His Assistant - Alexa Land Page 0,52
up,” he said, as he crossed the gray and white living room and perused the bottles on the bar. “You were the straight-A student, the musical prodigy, the perfect son, while I was always just the dope running to catch up.”
“Well hey, life’s funny, isn’t it? Because guess which one of us ended up making millions in our dream job?”
“Yeah. Go figure. But that wasn’t because I was the more talented one, or even the one who wanted it more.” He poured two shots of bourbon into a pair of cut crystal tumblers, then handed me one. Dallas tapped his glass to mine and said, “Cheers to the total fucking randomness of the universe.”
He brought the bottle along as we went and sat on the white leather sofa, and after a moment I asked, “Do you really think I’m more talented than you are?”
“Yes, and so does everyone else.”
“Not everyone. Not the producer who gave you your first record deal.”
“He liked the fact that I was rough around the edges,” Dallas said. He drained his glass, and then he added, “He also really liked the way I sucked his dick. That’s what sealed the deal.”
I turned to stare at my twin as his words sunk in. “You never told me that.”
“I was too ashamed to say anything for a long time, but enough is enough. You deserve to know the whole story. It wasn’t because I was better than you. I was just willing to do things that you weren’t.”
“I can’t believe you kept that secret all these years.”
Dallas wasn’t looking at me. He sat there fidgeting with his glass as he said, “I always looked up to you, my big brother by seventeen minutes.” His smile was tinged with sadness. “I wanted you and Mom and Dad to be proud of me, so I didn’t tell you the truth.” He finally met my gaze and said, “Please don’t tell our parents. They’d be so disappointed in me.”
“I’ll never tell a soul. I swear.”
After a pause, he said, “You deserve this career, not me. Like I said, you’ve always been the talented one, and I’d change places with you if I could.”
“Like hell you don’t deserve it. I never got a record deal because I’m not a great performer. But you are.” I put my glass down, then moved closer and rested my hand on my brother’s shoulder. “Your fans adore you, and your music and concerts are fantastic. That’s why you’re a huge success. It’s not because of what you felt you had to do to get that first record deal.”
When Dallas met my gaze, there was a lot of emotion in his eyes. He threw his arms around me, and for the first time in years, I hugged my brother and told him, “I love you, Dally.”
“I love you too, Phee-Phee.”
“I still hate that nickname, though.”
“It’s cute.”
“It’s the name of a French poodle.”
He grinned as he let go of me. But then he grew serious again and said, “I’ve been such an asshole, and I’m really sorry.”
“Me, too.”
“I was sure you hated me. You seemed so angry, and I started keeping my distance because it pissed me off. It felt like you’d turned on me, when it was supposed to be you and me against the world.”
“I could never hate you. It’s just not possible. And I’m so sorry I let my petty jealousy and other bullshit get in the way of our relationship.”
“We wasted so many years,” he said. “Why didn’t we have this conversation sooner?”
“Because we weren’t ready until now.”
He nodded, and after a moment he said, “I know this isn’t going to solve all our problems, but it feels like a good start, doesn’t it?”
“Definitely.”
He refilled both our glasses, and we were quiet for a while as we sipped our drinks. Then he leaned against the arm of the couch so he was facing me and said, “I’m glad we went off on that tangent, but now let’s get back to the subject at hand. How are you going to fix the damage you’ve done to your relationship with Harper?”
“There’s nothing I can do. I ended it, and it didn’t even seem like he cared.”
“He’s an actor, Phoenix. Maybe he was totally crushed but chose not to show it.”
“I don’t think so,” I said, as I slumped against the back of the couch. “It just didn’t seem to have much impact on him. He seemed more concerned about the fact that he was losing an