James double-checked his email. No, this wasn’t a mistake, it definitely said To James Novak.

How the hell did he land an audition for the lead role in a…he swallowed hard when he saw the director’s name. The fact that the guy hadn’t won a Best Directing award yet was a crime.

He called his agent, but she didn’t know anything about it. James hadn’t put himself up for the role, so how the hell did he land this audition?

Neither Sophie nor Brandon had any answers.

“Do you think maybe it’s spam?” James asked.

“It’s pretty specific and professional to be spam,” Brandon pointed out. “I don’t think spammers would go to such trouble.”

“You’re sure it’s not a prank.”

“It’s a very cruel prank if it is one,” Sophie said. “An audition for the lead role in a film like this, with a director like this? It’s a sure shot at stardom.”

That it was, which was why James was having a hard time wrapping his head around the concept of getting it.

“I say go for it,” Sophie said. “Look, they attached sides for you to learn and everything. You’ll go in and knock ‘em dead.”

“Yeah, like I knocked Jack and Ned and Mary dead,” James said bitterly.

To his surprise it wasn’t Sophie that jumped in to respond to that, but Brandon. “For fuck’s sake,” Brandon said. “Just call the guy and make up already.”

“You’re the one who told me he wasn’t trustworthy in the first place!” James pointed out. “You never liked him!”

“Maybe I was wrong,” Brandon admitted. “I made you suspicious of him when he was clearly someone who made you happy. And look at you. You’re miserable—and don’t try to deny it.”

James couldn’t deny it. He didn’t know how he was managing to get through all the promotional stuff for the film before it debuted at the Sundance Film Festival. He’d thought, given that he was a masked murderer with no lines, that he wouldn’t have to attend all of the interviews, but Jack had insisted on James coming, saying that Jerry was an integral part of the story and as much of a main character as Julia or Tyler. James would normally have been grateful, except that now it meant that he had to see Ned all the time. Ned, who looked like a passive, emotionless automaton and kept to the shadows, talking to nobody and keeping his head down. He was like the shell of the person that James had known, and it made James wonder if he’d ever truly known Ned at all.

“Stop moping,” Brandon said, “and just call him. Yeah, he should have told you about how he was the reason you didn’t get the role, but c’mon, he had good reasons. And how many times has this guy called you? I know you’ve listened to all of his voicemails.”

James grimaced. He felt pathetic for doing that rather than simply deleting them like a mature adult who actually wanted to move on with his life instead of listening to them like a lovestruck teenager and crying just the tiniest bit in the shower afterwards.

Brandon sighed. “You’re being childish, you realize.”

“Well that’s hypocritical of you,” Sophie pointed out. “Weren’t you the one who burned the sweater your ex gave you after you two broke up?”

Brandon glared at her, then looked back over at James. “Listen, I know that I thought you shouldn’t trust him, and I’m sorry. I think I meddled too much. You obviously miss him, and if those voicemails are any indication, he misses you. Don’t you think you might want to give him a chance to explain, or at least apologize? Not even giving him a chance—”

“All relationships have issues,” Sophie added, ignoring Brandon rolling his eyes at her interrupting him. “If you’re running away at something like this, something that happened before you two even knew each other, then how are you going to handle an actual fight?”

James felt guilt start to slide through his veins like thick tar. “Have I really been too harsh?”

Sophie and Brandon looked at each other. Brandon shrugged.

“It’s okay,” Sophie said. “You’ve never been in a relationship before. You might want to tell him that. It’s hard, there are times where you don’t agree. If you were in Ned’s shoes, you think you’d have given you a chance? If Ned was in your shoes, he feels he’d understand why he wasn’t chosen for the role. It’s just how your personalities differ. Ned sounds pretty cautious, but you’re the guy who never turns down a dare and once broke a leg because he ‘could totally make that jump.’”

That had been freshman year. James normally would have made a quip, but he was starting to feel a little sick. He was still confused about this audition.

“I’ve screwed this whole thing up?” he asked.

“No!” Sophie immediately jumped into soothing mode. “No, no, just—just maybe you should think before you act, and realize that it’s not all sunshine and roses all the time, okay?”

James nodded. He’d been so quick to label Ned as the bad guy here, but maybe he’d been the one to mess things up. Maybe he’d caused this mess, not Ned.

“How about this,” Sophie said, smoothing her hands over his shoulders, not realizing that it just made him think of how Ned would massage him. “You prepare for this audition. You go in and blow their socks off. Then you focus on getting Ned back. Sound good?”

“I don’t know,” James said, “about the Ned part,” he added, to clarify.

“You can think about it once this audition is behind you,” Sophie said firmly.

James did his best not to think about Ned as he prepared. He had only a couple of days to memorize his sides and figure out his character, and he should have been nervous about that, but instead he felt strangely serene. All of his worrying was over Ned, if what they’d had was real, if Ned cared enough to be honest with him, and it was like he didn’t have any worries leftover for the audition.

When he walked into the audition, it was strangely similar to the one he’d done for Mary, Jack, and Ned, except this time it was a different casting director and James was ninety percent sure the people in the room with the director were producers or the AD rather than the personal assistant. Still, the atmosphere was the same, and he found himself relaxed, confident. He couldn’t control what decisions would lead them to give him the role or pick someone else. It could be something like what Ned had done, or it could be that he was too tall or too broad. All he could control was his own performance.

Taking a deep breath, James introduced himself and started his audition.

When he finished, he thanked everyone and left the room, shaking out his body as the tension started to leave him. A moment later a redheaded woman came up to him, holding a clipboard.

“James Novak, right?” she asked.

“Yup.”

She went over her clipboard. “Perfect. Can you just make sure that all of your contact information is correct?”

James nodded, double-checking everything. “This is all accurate. Can I ask, how did you get all of this? I don’t remember signing myself up for this audition.”

“I’m Donna Bankman, and I heard about you from Ned Hollins, Jack Wallace’s assistant. Apparently, you made a good enough impression for him to track me down and demand that I give you an audition.”

“He demanded?” James was pretty sure that he was pulling a Ned right now and letting his mouth drop open in shock.

“Well, he was very polite about it, but he made it clear that you deserved a chance to audition, and well, I figured we might as well give you a shot. It couldn’t hurt, right?”

“Right.” James struggled to pull himself together. “Thanks, I appreciate that.”

“Of course. I was watching you from the other room and you did a great job. I can see why Ned insisted that we audition you.”

“Thanks.” James grinned, feeling embarrassed. His mind was still stuck on Ned. Ned had gone out of his way and gotten him this audition.

“That should be all,” Donna said, taking the clipboard back. “I’m sure you’ll be hearing from us soon, Mr. Novak.”

James nodded, then turned and tried very hard not to sprint down the hallway. Ned had gotten him this audition. Ned had done that for him, without telling him or expecting a reward or using it as a ploy. He’d just…done it, for James.

Out of the two of them, Ned had clearly been the more mature one. He’d gone and done this for James without expecting anything in return, without even realizing that James might find out—and normally, James wouldn’t have found out. Donna had made it a point to tell him, but it wasn’t her job to do so. Ned must have done it without expecting James to ever find out.

Fuck, he’d been a major dick about this, hadn’t he? He’d messed this all up and hadn’t given Ned a chance—in essence, he’d done the same thing he was accusing Ned of having done to him. Ned still went out of his way to get him this audition.

Thank God he knew where Ned lived, because he couldn’t make do with just a phone call. He just hoped that Ned was home and Jack wasn’t.