Total pages in book: 125
Estimated words: 125248 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 501(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125248 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 501(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
The show moved fast and strange, as award shows always did from the inside. Speeches. Presenters. Commercial breaks. Applause. Jokes that landed. Jokes that died on awkward laughs.
When Xander came out to present Best Breakthrough Performance, the applause rose before he even reached the microphone…then kept rising.
People stood. And at first, he thought maybe someone behind him had entered too.
But no. They were standing for him.
The ovation swelled through the theatre, long and loud, cheers layered beneath the applause. His peers stood from their seats, clapping with serious faces, warm faces, some with hands over their hearts.
He saw Devyn standing with everyone else, one hand braced on his cane, the other high in the air. Directors he admired, actors he’d watched since childhood. Crew members from his film wiping their eyes.
Many of them still believed he was being targeted for coming out.
God had insisted it wasn’t that simple.
Xander didn’t know what to believe anymore.
But standing there under the lights, hearing a room full of people tell him with their hands and actions he wasn’t alone, stirred deep inside him.
He waited until the applause quieted enough for him to speak.
“Thank you,” he said, voice a little rough. “I’m supposed to present an award, not sob into the microphone, so umm, if you don’t wanna be here all night…”
The audience laughed.
He got through the category. Then the night became unreal.
Devyn won for stunt ensemble recognition tied to the film’s action unit, and Xander yelled so loudly Lena had to cover her ears. Wes and Law won for Best Visual Effects. Lena won supporting actress. The film took screenplay. Direction. Cinematography. One award after another until their table became a stunned, crying, laughing disaster of hugs and disbelief.
Then it was time to announce the nominees for the Best Actor category.
Xander stopped breathing.
The clip reel played with all five nominees. His scene was the one in the barn, where his character confessed the truth without saying the words, where silence did more damage than any speech.
He remembered filming it. Remembered going home afterward unable to talk. Remembered thinking maybe no one would understand it.
The presenter opened the envelope.
“And the Golden Crown goes to…”
Time stretched.
“Xander Vale, What Breaks in Silence.”
The room detonated.
Xander froze.
Lena grabbed his arm, shaking the hell out of him. Devyn hauled him up. Someone kissed his cheek, another slapped him repeatedly on his back. The walk to the stage felt impossible, as if the floor had shifted into a steep incline.
He took the statue with shaking hands as the applause rose ten decibels.
He looked into the crowd, and because he couldn’t help himself, he found Cassidy.
Cassidy stood near the side aisle, expression controlled, but his eyes saying everything as he gave him the smallest nod.
His speech was all gratitude for his cast, crew, the director and writers. The queer kids who had written him letters, the people who felt unseen, and the ones who were still afraid.
His voice broke once, but he recovered. He thanked Devyn with a watery smile and a shaky breath—that got him another standing ovation.
He didn’t thank Cassidy by name. But he locked eyes with him when he said, “And to the people who kept me safe when I didn’t know how to be brave, this is also for you.”
Later, What Breaks in Silence won Best Film. By then, he’d stopped trying to fake composure.
Backstage was a barrage of hugs, interviews, photos, tears, handlers, champagne no one had time to drink, and trophies heavy enough to do bicep curls with.
When he stepped into a quieter hall, his men appeared like magic.
Cassidy glanced at the statue in Xander’s hand, then at his face.
There was pride there. Private and fierce. Cassidy gave him a slight, sensual wink that made him almost drop the Golden Crown.
After the show, all he wanted to do was go home and collect the real reward Cassidy had all but promised on the drive over.
Unfortunately, his new publicist had other ideas.
Maribel Chase had stepped into the permanent publicist role after Carla’s humiliating exit, and while Xander liked her better than Carla, she also scheduled him to do things he didn’t want to.
“It’s just two short appearances,” she said as wardrobe changed him into the second suit. “Not five like most people. Not all night. But two. Let them photograph you smiling, celebrating…and then you can go home.”
Malik fixed his hair with a little more product to get him through the night. “Knock’em dead, party animal.”
Xander tried a growl that fell so short they all laughed at him.
“You’re so cute,” Maribel teased. “Okay so Crescent Review first, then the Astral party. You stay thirty minutes at the first and an hour at the second unless your detail says otherwise.”
“I say otherwise now,” Cassidy grumbled near the door.
Maribel didn’t even blink. “Noted and ignored.”
The Crescent Review after-gala was held at a private club, overdressed in wealth. Silver lights, white orchids, mirrored walls, and all-you-can-eat tiger prawns.