Page 137 of Out of the Gold

His eyebrow rises, but he doesn’t comment. Skimming the article, he points to the final paragraph where it says he’s going to play Braxton Hunte. I raise my chin. “It says my next role is of your father.”

I turn my head.

“Lies. It’s all lies.”

I swing toward him. “What?”

He whacks the magazine against his thigh. “Not your father. He was telling the truth at the dinner table back in Chicago. I was offered the role. I turned it down.” His cheeks turn a light shade of pink. “Sam’s not happy with me.”

He turned down the role? “You did? Why? It’s a great part.”

“I haven’t seen the script, so I can’t agree or disagree with you. It was pitched as the nextBohemian Rhapsody. I was practically promised an Oscar.”

My brain tries to get up to speed. “You didn’t take it?”

“No. I didn’t.” His hand lands on his forehead. “And I have you to thank for that.”

“What did I have to do with any of this?” Cramming down an unusual buzzing in my chest, I addwhy are we having this bizarre conversation?

Chase walks toward me, stopping about three feet away. His voice drops. “Everything. You sewed me into the Doctor Manipul8 costume every day for two weeks and turned my life upside down. You let me dream big. You let me simply beme.”

For the first time in ages, I take hold of the rubber band around my wrist, but leave it unplucked. His words don’t make any sense. “Okay?”

His hands land on my shoulders, and he squeezes. My body goes rigid. “I turned down the ‘role of a lifetime,’ as Sam described it to me, because you showed me who I want to be. I want to act in front of a live audience, and not be behind a camera. I want to hear applause, and laughter, and crying. I want the emotions I’m portraying amplified back at me.”

I don’t move a muscle, his hands remaining on my person. “Oh.”

“And I want to do all that here. In New York City. Because I want to breathe the same air as you, celebrate our successes together, and share the bad times with you.” His chest expands. “Because I love you, Melody.”

The air stills.

He’s said that before. In Chicago. “Practice those lines much?”

A smile reaches his blue eyes. “I had the best teacher. You.”

His hands haven’t moved. Neither have I. I search his face for traces that he’s lying. But his handsome face remains open. Heat rises behind my eyelids.

He shakes me a little. “You taught me all about love. About pursuing your passion. I finally believe in my own talent because you modeled how it’s done.”

My limbs gain twenty extra pounds. I don’t believe him. I can’t. “You used me. I bet you couldn’t believe your good luck when I offered myself to you like an idiot.”

He tucks my hair behind my ear, causing me to bite my inner cheek. “No, I never used you. Not for a moment. And I was honored you chose me as your first. Iamhonored.”

Why is he saying this to me? “What do you have to gain from telling me all this?”

“The only thing that matters to me in the world. You.”

My breathing hitches. I rub my palms on my hips, trying to process the past few minutes. “Did you really turn my dad down?”

“Yes.” His eyes drop to my mouth, then bounce up to my eyes. “I want to cut my chops on Broadway, not doing more movies.”

He told me that in Amalfi. That’s why we flew here for his audition. “Did you get the part inHamlet 2.0?”

Air expels through his mouth. “No. They went with a more established Broadway actor.”

“It doesn’t matter.” I gulp in air. “You’re just like the rest of the world, Chase. You wanted me for what I could do for your career. For my connection to my dad.”

“Think about what you’re saying, Goldie.”

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