CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Lincoln
Dinner with my publicist went like expected. She asked why I was screwing my new assistant, who also happened to be underage, and according to Twitter, a charity case.
I told her why, and that I'd broken things off…
She heaved a sigh. "Well, that was stupid. Think of what it could do for your image. Hollywood heartthrob obsessed with mute girl? Damn, don't be stupid. Marry the girl."
Offended, I'd only been able to eat a few bites of my pulled pork taco before I was ready to toss my beer in her direction and pray it blinded her enough for me to run out of the restaurant.
"What?" She'd shrugged her waif-like body. "It's good PR."
"So is giving money to the homeless."
She let out a loud snort. "Hardly. That shit never goes viral. But this? This is social-media gold. If I were you, I'd go back and play nice, at least until we hear back about your last audition with Spielberg. Hey, maybe they'll even make you an ambassador for the blind." Her icy-blue eyes twinkled with excitement, as I was sure her brain was making plans for my future presidency.
"The mute, you mean?" I corrected, taking a sip of my IPA.
"Deaf?" She waved her fork into the air. "All the same."
I'd never realized how horrible a person my publicist was until that very moment. Sure, she was one of the best in the business, she'd made grown men cry, and had fired her own sister over some sort of coffee machine fiasco that was still whispered about around the offices in LA.
"Head in the game," Pris teased, jerking me back to the movie set. Her brown hair fell in waves around her shoulders.
"Sorry." I coughed into my hand, careful not to touch my face. Damn, did they have to cake my face with so much makeup? Apparently, Demetri and Nat's whole love affair had taken place when Demetri was extremely tan, meaning my face felt two shades too dark for my liking. I tasted ChapStick and bronzer every damn time I licked my lips.
"Also…" Pris leaned in. "… thanks, for whatever you did."
Sighing, I leaned back. The locker door was hard and cold against my back. We were filming onsite at Seaside High, and I couldn't wait to get out of there. "Yeah well, I nearly shit myself in front of a whale. So, you're welcome, I guess."
Pris covered her face with her hands, her shoulders shaking with laughter. "She may have left that part out."
"Bless her whale-fighting little heart."
"But…" Pris's eyes twinkled with amusement. "… I assumed it must have been a big deal. I had no idea it was a whale of a whopper but…"
"Hilarious." I scratched my chest, trying to numb the pain still making its presence known right where my heart kept beating. Getting her out of my head was a near impossibility, especially when pictures had surfaced this morning of Zane and Dani in an embrace that looked a hell of a lot more than friendly along with the caption, New Celebrity Bestie?
Pris touched my shoulder.
I flinched in surprise.
"Hey, you okay?"
"I'm… great."
"Yeah, you look it. Great, happy, a bit too tan for my taste but—"
"You guys ready?" Jaymeson jogged over. "We only have the high school for the next few hours, so I need you to bring your A-game." He was looking right at me, as if I'd been bringing my C-game or something. I suppressed an eye-roll. Whatever.
"We got this," Pris answered for me.
I pushed thoughts of Dani from my head just as she happened to appear behind camera with Jay. He handed her some headphones. Great, so now she could hear all the dialogue and heavy breathing we emitted. I wondered if she could hear my heart race or the fact that the minute her eyes met mine, my breathing hitched, making me cough wildly in her sister's face like I was diseased.
Dani frowned then started madly typing in her phone. A smile broke out across her face.
That better be Demetri texting her.
As if summoned by my jealousy, Demetri appeared by her side and pulled her in for a hug. His pregnant wife, Alyssa, was with him. She quickly grabbed some headphones.
Two minutes later, Alec and his wife Nat made their way onto set; they must have gotten a sitter or something because they were rarely without their little Ella.
Great, I had a freaking audience watching me.
"No stress." Pris breathed in through her mouth, out through her nose. "We got this. It's just a kissing scene, right?"
"It's prom," I said in a bored tone. "I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to rock your world here."
The next hour went by so painfully slow that I felt like a turtle cooking in the hot sun.
"Cut!" Jay yelled.
"Dude…" Demetri walked up to me. "… you look good as me."
"Oh, I'm sorry. Are we friends again?"
He snorted, running a hand through his bleached-blond hair. "Of course we are, now we have a common enemy."
"Who?"
"Zane," Demetri seethed as Zane walked on set, his aviator sunglasses low on his nose. His eyes brightened considerably when he saw Dani rush toward him in a flourish then grab his hand, tugging him toward Jay.
The extras on set started whispering.
Why didn't they whisper around us?
"Dude, girls don't react like that to us, not anymore," Demetri said, apparently reading my mind. "Guy's gotta go. You set his car on fire. I'll lure him out to the ocean."
"And do what? Drown him?" I clenched my fists.
"I'm sorry. Did you have a better idea?" Demetri turned his blue gaze on me. "Let's be honest, you and I don't exactly scream violence like he does. He walks like he could take a hit, damn it, and my face is worth too much to risk."
I rolled my eyes. "He's just a guy. He'll get bored."
"Oh, shit," Demetri murmured under his breath. "Well done, Casanova. You just pissed her off again."
"What? What the hell are you talking about?" I frowned.
"Your girl had just put her headset back on, and my money's on her hearing only the last part of our conversation."
I looked for her, but she had disappeared.
Well. Shit.
The door to the gym slammed. I chased after Dani as if my life depended on it. She was in the middle of the deserted hallway. It smelled like pencils, bleach, and sweaty teenagers, with a lingering hint Axe body spray.
"Hey…" I touched her shoulder. "You didn't hear the whole conversation."
It was as if she didn't even hear my words. Instead, her eyes were trained on a glass case with trophies.
The main picture was of Homecoming Court the year before.
She'd been the Junior Princess.
Standing with Elliot in the sexiest little cheer outfit I'd ever seen. It wasn't something I should probably have noticed, but I did. Her smile was huge, the crown on her head nearly falling over as Elliot's hand helped keep it on her head. His smile matched hers, it was disgusting, like a kick to the gut.
And then I saw the trophies.
So many trophies for the cheerleading squad.
And at least three for Dani for competitive cheerleading.
Back flips, pyramids, group photos. She was gorgeous in all of them; the girl in the pictures wasn't the girl I'd been spending time with. It was as if she was a completely different person.
"I miss her," Dani whispered. "I don't think I've ever said that out loud. Maybe I've been afraid if I said it, it would make my reality that much more cemented in my mind, make it last or something." She hung her head; pieces of blonde hair covered her face so I couldn't read her expression.
"I don't," I whispered. "I refuse to miss a ghost, someone I never knew."
Her shoulders slumped.
"But I do have another confession." I pulled her hair back. "I miss you. The you I know now."
She didn't say anything.
"Look, Dani, I—"
"There you are!" A voice I kind of wanted to forget existed screeched down the halls. "Jay said where to find you."
Note to self: Kill Jaymeson later.
Jo-Jo slinked down the hall, her heels like a hammer to my skull. "So, good news! I got on a few episodes of that scary, fairy tale show that films in Portland, so I came down to Seaside for the weekend."
How in the hell was that good news?
"Great, well…" I forced a smile. "… I have to work, so enjoy Seaside."
"Whoa!" Jo-Jo gripped my bicep, her eyes glued to the muscle before she squeezed then leaned toward me. "I thought we could hang out tonight."
"I have a thing," I lied.
"Actually," Dani piped up, "your schedule's pretty clear. Should I make reservations for you guys somewhere?"
I purposefully stepped backward onto Dani's foot.
She yelped then pushed me off. "So where are you staying, Jo-Jo?"
"Oh…" Jo-Jo shrugged. "… hopefully at Hotel de la Lincoln." This was followed by screeching laughter.
I felt my entire body go rigid with dread as parts of my anatomy went completely limp.
"Wow," Dani croaked. "Okay then. I'll just finish the rest of the stuff on your list then get out of your way, Linc. Glad you won't be bored, with Jo-Jo to hang with you."
Damn it, she had heard me.
Dani walked off. I watched as her Converse faded from my view, and then the gym door slammed behind her.
"I thought she couldn't hear?"
Dear God, people really needed to learn the difference between muteness and deafness.
I jerked away from Jo-Jo. "I'm probably needed back onset."
"Yay! I'll watch." She looped her arm in mine, and I briefly contemplated gnawing my own arm off so that I could get free.
Instead, I said, "Can't wait," in the driest, most sarcastic tone I could muster, which to her must have been a declaration of undying love, since she let out another squeal and pulled me closer.