My mind was spinning and whirring away, trying to make sense of it all. I tucked everything into a drawer in the back of my mind, making peace with her secret and promising myself that I’d untangle everything later.
I’d also tell her about Mason later.
The room was grand and had a wide window that yawned out to the sea. It was a circular room with extremely extravagant decorations and furniture.
The only thing that looked out of place in here was a large, ornate harp in the corner, which Alina was sitting at, waiting for the cameras to start. Her outfit was a modified version of the dress she’d been wearing on the beach last night. Oliver was probably pretty proud of himself, as usual.
I scowled as I looked over at him, but was surprised to see that he was biting his nails.
He was nervous. He looked like he was wondering if his work was good enough.
I felt a satisfying schadenfreude unwrap within me but then felt bad for feeling that way. He was probably just as nervous as I was.
Privately, I wondered if Reese had approached him for the sex scene already. Reese made it sound like I was the first one he was talking to and that I was his first choice, but I couldn’t be sure. There was a way Oliver’s eyes kept sliding over to Mason which made questions bubble up in my mind.
Then again, it was almost impossible not to look at Mason.
A wild thrill unwound within me, knowing that soon, me and Mason would be pretending to have sex in front of the camera. I couldn’t contain my excitement, and felt a stirring in my pants.
Biting my lip, I turned away and forced myself to focus on Alina.
Even I had to admit that I’d outdone myself on her hair and makeup. She looked soft; romantic, vulnerable but strong.
As she reached out one delicate, angelic hand to begin strumming the harp, I made eye contact with her.
A flash of nervousness shone in her eyes, and I stretched my fingers and pressed my thumbs together in a heart shape.
She blushed and smiled — she was radiant.
“Action!” Reese cried, and the camera started to roll.
With all the finesse and smoothness of a world-class actress, Alina shed everything that made her Alina. It was fascinating to watch how she simply willed herself to become Lady Bryn, and then all of a sudden this stranger was sitting in front of us.
The limited cast and crew in the room fell silent as she strummed on the harp, the dazzling morning light falling across her face and glowing pristine skin.
There was a knock on her door and she looked up, fear and hope forming in equal parts on her face. It was obvious what she was thinking: “Is it him?”
She stopped playing, and the absence of the harmonious notes in the air immediately set the scene to a more serious tone.
As Alina got up from her seat and went over to the door, my eyes fell to Reese.
He was watching with his eyes alight; like he was fully coming to life as this scene came together. He was still as a statue, watching the magic happen.
I felt… it was a feeling that was foreign to me. I was in awe of him, I think. The room was full of these big, over-the-top personalities that commanded your attention just by their simple way of being. They were more than human; they were gods. And all of them demanded worship.
However, if all of these beautiful celebrities were gods, then it was clear who was Zeus.
It was Reese, standing tall, with command over the art of this scene; command over the way this show was turning out to be.
And by having command of that, it was almost too easy to believe that he had command over shaping the entire world. Blush rose into my cheeks as I felt the waves of power coming off of this man in front of me.
Alina opened the door and Leo was standing there in all of his golden glory, Prince Valentine in the flesh.
There was no dialogue. Only the look of slight surprise on Alina’s face when she saw him there and took in a slight, sharp breath.
An understanding went from her eyes to his, and it was almost as if real life had subtitles of its own. If I squinted, I was sure that I would be able to see the words on the screen:
I want you.
And just like that, he had his strong arms around her and they were tumbling towards the bed.
Even though I was gay, the way they were kissing sucked me in. Gender didn’t matter here, seeing this in person. They were two souls tangling against each other, lost in the throes of passion.
For some reason, I felt embarrassed for a moment so I willed myself to look at something — anything other than the sex scene that was unfolding in front of me.
The camera loomed nearby, peering in on this private moment between Lady Bryn and Prince Valentine.
I felt embarrassed for them, but also insatiably curious. Everything about them tempted my eyes to take in what was happening in front of me, begged me to move my eyes over their bodies.
But I averted them. Instead, I was watching Reese. He was standing tall and stiff, watching them. I don’t know why, but I expected there to be some kind of salacious gleam in his eye, some kind of hint that he was giving in to his voyeuristic human temptations.
But his eyes stayed focused ahead, not looking at the bodies writing in front of him, but instead, he was shifting his gaze to various points in the room. He kept looking at the window, watching as the morning light filtered in ribbons. Then his gaze went to the camera.
I understood; he was thinking about the lighting and camera angles. He was a man completely engrossed in the art
