Drew led him back through the Great Hall toward the Honda Blue Cavern. “My mom used to take me here when I was young,” he said. “I didn’t go to a regular school, so the closest I got to a normal life was a trip to the aquarium. Here I could be just another kid.”
They passed the Amber Forest with its kelp skyscrapers and the Redondo Canyon with its baby giant sea bass. Steve paused to watch it dart in and out of the rocks in the tank, but Drew kept going past the seahorses and the lobsters and the abalone until….
“The jellyfish?” Steve asked. He’d expected Drew to take him upstairs to the ray touch pool or the penguins, or to keep going toward the sea lions or the shark lagoon. Something either badass or cuddly.
“There’s a webcam for the exhibit,” Drew said, settling onto a bench. The area was mostly dark, the better, Steve thought, to highlight the light and color show going on in the water. “I cue it up on my laptop when I can’t sleep. But it’s not the same.”
Steve took the seat next to him and set the Perrier on the floor. “Interesting choice.”
“I like them because they’re pretty,” Drew said. “But they’re also fascinating. They can reproduce sexually or asexually, or both, depending on the species. Some of them even shrink when conditions are bad.” He paused. “Plus they’re heartless, brainless, and spineless on top of being beautiful, which is pretty apt in this town.”
“I can see why you’d like them.” But as mesmerizing as they were, blue and pink and green and yellow and white, dancing through the water to a song Steve couldn’t quite make out, that wasn’t why they were here.
“I don’t want to be that whiny actor who cries about how hard it is growing up famous. I had it pretty good. My mom moved with me when the work started picking up when I was a kid and stayed with me until I was twenty-one.” Drew set the s’mores down beside the Perrier and cracked open the bottle. “She tried to make sure I had a normal life—field trips, family vacations that didn’t come out of my paychecks, tutors who treated me like a regular kid. But you know how it is when you’re a teenager. Partying at all hours, drinking too much, making bad decisions. Imagine that, but on a Hollywood scale.” He took a swig.
“Sounds… indulgent.” Steve tried to imagine Drew as twenty-one and beautiful, entitled, famous, the world at his feet. That could only lead to trouble.
Drew snorted. “That’s one word for it.” He handed the bottle to Steve, who took a sip of his own. He wanted to be clearheaded. “Anyway, that’s what finally made my mom leave. She couldn’t take any more of the drinking and the partying and the rest of it. I guess the last straw was the day I showed up to set hungover one too many times and almost got fired.”
Steve winced, imagining his own parents’ reaction. “Not exactly a magnet-on-the-refrigerator moment.”
“No. I was a little asshole.” Drew shook his head. Music played distantly in the background. “You were probably such aniceboy. But I’m digressing. About the same time, the girl I was dating, Corinna…. Let’s just say she didn’t want more than a role in my next movie, but I was head over heels and I didn’t see it. So. By the time filming wrapped, we’d broken up and she was on a whirlwind publicity tour, signing deals for makeup endorsements and launching a clothing line because she had name recognition now because of me.” He stopped and made a face. “Oh God, I sound full of myself, but I swear it’s true.”
“I believe you.” Steve remembered the movie, and the woman. She’d delivered a forgettable performance at best and had since faded into obscurity. Hollywood could be cruel.
“Yeah, well. At the same time, my friend Leigh—we’ve been friends since we had neighboring sets when we were working for the Mouse—she went through the same thing. So she set me up with this friend of hers.”
“Cooper Miles,” Steve guessed, passing back the water bottle.
“Yeah.” Drew took the bottle but didn’t drink from it. “I’m not proud of who I was in those days. I was a little lost. My ego took a lot of damage too, and I thought, ‘No one is going to use me again.’ So when I hooked up with Cooper, I made sure he knew that was all it was. I wasn’t gentle, and I knew damn well I should’ve told him up front instead of after the fact. Leigh gave me an earful.”
Steve had the feeling that if he ever had the opportunity to meet Leigh Miller, they would hit it off immediately. “I bet she did.”
“Suffice it to say turning the tables didn’t make me feel any better, so after that I decided I was better off not dating at all. I fired the publicist that hooked me up with Corinna and went looking for one who didn’t care if I showed up with a date.” Drew made a face. “Cooper’s never forgiven me for using him, which is pretty fair. Maybe one of these days I’ll try apologizing and see if that works the way it does in the movies.”
Steve thought about what he’d do if his ex apologized to him. “Don’t count on it.”
“I guess not.”
They sat in silence, watching the jellyfish, for a few measures. Then Steve took a deep breath, curling his hands around the edge of the bench to keep himself grounded. “Remember when we commiserated over being used by romantic partners?”
“I remember.”
“Yeah, well.” Steve bit his lip and debated telling the whole truth, but at the last minute, his courage deserted him. “Austin Sparks is my ex-boyfriend.”
For a moment he thought Drew might ask him if he was serious, or what Austin had wanted him for. But then Drew grimaced, his face a rictus in the multicolored light from the jellies, and shook his head. “God. I’m sorry. I don’t know what he was like as a boyfriend, but….”
“Whatever you’re imagining is probably pretty close.” Steve allowed himself a smile. “I have to admit it made my day when you called him a hemorrhoid without any prompting.”
“Pleased to be of service.” Drew nudged his shoulder. “I’m always available for therapeutic name-calling.”
Steve’s skin tingled from the contact, even through several layers of haute couture tuxedo, but he had no intention of moving away. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
“So we’re okay now? You’re not mad? I don’t want you to have any reservations about….” Drew stopped, and Steve squinted at him. It was hard to tell in the dim lighting, but he thought Drew might be a little flushed. “I remember the other reason I don’t date now. I am terrible at it.”
Steve laughed outright. “My track record isn’t significantly better than yours, so we’re on an even playing field, at least. We can learn together.”
Drew leaned into him a little harder. “I like that idea.”
