Chapter 29
twenty-nine
. . .
Jordana
Unhinged.
That was exactly how Corey played Stanley on Saturday night.
His anger was on a hair-trigger, exploding at the smallest provocation. Energy smoldered from him, like his clothes would burst into flames at any moment.
It was the most terrifying version of the character I’d ever seen. Corey was clearly done trying to win the audience’s sympathy, to get everyone to like Stanley.
But if he thought he’d get Hawthorne to stop seeing him as a sex symbol, he was wrong.
“Not a dry panty in the house,” a girl snickered to her friend after the show.
Outside by the stage door, Corey’s arm was locked around Eden’s shoulders as he shared a laugh with some crew members. Eden was laughing, too, but I hated that he treated her like a prop.
One more show.
We’d make it through, and all this drama would die down.
Still, I was worried.
Gavin stood at the edge of the crowd. We hadn’t been in touch since breakfast. He’d gone on a prearranged outing — an all-day mountain hike with Rachel and some of her friends. I’d kept myself busy studying.
As his amber gaze met mine, my skin tingled. His smile loosened the knot in my chest.
But I wanted him to approach me. Kiss me. Claim me publicly. I was tired of secrets. I wanted to be pursued.
Rachel strode up, talking animatedly to him. She slipped her arm through Gavin’s and gestured to some faculty nearby. Gavin hesitated, glanced at me apologetically, and followed Rachel.
He fucking followed her.
After spending the whole damn day at her side.
I tried to push him out of my mind, but the more I tried, the more my thoughts prickled. Why shouldn’t we be open about our relationship? Why should we care what Rachel thinks, what anybody thinks? And why was I suddenly jealous of Rachel’s proximity to Gavin?
As the crowds died down, Gretchen waltzed over. “Going out tonight?”
I shook my head. “Not me.”
“It’s Saturday night! The Fall Leaf Festival is calling. Right, Jackson?”
“Sure.” Jackson joined us, his arm in its cast. He didn’t meet my eyes, nor had he since last weekend.
“You guys have fun,” I said lightly. “I’m going to take it easy. Blanche is in a delicate state.”
Gretchen gave me a quick hug. “Take care of her for tomorrow night, okay? Closing night’s gonna be amazing.”
When she left, Jackson finally looked at me.
“Max told me you guys talked,” he said in a low voice. “And you overheard what he and Ty and Corey said about you after tech rehearsal. I just wanted to say I’m really sorry.”
My cheeks went hot. “It wasn’t your fault.”
“Yeah, but I was there. I didn’t know what to do, but I should have said something.”
“I appreciate that. Hopefully it won’t happen again with anyone.”
Red crept up Jackson’s neck. “Ty feels bad too. I don’t know if he has the balls to apologize, though. And Corey…I mean, he’s an amazing actor. But he’s…”
“An asshole?” I suggested.
Jackson’s flush deepened, and he examined his cast. “I hate to say it, but he intimidates me. It’s like everyone has to behave the way he wants, or it’s gonna be bad. He’s been really weird lately. Have you noticed?”
My gaze flicked to the few stragglers by the stage door. Eden and Corey weren’t among them. “I’ve noticed.”
“Max thinks Corey’s losing it, but Ty’s convinced it’s just method acting. Corey’s in character as Stanley, but when he’s off-stage…it’s like he’s lost his sense of normal.”
Normal. What even was that? “At least it’s making for a dynamite play.”
“Dynamite being the key word.” Jackson flashed me a rueful smile. “See you, Jorie.”
A chill blew between the buildings, sweeping away the remaining cast and crew, who scattered across the lawn in the direction of the festival. Gavin and Rachel were long gone with the rest of the faculty.
Hugging myself in my thin yellow dress, I headed backstage to change.
When I emerged, wearing turquoise sweats and my cheetah coat, there was no one in sight. A few cars dotted the silent parking lot.
I was at loose ends, unsure what to do now. I could text Gavin, but I’d already done a lot of initiating this week. It would be so nice if he reached out first.
Dammit, I just wanted to feel wanted.
Safe.
Secure.
Soft sounds met my ears as I walked toward the dark alcove where Corey had spent himself inside me so many times. Where Gavin had interrupted us and set this entire week in motion.
The noises sounded like heavy breathing. Whispers. Laughter and…moans?
A shiver seized my spine as I crept closer. Between the buildings, two shapes intertwined in the shadows.
Eden’s blonde hair tumbled between her shoulders as her head tipped back. Corey’s big arms wrapped around her, his face buried in her neck like a vampire sucking out her life force.
“Oh, Eden,” I whispered, my heart sinking.
I’d believed her when she’d said nothing would happen. Maybe she’d believed herself.
“You’re so beautiful,” Corey muttered.
“We shouldn’t do this,” Eden said breathlessly.
Everything about her body pressing against his, her hands tangled in his hair, said, we are definitely going to do this.
“Baby, you don’t know how I feel. Every day, all I do is think about you. When I wake up, when I go to sleep, it’s always you. I’m no good without you, Eden.”
I strained to see his face in the darkness. Did he mean it? His gaze was soft and sincere, but I knew how well Corey could act.
She let out a little noise. “I didn’t know you felt that way.”
“Just one kiss. We can do that, right?”
“Corey…” Eden protested.
“We belong together. You and me. This is our place.”
“I should go find Jorie—”
“Shhh.” Corey put a finger to her lips. “You’ve been in her shadow too long. It’s your time to shine.”
Eden laughed. “I’m not in Jorie’s shadow! I — You really think so?”
“I know it.” His blue eyes flicked to the side and met mine.
The corners of his mouth tugged up, satisfied.
Focusing on her, he stroked her cheek. “You’ve always been the supportive friend. You deserve the spotlight.”
He put his hand on the back of her head and kissed her with all the gentleness I never knew he had.
But Eden didn’t seem to want gentle. She pushed into him, grabbing his hair. Corey let out a strangled noise and backed her against the wall.
“So this is how you want it?” he growled.
“Please,” she panted, her head thrown back.
Corey sucked on her throat. “Then I need to be inside you, baby. Right here, in this place.”
“Oh God, Corey! You’re so bad. Outside?”
“No one will see.”
He unbuttoned her shirt, and her eyes fluttered closed. His gaze flickered to me again as I stood frozen in place.
“I’m gonna make you come so hard.” Corey’s eyes bored into mine. “So. Fucking. Hard.”
I didn’t know what to do. Eden was a big girl; she could hook up with whoever she wanted. Maybe she and Corey would be better together than he and I had been. He might treat her well, be his best self with her. He certainly seemed more invested in her pleasure than he’d been in mine.
Yet I was queasy, afraid that Corey’s best self would never be good enough for Eden.
Still, if Corey was what she wanted…
I stepped back into the shadows. I couldn’t watch, but I also couldn’t leave Eden like this.
Was I being a good friend, or a terrible perv?
I felt like Blanche, after she hustled Stella out of the apartment to safety, only to see Stella return to Stanley, pregnant, minutes after he hit her, to make passionate love.
Eden would never do that. But she didn’t know Corey’s dark side.
Her moans rose over Corey’s growls until the sounds peaked and died away. Their voices retreated as they hurried off, laughing and whispering.
Bewildered, I walked creakily into the theater.
The lights were off; the house was empty. A green glow came from the EXIT signs.
I called Eden. She didn’t pick up. I texted her, We need to talk. No response.
I climbed onto the stage. Each familiar set piece looked ghostly in the faint green light. Treading across the floor, I touched the silky scarlet curtain that divided Stanley and Stella’s bedroom from the kitchen where Blanche’s cot was set up. Right now, the curtain was pulled open.
Golden light bloomed around me, banishing the shadows.
“Hello?” I called, blinking.
“Hi,” came the low reply.
A dark figure stood on the catwalk.
Gavin.
“I thought you left.” My voice was broken, tentative.
He pushed back his hood. “I thought you did.”
“Is it really so hard to believe? That I would stick around, waiting for you?”
He rubbed his hands over his hair. In the dimness between the lights, he offered a wry smile. “Want to come up?”
“No. Not tonight.” Staring at him, I willed him to be with me, to understand how badly I needed him to want me as much as I wanted him. “Come down here. On the set.”
He stood still. Then footfalls sounded on the catwalk, the ladder. Gavin emerged from the wings and walked into the pool of light.
From the way he blinked and squinted at me, it was clear what he needed. He needed to believe. He needed to see himself the way I saw him: a leading man.
I stretched out my hand. “Be center stage with me.”
“You sure? Actors can be superstitious about what happens onstage.” His eyes crinkled in a grin.
I held his gaze under the lights and gave him a single nod. He crossed the stage to join me in the middle of the set.
“Kiss me,” I whispered.
“What if someone sees?”
“Would that be so bad?”
He lifted my chin. Sliding his hand into my hair, he kissed me.
All the tight places inside me uncoiled. Everything would be okay; it had to be, because Gavin and I were together. We could do anything, handle anything. I’d talk to Eden later and explain it all, and she’d be fine. We’d be fine.
This strange sensation, warm and loose, open and free — it was happiness.
“Let me give you a tour.” I swung back, catching his hand, and led him through the kitchen. “Table and chairs right here. Liquor cabinet over there.” I opened the cabinet to show him the glass bottles. “Blanche’s cot. Come on, sit on it with me.”