddie’s temporary new room.
Once she settled in, Caitlin poured three glasses of red wine, and the trio headed out onto the terrace.
“Mads, I really appreciate you coming all this way to help with the wedding. There’s just one last thing,” Caitlin started as she tucked herself next to Maddie on the couch.
Maddie eyed her with half-feigned suspicion. She had been waiting all day for this moment. She loved weddings.
“Will you be my maid of honor?” Caitlin asked, unable to contain her excitement any longer.
Maddie jumped up, wine sloshing over the rim of her glass and onto the concrete, barely missing her lap. She threw her arms around her best friend. “Hell yes!” She squeezed Caitlin tight before the three women clinked their glasses in celebration.
Following a few lengthy conversations detailing the brides’ plans for the upcoming months, Maddie hesitantly changed the topic. She had been dying to ask Caitlin about something she heard a few days ago. It still didn’t quite make sense.
“Cait, you know you’re my best friend, right?”
“Obviously, Mads. I did just ask you to stand beside me on my wedding day, so I hope you know the feeling is mutual.” Caitlin laughed lightly, sounding a little concerned.
“So, you would have told me if you were starting a new project without me, right?” Maddie glanced toward Gemma, who looked at Caitlin in confusion.
“Mads, what’s going on?” Caitlin leaned forward, knitting her eyebrows together and placing her glass gently on the table.