Sorry, she mouthed.

Archer sighed and sat next to their assigned tower.

Dominik was their fourth and was chuckling and shaking his head as he joined them. “Well, well. What a group. Can you guys handle this?”

Archer, Mateo, and Caleb all glared at Dominik.

“Perfect,” he smiled. “I’ll go first.”

Dominik kept up most of the easy chatter at first, and, despite himself, Archer started to enjoy the game. Jenga was simple yet fun, and smiles slowly started to crack through the cranky facades each time the tower fell. Even Mateo seemed to be enjoying himself, chuckles escaping at Dominik’s antics, and he even winked at Archer when Caleb knocked the tower down.

They had been playing for almost an hour and the Jenga intensity had ramped up. Each person had three or four points, so everything was hinging on the last game.

Caleb was taking his turn, tongue poking out as he removed a piece from near the very bottom with great precision.

Archer held his breath as the tower swayed, then steadied.

“Alright, let’s see what you’ve got, Dominik,” Caleb crowed. “You—and this tower—are about to go down.”

Archer grinned, waiting for Dominik’s joke about going down, but Dominik was staring at this phone.

“Dom! It’s your turn!” Caleb prodded.

Dominik frowned without tearing his eyes away from the screen. “One sec.”

“Excuse me, judges,” Archer joked, “what’s the rule about stalling? The tower isn’t going to get any less wobbly while you wait!”

Dominik’s eyes grew wider as he read. “What the fuck…” he muttered.

“What is it?” Archer asked.

“My friend sent me this … It’s a link to The Broadway Broad.”

“Ugh, that garbage?” Even relatively new to the scene, Archer knew The Broadway Broad was a trashy gossip site that posted mostly sensationalized news and sketchy rumors about Broadway shows and their stars. It was very popular in the industry, even though no one wanted to admit that they read it.

“Oh, shit.” Dominik swallowed hard and looked up. “I’m sorry, Mateo.”

Mateo stiffened. “Just tell me.”

Betty noticed the serious faces, and her group turned to listen, too.

Dominik began to read. “‘Mateo Dixon, disgraced star of Robin’s Egg and all-around terrible person, has been spotted center stage at Shady Queens, the premier upstate LGBTQ+ resort and perennial favorite of this publication’s readers.’”

Archer’s stomach dropped. Mateo sat frozen, face unreadable, hands clutching his thighs. The group on the other side of them was listening now, too.

Dominik continued. “‘A source tells us he’s up to his old tricks, being rude to castmates and thinking he’s all that, but, wait until you hear what really went down with him and Abby Hodge before he firebombed his career.’”

Archer’s jaw dropped.

Mateo’s eyes swung over to meet his.