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Predators feed on it.

So I force myself to keep moving.

I keep breathing.

Keep pretending.

Even while my heart pounds so hard I'm convinced the sound alone should give me away.

I can't believe this is happening.

But then again, maybe I should have expected it.

Because whenever life finally starts going right for me, something always seems to come along and ruin it.

And lately?

Life has been beautiful.

This role?

Being cast as the lead in a Chance Madoc production of an Oliver Pax show?

It's my dream role.

Literally.

This is what I've worked toward my whole life.

The endless auditions.

The tiny apartments.

The ramen dinners.

The years of wondering if I'd ever be enough.

The years of smiling through rejection after rejection.

The years of telling myself someday.

Someday.

And somehow, someday finally arrived.

All of it led here.

But it's not just work anymore.

It's him.

It's Less.

Falling in love with him all over again?

I never dreamed that would happen.

Not in a million years.