Reese’s shoulders sagged ever so slightly. “Are you sure?”
I nodded as slowly as I could, trusting that Oliver was inside as we spoke, trying to steer the conversation to Leo’s “girlfriend.”
It was all part of the plan.
“I’m sure,” I said.
Reese ran one of his manicured hands through his salt and pepper hair. “Is there anything I can do for you that would change your mind?” he offered.
The way he was looking at me now was… some kind of begging. It looked foreign on his face.
Regardless, seeing that look on him made me feel… powerful. Like I could ask for anything in the world right at this moment and he would make it so.
“I want a trailer, like I’m part of the actual cast,” I said, the words escaping from my mouth before I could stop them.
“Done,” he said without hesitation.
My mouth wanted to drop open in surprise, but I stopped it. The panic was whirling inside of me. I couldn’t believe that he was going to let me do this — treat me like a real cast member.
Reese held out his hand for me to shake.
I looked at it, every single one of my senses on high alert. He was going to take his hand away at any second, refusing me. Hell, he would probably fire me if I asked for more, sending me back to my boring life in L.A.
Choose love over fear, Hazel’s voice echoed in my memory. Ask for what you want.
“I want more scenes,” I said. “I want to be part of the cast for real.”
As if all of my fears decided to come true right at that moment, his face fell and he withdrew his hand.
“I can’t promise that,” he said.
It might have been the light of the moon or the fact that I couldn’t see anything right now, but I thought I saw a glint of lust in his eyes.
“Then no deal,” I said.
“Well, aren’t you the little negotiator,” he said.
The fear was welling up inside of me at the taunt. I knew I was pushing my luck with this. My heart was pounding in my chest.
“You realize I can send you back to L.A. whenever I want,” he said, his eyes expressionless.
My gut tensed up. This was the most afraid I’d ever been. Here I was living this dream, and I was about to watch it all dissolve into dust.
But something within me — this resolve that I did not recognize, kept me rooted to the spot. Something about being here, surrounded by these celebrities, knowing that Alina had my back, gave me strength.
“I know you can send me back whenever you want,” I said, my mouth dry. “And I’m telling you I want more scenes.”
He cocked his head to the side and looked at me with pure amusement.
My stomach lurched. I’d ruined it; I’d ruined everything.
There was no sound except the crickets chirping around us, no light except the moonbeams shining down on his face.
For a few painful seconds that felt like an eternity, I held my breath. I knew he was going to say no; I knew that I was worth nothing to him. Just some random stylist that was on his set; someone he could replace with a snap of his fingers—
“Done,” he said with finality, and held out his hand for me to shake.
I wrapped my fingers around it, feeling like I was having an out of body experience.
“Welcome to the cast, Charlie,” he said with a gentlemanly smile.
Chapter Thirteen
“See? I told you so!” Oliver cried.
“Keep your voice down!” I hissed, eyeing our surroundings.
We were hidden behind Alina’s trailer on the beach. The rest of the cast were drinking by a bonfire a few yards away. I could see Alina arm-in-arm with Mason, and they were drunkenly skipping in circles. Leo was watching them with a slight smile on his face.
“Well, still, I told you so,” Oliver said, his hand wrapped around a White Claw.
“You just told me to make a demand… I don’t know what came over me,” I said.
“I’m pretty surprised too,” he admitted, leaning against the wall of the trailer for support. “Well… you asked for what you wanted, and you got it!”
I was still stunned from the whole thing, a numbness prickling in my fingertips.
“You’re on the show now,” Oliver said with a smile. “Now, did you do what I asked too?”
I bit my lip and looked down.
His face fell. “You didn’t?”
“Well, it was an intense situation, and it sort of… slipped my mind.” I admitted.
Oliver took a step back, his face turning to stone.
“Are you serious? You got Reese alone — and you didn’t let it ‘slip’ that Leo kissed me?”
I felt like I’d been punched in the gut. “Wait, that’s what you wanted me to say? Earlier when we were in that hidden bar, you told me to tell Reese that Leo was getting all handsy with you when you were sizing him for his armor,” I said, trying to keep the story straight. “And that was made up.”
“Well, this is made up too,” he said a little too quickly. “All you were supposed to do was to plant the seed of jealousy with Reese and get him to suspect there’s something between me and Leo!”
I paused, not sure if I could trust him. Something in the way he said it was made up poked at my curiosity, tempting it out into the open.
“There’s nothing between you and Leo… right?” I asked, not daring to believe it.
His eyes were wide and green in the moonlight, and I knew the truth.
Still, I couldn’t believe it.
“…right, Oliver?”
“What does it matter if it’s true or not?” he snapped. “Of course it’s made up. But the thing is, Reese has no idea about it. You dropped the ball.”
I knew he was lying; the truth came out in his hesitation.
There was an unpleasant knotting in my gut. I couldn’t bear to think of Leo and Oliver all over each other, but my mind wouldn’t stop torturing me
