Page 67 of Something Cheeky

“Can I tell you my good news at least?” he tried changing the subject.

She didn’t move.

“I finally told Zoe how I felt and she feels the same way!”

Th?o spun around. Her eyes were wide with shock.

“You’re making up things to make me react,” she accused.

“Zoe spent the night,” he said and added, “but we’re not telling anyone yet. I told her you’re not anyone.”

He returned Th?o’s look of disbelief with a huge smile so she knew he was telling the truth.

“You finally did it. And you hooked up? Damn.” Th?o sat the piano and played the opening measures of “Oklahoma!” as a recall to his singing from earlier.

“I wouldn’t have forgotten otherwise. Sorry,” he apologized again.

“You’re forgiven.” Th?o let out a heavy sigh.

His shoulders dropped with relief. They didn’t argue often, but he hated when she was upset with him.

“At least one of us is getting some action.” She played a sad melody that he recognized as “She Used to Be Mine” fromWaitress. Th?o played it only when she was really sad.

“What happened with you and Katie Mai last night?”

“Besides getting too drunk? We talked until dawn.” She yawned. “She wants to go to LA to take a shot at film and TV. There are way more opportunities in Hollywood for Asian actors now.”

“There’s good theater on the West Coast, too. Look at East West Players, the oldest Asian American theater in the U.S.” It was on his dream list of places to direct a play.

“That’s what she said, too.” Th?o chewed on her bottom lip.

“What’s the problem then?”

“After what happened with my ex, I vowed to never move to a new city for a partner. I have to want to be there, too.”

“Th?o, you know Katie Mai is nothing like your ex.”

“I wouldn’t be dating her if she was.”

Th?o’s ex-boyfriend had convinced her to move to New York with him even though she didn’t have a job lined up. She’d waited tables while she searched for a theater job. Anything to get into the scene. A month in, her ex announced he hated the city and was moving back home to Illinois. He left her with an apartment they’d barely been able to afford on two incomes.

When she’d come into the diner crying, Derek immediately offered to be her roommate. Couch surfing had gotten old. They still shared an apartment, though their current one allowed them to have their own rooms with a door that shut.

“I told her that I’d think about it, but I could tell she was disappointed by my lack of excitement,” Th?o said somberly.

Voices echoing outside the room interrupted them. It was almost time for rehearsal to begin. Th?o glanced at the door and back to Derek.

“Don’t say anything to Katie Mai, please. People know we’re together, but we’re keeping things strictly professional during work hours.”

“We always keep each other’s secrets,” Derek reassured Th?o.

He wondered how Zoe would respond if he asked her to move to New York. But he’d never ask her to choose between him and her career.

“Who’s ready to learn some blocking?” called out Heather as she entered the room hugging her three-ring binder. She was the most organized stage manager he’d ever worked with.

A chorus ofMeandHell yeahscame from the cast as they came in behind her. Walking in after them was a face Derek did not want to deal with this morning.

“Greg, are you joining us today?” Derek tried to ask in an even tone. Whatever happy energy he had remaining after Th?o’s conversation had completely disappeared.

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