Hate the Player: An Enemies-to-Lovers Romantic Comedy(44)

Although, Samantha and Neil and my publicist Candy have all reached out to me several times to make sure things are going smoothly.

“Well, are you about done in here?” he asks, and I glance toward Maureen for confirmation.

“Ten or so minutes and she’ll be all set.”

My eyes move back to him. “Are they waiting on me?” I ask, and fear starts to fill my belly over the idea that I’m making our director wait.

But Johnny shakes his head. “No, we still have another forty or so minutes before we have to get on set,” he answers with a grin. “But before we go do that, I want to make sure you get something to eat.”

“Oh, okay,” I respond with a small, thankful smile. Honestly, it’s a breath of fresh air to talk to a costar who doesn’t appear to be a huge asshole or an outrageous diva. “Yeah, sure, just give me ten minutes, and I’ll be ready to grab some lunch.”

His smile grows. “Perfect.”





Andrew



A sexy woman is one thing, but a snake disguised in a sexy woman’s clothing does abso-fucking-lutely nothing for me.

“Andrew Watson,” a female voice purrs in my direction, and I look up from the plate of food I just snagged from the craft services table and into the eyes of Tawny Rose. An actress I’ve known for a while after working on a movie together several years back. “It feels like it has been forever since I’ve seen you.”

“It’s certainly been a hot minute,” I respond, but I don’t make a move to get up from my seat. Tawny is a notorious viper in the celebrity circuit, and I’ve never really been a fan of that kind of woman, no matter how much fun they might be to play with for a few nights. She’s like a female praying mantis reincarnated into human form, ready to bite the heads off past lovers when she’s had her fill.

And by fill, I mean, obtained as much fame, notoriety, and material things as she can get before she feels the need to find her next victim.

It’s all a game to women like Tawny Rose. And every person she yanks into her orbit serves some sort of superficial purpose.

“You know,” she says and sits down beside me, dramatically crossing her legs so that her foot brushes the material of my jeans, batting her eyelashes in my direction. “I was sad after we did that movie together and you never called me. I thought we had a lot of fun together.”

By a lot of fun, she means she tried to convince me to fuck her, and I didn’t jump at the opportunity.

Like I said, I’m not a fan of snakes, even if the snake is objectively hot by today’s Instagram model standards.

“Didn’t we, though?” she asks, her voice still purring like a fucking kitten. “Have a lot of fun together on Can’t Hold Back?”

“Sure.” I shrug and take a bite of my grilled chicken sandwich. “It was definitely a great group of actors, and the movie did well when it released.”

“But I’m not talking about on set, Andrew,” she says with knowing seduction in her voice. “I’m talking about all the fun we had off set.”

Off set? What the fuck bullshit is she trying to spout right now?

I lift my eyes from my plate of food, but just as I let them meet Tawny’s, I’m distracted by something behind her. Two somethings behind her, in fact.

When I walk into the room and head for the craft services table, I spot Birdie and Johnny Johnston smiling and chatting with each other as they grab some plates and utensils and start perusing the food.

Birdie’s long blond hair is now dry from our earlier rain scene, and her outfit has been changed from cutoff jean shorts to this sexy little white dress that shows off an even sexier amount of leg.

Johnny says something to her, she laughs, and I have the odd urge to get up from my seat and interrupt their little powwow.

I’m man enough to admit that I’m a little jealous, but I’m also concerned for Birdie’s wellbeing.

Johnny has classic nice guy syndrome. Everything’s sweet and funny and fun and friendly during the chase, but when a girl gets it in her head that she has the option not to put out at the end of the date, he flips the switch. She’s a cunt and a tease and a total bitch because she dared to object to such a nice guy. I may be an asshole, but at least I’m honest about my motives instead of feeling righteously self-entitled. Honestly, he’s the most dangerous kind of guy, if you ask me.

“Hello?” Tawny’s voice is in my ear again. “Earth to Andrew?” she says, and I move my gaze away from Birdie and her new best fucking friend and back to the woman sitting beside me.

Jesus Christ. What do you want from me?

“Yeah, Tawny?” I ask, and she rolls her eyes dramatically and slaps a flirtatious hand against my bicep.

“God, Andrew, were you even listening to me?” she questions, and I just offer a shrug.

“Mind repeating what you said, and I’ll let you know if I actually heard it?”

“I swear.” Tawny laughs and touches my bicep again. “You’re such a jerk sometimes.”

I shrug again. “Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve heard that.”

Lord knows, a certain little birdie has made a point to tell me that nearly every single day since I first met her.

“Like I was saying, we had a lot of fun together on our last movie and I think we should make some time on this movie to have more fun together.”