Page 47 of The Dramatic Life of Jonah Penrose
“I should warn you, it... doesn’t look great.”
“My face?”
“Yeah.”
“Thanks for that, Dex.” Jonah rolled his eyes as Dexter sat himself on the edge of the bed. “Though I guess I don’t have to cake myself in makeup given the performance tonight is canceled.”
“Yeah,” Dexter said somewhat skeptically. “I saw the post. I messaged a few people, and no one else has heard from Evie or anyone else. It’s kinda weird they’ve not told us directly.”
“They will. It’s still early.” He watched as Dexter took the towel from his lap then slid back under the covers. “I liked your post.”
“Oh. Yeah, I probably should have asked before, but you were asleep.”
“More trip-gate damage control?”
“No,” Dexter said quickly. “No. I wanted to post that.”
“It was kinda...”
“Shit, you hated it, didn’t you? Do you want me to delete it?” He quickly reached for his phone, hands fumbling as he smacked his thumbs against the screen.
“No.” Jonah laughed. “I’m just saying... promising to always make me smile? That’s an awfully big commitment.”
The color drained from Dexter’s face. “So, I’ve frightened you off by being too keen?”
Jonah cocked his head as he looked at him. “Did I say that?”
“I’m not asking for commitment, you know that, right? I know this—” he gestured between them “—is just a casual thing.”
Jonah felt winded. He hadn’t thought about what he might call the relationship with Dexter, but he certainly never thought it would be something just casual. He didn’t think Dexter would refer to him as his boyfriend anytime soon, but he also didn’t want to think of Dexter flirting with anyone else either. He knew the irony of his thoughts; it wasn’t long ago he couldn’t stand the guy, his very presence an annoyance, and now, well, now he didn’t like the thought of being something unimportant to him.
“Do you want it to be casual?” Jonah asked, his hands gripping the sheet on the bed beneath the duvet.
Dexter tipped his head from side to side, as if the movement helped him consider his options. “I think casual is a good place to start. I mean, I’m not looking for anything more than that. I’m sure you’re not, either, right?”
Jonah shrugged then shook his head before nodding slightly, unsure if he was agreeing or simply covering all his bases because it was the only thing he could think of doing.
“So, you won’t freak out if I flirt with someone else?” Jonah asked.
“I... I don’t know. I’ve never done casual before,” Dexter admitted.
“Me neither.”
“I just... don’t want there to be too much pressure? We work together, so we need to be careful about this. From my experience, feelings in the workplace can create complications.”
“You’ve dated someone you worked with before?”
Dexter nodded and looked down at his phone. “Yeah, it all came to a head when I was inWest Side Story. Henrik Larsson made my life a misery.”
“Oh...” Jonah knew Henrik; he’d met him at a couple of industry events, and Sherrie sometimes invited him out for drinks with them. He always seemed tired, eyes sunken in his skin, likely exhausted from the phenomenal choreography he’d been performing for the past few years inWest Side. “I didn’t know you were in that.”
“I was Riff.”
“What?” Jonah frowned. “Isn’t that who Henrik plays now? I didn’t even know you were in it.”
Dexter looked from his phone to Jonah and raised his eyebrows. “I was in it when it first opened. Henrik took over the role from me when I left. He was part of the ensemble before that. And the only reason I didn’t look to extend my contract was because he made the atmosphere backstage so toxic I couldn’t stand to be there any longer.”
“What a bastard.”
