Especially when I had no plans to stick around.
Anna said, "Sothat'swhy you moved? To get away from Felicity?"
"No." I gave Anna a serious look. "I moved because I'm done."
"Done how?"
"Done with the movies."
"You mean because the trilogy's ending?"
"No. Because I'm done,period."
She sat back in obvious surprise. "So you're giving up acting? Seriously?"
"That's the plan."
"But why?"
"Because I fuckin' hate it."
"You do?"
She had no idea.It wasn't just the pretending that I hated.ThatI could deal with. Hell, even doing my own stunts, that was a blast, even if I did get banged up once in a while.
But everything else – the fake friends, the easy pussy, and shit, the drugs, they were everywhere.
I'd never taken any and didn't plan on it. My own mom had died of an overdose when I was still in diapers. And as far as my dad, I'd never met the guy.
Now in the quiet kitchen, I said, "No joke. And the truth is, I don't need the money." I shrugged. "Hell, with as much as I've made, my kids' kids wouldn’t need the money."
And yeah, Ididwant kids. But I wanted to raise them in the wayIshould've been raised, the way Anna should've been raised too – in a stable house away from the fuckery of the wider world.
Anna said, "So you're retiring?"
"If you wanna call it that."
But I didn't plan on sitting on my ass, smoking a pipe on the front porch. I had some ideas, but none I'd be starting now while the movie thing was still a factor.
Across to me, Anna blew out a long, shaky breath. "Wow." She shook her head. "Does anyone know?"
"Aside from you? Yeah, a few people."
"What dotheythink?"
"Half of them think I'm smart to get out now. And the other half – well, they can go fuck themselves."
Her eyes filled with amusement. "Dotheyknow that?"
"Felicity does. And she's not happy. And neither is anyone else who gets a cut."
"A cut of what?"
"Me."
"So let me get this straight," she said. "You hired me to get out of the contract?"
"Not the contract," I clarified. "Just that one clause."
