Fame, Fate, and the First Kiss(6)

Oh. That was the problem. She may not have been dating him, but it was obvious she liked him. She liked him and thought I was here trying to take him from her. In a few weeks I was going to have to kiss him on camera, but I had no interest in him off camera. He was nice to look at, but he was not worth stalling my career over.

“Okay, Grant,” I said. “Hit us with something interesting about you that we haven’t already read online.”

“Maybe it would be easier to correct some of the things you’ve read about me online.”

“That works too,” I said. “It’s something new either way.”

“Okay, I do not, in fact, have a cat named Buddy. His name is Bucky.”

“Boo,” Amanda said. “Give us something interesting.”

“You’ll have to win more than one hand for those,” he said.

“No,” I said. “That was fine. The key to this game is speed, so someone shares a fact and we immediately do another round.” I rested my hand on top of my deck. “Also, I didn’t know you were a cat person. How come you don’t bring him to live in the trailer with you?”

“He lives with my parents when I’m filming.”

“Next,” Amanda said, and we all flipped our cards.

“Amanda,” I said, when she got the lowest. I snapped my fingers. “Speed.”

“Yes, I like to drive fast.”

I rolled my eyes, but we all flipped again.

Grant drummed the table with two fingers. “I used to play.”

“The drums?” I asked. “Were you good?”

“Why do you think I became an actor?”

I laughed. “Much more practical.”

The next flip I lost. “I can eat an entire large pizza by myself.” Although I hadn’t done that lately. Lately, I’d been watching nearly everything that went in my mouth.

“Gross,” Amanda said as we flipped again.

Now the game was picking up.

“I have watched every single animated Disney movie,” Amanda yelled out.

“Impressive,” I said.

“I used to run track,” Grant said after he lost. “I like to run.”

“I hate animals,” I said for the next round. “They stink and leave fur all over stuff.”

Grant gasped, and Amanda laughed.

“I can sleep for twelve hours straight,” Amanda said. “I would beat anyone in a sleep-off.”

“My weakness is carne asada french fries,” Grant said. “I spend an extra hour in the gym daily so I can eat them.”

“I have acted in three different soap operas,” Amanda said.

“Nice,” I said.

“And now I’m in a movie,” she said.

“You are?” Grant asked. “Which one?”

“The best one in the world,” I said.

Grant laughed, and Amanda yelled out, “Hear hear!”

I lost the next round. “I like to sing,” I said.

“Ooh, you two can start a band,” Amanda said.

“I don’t want a second-rate drummer in my band.”

Grant shoved my shoulder. Amanda collected the cards in the center of the table for winning that round.

Grant lost next. “I once proposed to a girl, and she said no.”

Amanda paused as she was reaching for the cards. “What?”

“You’re only nineteen,” I said.

“And we were only five at the time.”

I blew air out between my lips and threw a card at him.

“I’m keeping this,” he said adding it to his stack.

We finished out the game a few rounds later, with Amanda winning. “Let’s go again,” she said.

“Wait,” I said, noticing a clock on his wall. “Is that the actual time or is it off?” The clock said ten to ten.

“Uh-oh,” Amanda said. “The little girl has a curfew. Are you going to turn into a pumpkin?”

“Pulling out the Disney references,” I said.

“You know it.”

“I have to go. This was fun.” I stood.

“This was fun,” Amanda said. “See you on set tomorrow.”

“Remember my face,” I said, giving Grant a wink.

He smirked.

I hopped down the steps and onto the asphalt, feeling okay about how that went. It stayed fairly surface level, but that was to be expected for the first round.

I’d only made it a few steps before I heard the door open behind me. I looked back to see Amanda.

“Hey, can I talk to you for a minute,” she said.

“Sure.”

She glanced over her shoulder at the shut door and led me a little farther away from the trailer. “I know Grant said we weren’t together, but I’d like to be.”

“Okay.” I had figured as much.

“I wanted to put that out there.”

I held my hands up. “He’s all yours. I don’t date.”

“Okay, I just . . . wait, what? You don’t date? Like, at all?” Her dark eyebrows were down in confusion. “For religious reasons or something?”

I laughed. “No. For career reasons. I don’t need the distraction. I need to focus.”