Chapter 1

It’s been seven years since Johnny Thomas last sat in this chair, at this desk, across from this man. He’d been fifteen then, precocious, and one of the hottest names on prime time TV. Every teenybopper magazine had his picture splashed across the cover; every teenage girl from New York to LA had his pictures taped to her wall. He went by JT Pierce then, a rising young star with the world at his feet and nowhere to go but up.

From appearances, manager Lou Merrin’s office hasn’t changed much since Johnny’s last visit. The movie posters lining the walls have morphed from the early 90’s films Johnny remembers to last year’s Oscar winners, and there are a few more signed celebrity photos scattered around the bookshelves, Lou in every single one of them. Each photo shows him shaking hands with A-listers in the industry and smiling for the camera. Though Lou only manages actors, there are quite a few musicians in the pics, Johnny notices, but a lot of singers make the transition to actors nowadays, and vice versa. Johnny thinks maybe he has an album in him somewhere, once he gets back in the public eye. Nothing like a Top 40 single to give his career a much-needed boost, is there?

On Lou’s desk sits the same family portrait, a studio shot of the man, his wife, and a son who must be in college by now but looks all of ten in the frame. Johnny met him once but can’t recall the kid’s name. Samuel? Stuart? He should ask but he doesn’t want to remind Lou how long it’s been. He’s lucky the manager agreed to meet with him after all this time.

Leaning back in his patent leather chair, Lou crosses his ankle over one knee and props his elbows on the arms of the seat. He steeples his fingers in front of him, then peers at Johnny over his fingertips. “JT Pierce,” he drawls, each syllable a separate word. “J. T. I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.”

“It’s Johnny now.” He clears his throat and sits up a little straighter, his head cocked to the left to keep his long bangs out of his eyes. “Johnny Thomas.”

Without dropping his gaze, Lou murmurs, “Johnny.”

He’s old enough to be Johnny’s father. In many ways, that’s exactly how Johnny thinks of him—it was Lou who saw him at the mall all those years ago, when he was just a toothy eight-year-old with a mop of dark brown hair, clear gray eyes, and a wide grin that made hearts flutter. Lou who approached his mother, business card in hand, with the promise of making her little boy a star. Lou who walked him through auditions, who screened his scripts, who finally landed him his first television spot. A handful of commercials later, it was Lou who got Johnny a returning role on a popular Nickelodeon after school program, and after that, Lou snagged him the coveted lead in Fox’s Friday night hit series Zack’s Back, as well. Johnny owes the man so much, he knows.

And here he is, like an ungrateful son, asking for more.

For a moment, they stare across the desk, each gauging the other. Lou with his balding pate, combed over with fine strands of reddish-orange hair. His narrow face, his gaunt cheeks, his dark, unreadable eyes. Johnny forces himself to sit still, but despite his best efforts, one knee shakes nervously. He keeps his hands clenched together in his lap and waits for Lou to speak again. Let him run the meeting, he reminds himself. I need his help; he doesn’t need me.

“Johnny.” With a sigh, Lou uncrosses his legs and surges forward to rest his elbows on the desk between them. “It’s been what, five years?”

“Seven.” Johnny clears his throat again to keep his voice from cracking. “I’m twenty-two now.”

Lou gives him an indulgent smile. “So why are you here?”

“I want a comeback,” Johnny says, unable to hide the excitement in his voice. “I need the limelight, Lou. You told me to wait, remember? And I waited. Seven yearsI waited. But the calls stopped coming and the scripts dried up, and I haven’t had an offer in I don’t know how long. I just can’t wait any more. I want back in the business. I want youto bring me back.”

Holding up one hand, Lou cautions, “Wait. You’re how old?” When Johnny starts to answer, he talks over him. “Have you gone to college?”

Johnny shakes his head. “No, I—”

Lou interrupts him again. “Acting school? Done any stage work? Any bit parts or paying gigs since Zack?”

“No.”

Johnny knows that sounds bad—he hasn’t done squat with his life since his show was canceled, but that wasn’t hisfault. He was a star, damn it, and wouldn’t settle for commercial spots or sidekick roles. He wanted—he wants—the lead. “Lou, please,” he tries. “You’re the best in this business, and I need the best. You took a nobody from Bum-fucked, California, and turned him into a household name, remember? You took meand made me a star. So they already know who I am. They loved me once. How hard is it going to be to make them love me again?”

But Lou doesn’t look convinced. “Disney has the corner market on kids’ TV nowadays,” he points out. “The Olsens, High School Musical, Hannah Montana? You can’t cash in on that without selling out to the system.”

“I’m not talkingDisney.” Johnny sighs, exasperated. “I’m twenty-two here. I don’t want to settle for TV, alright? I want something more, something bigger. I’m talking adult films.”

Lou holds up both hands now, backing away. “I don’t touch those, Johnny, and you know it. I’m above board all the way—”

“I don’t mean porno.” Johnny laughs and runs a hand through his long bangs. They fall back into place and he has to shake his head to the left so they don’t hide his eyes. “Jesus, Lou. What kind of guy do you think I am?”

He doesn’t like the dark look the manager throws his way. “I’ve heard stories about what happened at your sweet sixteen.”

A twinge of fear spikes through Johnny, but he shrugs it off. “Rumors, that’s all. Nothing happened.God, it was so long ago anyway.”

“Yeah, well.” Lou gives him a distrustful look, one Johnny doesn’t care for much. “Rumor or not, that sort of shit can make or break a career these days and you know it. You see the tabloids. Just because it’s the twenty-first century doesn’t mean middle America embraces the idea of queer leading men.”

Johnny starts, “I’m not—”

Now it’s Lou’s turn to laugh. “Please, Johnny. We both know you’re not thatgreat an actor.”

Johnny falls silent, a sullen pout tugging at his lips. This meeting’s taken a turn he didn’t expect. Suddenly he’s half ready to play the diva and storm out of the office. What will Lou do then?

Find someone else.Johnny hates to admit it, but it’s true. There’s a line of hopefuls in the waiting room outside, each yearning for a chance to take what I once had. And it’s mine, damn it. I’m not giving in just yet.