Free Winter Oranges by Marie Sexton Page A

off and moved on, but at the time, it had felt like a sign, as if the world was telling him that he had nowhere left to go. His heartthrob days were behind him. His fan base had grown up and moved on. It had seemed like his career was over before he was old enough to legally drink.
    Ben gestured for Jason to go on. He mouthed the words, What happened?
    “Well, I went through a really bad period.” He’d done what a lot of teen stars did—he’d resorted to hard-core partying. He’d taken any drug he was offered, and drunk more alcohol than any sane person should. He’d also landed in bed with Andrew, one of his Alley of Blood costars. They stayed carefully closeted, but for several months, they’d done nothing but fuck and get high. Right up until the night Andrew overdosed at a club.
    “I had a friend.” He hesitated, glancing at Ben. “A boyfriend.” Ben blinked, then slowly nodded his understanding. “He died. Maybe he committed suicide. I don’t know.” But suddenly Jason had found himself on the front page of every tabloid. Even the reporters had never guessed how intimate their relationship had been, but they knew Jason had been at the same club. They knew Jason had gone in the ambulance with Andrew to the hospital. He’d been one of their favorite targets ever since.
    Ben gestured for Jason to wind the globe. Jason obliged, and Ben asked gently, “Did you love him?”
    Jason closed his eyes to keep from seeing Ben’s sympathy. “No. Not really. But I did care about him. And the whole incident was a wake-up call. Made me realize I needed to get my act together.” He’d never felt like an addict, but he went to rehab because that’s what everybody in Hollywood did. And when he’d come back out, Dylan had been there, waiting for him like a knight on a white horse, saying he could get Jason a role in a movie he’d signed for. It was another slasher movie, with Jason scripted as yet another victim, but it hadn’t mattered.
    All that mattered was that he was with Dylan.
    Not that Dylan had ever seen them as a couple. They were friends with benefits, and nothing more. But the friends part was more than most people got from Dylan, so Jason had gladly accepted it.
    He’d been accepting it ever since.
    Jason cleared his throat and continued. “I’ve spent the last few years doing supporting roles in horror movies, and bit parts on TV shows—I played a serial killer on Criminal Minds , and a grieving husband on Castle , and a suspect on Law and Order . I did an independent film that was artsy and boring as hell. And then a couple of years ago, I did another slasher flick, Summer Camp Nightmare 3 .” It’d been his first starring role in years.
    One he was about to reprise?
    He considered the script locked away in his drawer before turning back to Ben, who sat watching him intently, waiting for him to go on, but Jason was ready to change the subject from his train wreck of a career.
    “That’s it. Pretty boring, huh?”
    Ben grinned and shook his head emphatically.
    “It’s wonderful!” Ben said, once Jason had turned the key again. “It must be so exciting, traveling all over and meeting so many different people! And pretending to be different people and getting paid for it!”
    “I guess.” He wished he could muster even half the enthusiasm people expected from him when they talked about acting.
    “Are you rich?”
    Jason laughed. “No.” But he stopped, considering. “Well, yeah. I guess by most people’s standards, I am. But not by Hollywood standards. Not even close. I’m a nobody.”
    Ben shook his head, suddenly somber. “Not to me.”
    It was a frank statement, spoken with something that bordered on reverence. Jason wasn’t sure how to respond, but Ben saved him by speaking again. “Can I see one of your movies?”
    Jason fidgeted with the turnkey on the bottom of the globe, not because it needed to be wound again already, but because it gave him something to look at besides