“We were reading lines. Keatyn wanted to see if we had chemistry.”
“I stopped him before he felt her up.” I laugh. “By the way, Knox, I’m jealous. You don’t look at me like that anymore.”
“Just wait until tonight. Guess who’s soft little lips I’m going to be thinking about?”
Riley holds up his hands. “No. Just no. It won’t work.”
“They do have chemistry, Riley. I felt like I was intruding on something private.”
“Shit,” Riley says, pushing his hands through his hair and marching back into his office.
Knox grins at me. “It was good, right?”
“Yeah, Knox. It was really good. You’re in.”
“Fucking aye! You want a ride to the set?”
“Yeah, but can we stop and get something to eat on the way? I’m so hungry I feel sick.”
“What’s with you and this flu thing?”
“I don’t know,” I lie. “At least you haven’t gotten it.”
“No, but I plan on getting something, pretty damn soon.”
“Knox, I don’t know what boy code you and Riley follow, but unless Riley stops hanging out with Jennifer, she’s off limits to you.”
“What?! No. That’s not how it works.”
“It’s how it’s gonna work if you want the part.”
“That’s blackmail. And I thought you wanted him back with the chick who stomped on his heart?”
“I just want him happy, Knox. He took the afternoon off yesterday to hang out with her. He never does that.”
“He’s letting her drive his car,” he says, defeatedly.
“Then that ought to tell you something.”
Captive Films - Santa Monica
DAWSON
I knock on my brother’s office door. I can see through the glass that he already looks stressed. He’s running his hands through his hair and pacing.
He looks up and motions for me to come in.
“You got a minute?” I ask.
“Sure.”
“I just wanted you to know that it’s my fault Keatyn didn't tell you I was coming. I asked her not to tell you.”
“But why? I’ve offered you jobs over the years. You knew I’d want you to come.”
“I wasn't sure if I could leave the girls. Leave home. I didn't want you to know if I couldn't do it. It was embarrassing enough to tell her.”
“Dawson, I know I was probably a little rough on you this summer, but it's for your own good. You can’t let—”
I hold my hands up and interrupt him. I know what he’s going to say. It’s what everyone has said for the last two years. “I know. And you're right.”
He sits down behind his desk. “So, Keatyn and Aiden talked you into it, but I couldn’t?”
I take a seat in a chair across from him. “They helped, but it was actually Mom who tipped the scale. She told me that Harlow came home in tears after visiting Whitney's mother.”
“Why?”
“Because she hurt her feelings. Told her she didn't know how to behave like a lady. You know how spunky she is. She stood up for herself and said, ‘that’s because I’m a girl’.”
“Ooh. What did she say to that?”
“That she had just proved her point. That a lady would also never speak to her elder in that tone. And then something about how I wasn’t teaching her manners and she’d grow up to be a social misfit.”
“I bet that pissed Mom off.”
“It did. She told me that although she’d miss the girls terribly, she loves California and would visit often. She doesn’t want them around that kind of influence.”
“I don't know why you didn't tell Whitney’s mom to fuck off a long time ago.”
“Because she threatened to sue me for custody, Riley. And I was scared to death that she'd win.”
“How could she win?”
“Because I was a deadbeat dad. No job, no home.”
“And you don't have a home because of goddamned Whitney,” Riley says, getting pissed.
I hold up my hand. “Don’t, please.”
“I’m sorry. So, is that what made you come?”
“It was a big part of it. I don’t want my girls to grow up like Whitney did.”
Riley leans back in his chair and grins. “I might be a little biased because they have me wrapped their little fingers, but they are my favorite nieces. Also, you know what's mine is yours. I told you so many times I'd help you financially.”
“I guess I just wasn’t ready for help. And you’re helping now. Keatyn offered me a ridiculous salary, not to mention the perks. That's not what I wanted to talk to you about, though. Do you think it's too soon for me to, like, maybe go on a date?”
“You don’t need a date, bro. What you need is to get laid.”
“I haven't been with anyone since Whitney left.”
“Dawson, stop saying that Whitney left. She fucking killed herself, made you feel guilty about it, and left you broke to raise the girls alone! It was selfish of her, and a chicken shit way out of the mess she'd made.”
I run my hand through my hair, much like the way my brother did earlier.
“Yesterday, Vanessa and I were at this hotel. And . . .”
“And?” he asks, a smirk on his face.