Page 34 of Starring Role

Chapter fourteen

It was almost ridiculouslyeasy to get an apartment in the same building as Jimmy. In fact, they were on the same floor, only two rooms separating them. It was a lovely setup. They had an excuse to carpool if they wanted to, though they usually didn't because their hours often weren't the same.

For a time, filming was intense and Coop was there constantly,but after a while they started calling him in in the afternoon some days, evenings on others, and only sometimes for long shifts. The show was taking off, and they were scrambling with edits and writing now, and filming was mostly getting a few tricky scenes right, or doing voiceover work, which he hadn't even realized was needed on this sort of show. In many scenes, the words weren't clear duringfilming and had to be added later.

And with the airing of the next episode, and then the next, something fascinating started happening: fans showed up, wanting autographs. And usually, they wanted his. That, or selfies with him, or just to wave and shout his name and try to see what they could past the barriers. It was weird and wonderful to have a few moments of fame, and it kept Jimmy andthe other guards pretty busy, keeping people from sneaking in.

Lincoln didn't grow any fonder of Coop. He did start becoming coldly civil to him, though, when they weren't filming, instead of ignoring or snubbing him. That change seemed to happen around the time that his photograph appeared online with Swindon, and he was just cynical enough to connect the two.

It was fun signing autographs,and he tried to be the sort of famous actor whom everyone would be glad to have met, and would tell stories about how lovely and down to earth he was, how friendly, how kind. But he was glad that security kept them away sometimes, too, and he was very glad they hadn't found where he lived. It was exhausting to be 'on' all the time.

Cooper and Jimmy settled into a comfortable routine: a privatelife at home, getting to know each other and enjoying lots of sex, dating privately and mostly spending time together in their apartments, and working professionally and not interacting much if at all on the lot. Few if any people seemed to guess their relationship, aside from the stunt man Clark and Jimmy's disapproving cousin. Coop was content to leave it that way.

He hadn't parted ways withhis agent, though they weren't talking much lately, and wasn't inclined to throw away his advice about staying in the closet without being sure that was what he wanted to do. Sure, he was working now, but this show wouldn't last forever, and he didn't want his career to end because he wasn't in the closet anymore. So that, like so much else, could wait.

No more texts from Swindon told him oneof several things was happening. The guy had accepted his explanation at face value and was fine with that. He understood the subtext that Coop wasn't interested and was fine with that. Or he wasn't very interested anyway, so there was no need to pursue anything.

The other ideas, that he was secretly angry and plotting revenge, seemed unlikely. Cooper was a small fish, barely on Swindon'sradar, and there didn't seem to be that much of a vicious streak to him anyway. If he was pushy about dating, that would be different—but really, he hadn't seemed that terribly interested, and Coop hadn't been, either. So it was just a case of ships passing in the night. Not even passing, really, just honking their horns distantly through the fog.

He wished he wasn't still nervous aboutit, though. Nervous about hurting Swindon's feelings, nervous that the agent had been right and he was ruining his career by not pursuing the older, wealthier man, even if it made him feel gross. Mostly, he pushed such thoughts away and focused on work and Jimmy. Only sometimes did they catch up with him on insomniac nights, joining his old list of haunting memories and worries.

The day ofthe pack taking part in filming was exciting on several counts. He got to see the family again, knowing that this time they'd be aware he and Jimmy were dating. Jimmy had broken the news gently on his own to the family, so they wouldn't be surprised the day of filming. "They didn't seem surprised at all," he'd told Coop afterwards, somewhat consternated. "I wonder if Hope told them after all?I didn't think she'd do that."

"Maybe we're just not very good at keeping secrets," suggested Cooper. Although their relationship wasn't scuttlebutt around the lot, so they couldn't be doing too poorly.

It was a great opportunity for the production company to work with a lot of wolves at once. Privately, Coop wondered if they'd have been so eager to do that if they'd realized what a bunchof rowdy goofballs the pack would be. Mostly young and mostly male, the wolves they'd hired were insanely curious and extremely friendly. Wandering the sets with endless questions, excited to be part of the production, literally clearing the catering table after being told they could eat as much as they wanted—it was a learning curve, for sure.

Coop enjoyed them immensely, including seeingJimmy interact with his family, and his less successful attempts to corral his brothers. Fortunately, Hope wasn't to be trifled with, and she kept all the boys in line, more or less, once she was finally brought in on the case.

Jimmy took his job seriously, but he was new at it, and was clearly flustered and annoyed that he couldn't keep his brothers and cousins in line. They weren't used tolistening to him, or, Coop suspected, to anyone. But the filming went well, with a number of excellent shots that didn't require any digital editing or special effects: shifting, running, working together as a pack. It was lovely stuff, and it gave Coop delicious chills, getting to watch from the sidelines. He had only one scene interacting with them, and it was as a wolf, the part of his characterthat was played by the stuntman, Clark.

Seeing all these huge, gorgeous wolves, mostly gray and white, made him wonder what Jimmy looked like as a wolf. It would be interesting to see, when Jimmy trusted him enough for that. Or maybe he was waiting till Coop asked?

Watching Jimmy's one scene and two lines was ridiculously fun. Jimmy was excited about it, thrilled to have been cast even insuch a tiny part, and touchingly eager to do his best and not "ruin the show." It was disappointing to both of them when his lines ended up being cut. They used a lot of the wolf footage from his pack, though, and the pack was paid well for it, with the proviso that they be available again if needed.

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