Fame, Fate, and the First Kiss(5)

“Sometimes.”

His phone chimed. He checked the screen and typed something into it. I reached over and picked up the book. It was Dancing Graves, the book the movie we were filming was based on. I’d read it right after I got the part. His bookmark was about fifty pages in. “You haven’t read it yet?” I asked, kind of surprised.

“I’m working on it.”

“Don’t you feel like books give you a more in-depth version of your character that you can work with?”

“I like to bring my own spin to a character.”

There was a knock on his door.

“Come in!” he called.

Amanda came walking in. She played Evelin, my best friend, kind, brave, and in love with my fiancé. She got to wear clean dresses and keep her beautiful brown skin free of any distortion makeup. In real life I knew even less about her than I knew about Grant.

She carried two bottles of beer in her hands. Her eyebrows went up when she saw me. “Hello.”

“Is one of those for me?” Grant asked.

“Yes, sir. I thought you could use one after your talk last night about your tight neck.” She looked at me. “I didn’t know you’d be here or I would’ve brought another.”

“Oh, that’s okay. I’m only seventeen.” As if I needed to get caught drinking here. That would be excuse enough for my father to rip up my contract and send me back to my mom’s.

“Oh, right,” she said. “That’s why your dad is always hanging around.”

Grant laughed and opened the bottle. I knew Grant was only nineteen, but I was sure normal rules didn’t apply to him. I had no idea how old Amanda was.

“I keep forgetting what you look like without makeup on,” Amanda said to me.

Grant kicked his foot in Amanda’s direction. “That’s exactly what I just told her.”

“And the dirt highlights are awesome too,” she said.

I ran my hand through my hair. Or tried to—it was nearly impossible. “It’s one of my better looks.”

She patted Grant on the knee. “Make room for me.”

He scooted down the couch, and she wedged herself between us. I was glad she’d come. Having an extra person here would make conversation easier. “Are you two dating?”

Grant laughed. “No. But great friends.” He tapped his bottle against hers.

“Did you know each other before this?” I asked.

“No,” Amanda said. “But we’ve been hanging out.”

If I had been able to stay here on location twenty-four seven, I’d probably be more bonded with them.

“So what were you guys doing before I got here?” she asked.

“I’m not sure,” Grant said. “Lacey just showed up. Did you need something, Lacey?”

“No, I wanted to hang out for a little bit. Remy mentioned our chemistry today, and I thought this might be good for us.”

Grant and Amanda exchanged a look. “Yeah, could help,” he said.

“What is it? Is there something I should know?” I asked, because they’d obviously talked about this.

“No, not at all,” Amanda said. “You’ll get there.”

“I know,” I said. Just because I was young didn’t mean I didn’t know how to act. I sighed and looked around the trailer. This wasn’t working. It felt forced, awkward. We needed to do something. “Let’s play a card game. Do you have a deck?”

“Uh . . .” Grant pointed to a drawer by a sink. “Try there.”

I stood and slid open the indicated drawer. Toward the back, past a pad of paper and some opened mail, I found a deck. I freed it and held it up. “Let the games begin.”

“What are we playing?” Amanda asked. “Go fish?”

“Funny.” I sat down at the table and shuffled the deck. “So here’s the game: It’s like war—high card wins the hand. But in this game, low card has to divulge something about themselves. Whoever has all the cards in the end wins.” This would not only help me get to know Grant better, but competition always livened up a room. And when people were having fun, they bonded.

I patted the table in front of me. “Come on, you two, the night isn’t getting any younger.”

“Not any younger than you,” Amanda said with a smile, but she stood anyway and took the seat across from me. I wasn’t sure if she was trying to be funny or if she was trying to dig at me for some reason. Either way, I knew how to hold my own.

She looked at Grant, who had his phone out again. “Don’t be boring. Play with us.”

He maintained his seat on the couch. “This game is pointless. Everyone already knows everything about me.”

“Grant,” Amanda said in a warning voice.

He gave an annoyed grunt and joined us.

I dealt the cards. “Keep them on the table facedown and we all reveal them at once. Are you ready?”

They both nodded.

“Okay . . . go.”

We flipped. I had a jack, Amanda turned up an eight and Grant came in low with a three.

“And we have our first loser,” I said.

“Of course,” he said.

“I’ve never seen a loser look so much like a winner,” Amanda said.