AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Realizing I need to get outside and clear my head, I say, “I’m going for a coffee run.”
Jemma says, “I’ll take a soy vanilla latte. With two pumps of caramel. Extra hot.”
I grit my teeth, but force myself to be polite when I say, “Sure, Jemma.”
She holds up a finger. “Oh! I also want a cream cheese bagel. Toasted. And can you get extra cream cheese, please and thank you?”
She’sreallygoing to milk this for everything, isn’t she?
“Got it. Anyone else?”
I look around, and everyone’s eyeing us both strangely. Then I get a smattering of, “No, thanks.” Or, “I’m good.”
Maddox glares at Jemma like he’s trying to make her explode with his super villain stare. He pulls her and me aside and says, “Smith will meet with us tomorrow.”
“Great.” Her smile glows.
We have to nail the landing on the season finale, which is going to be impossible with the threat of my doomed career swirling in my head. Not to mention that I have to bring back the electricity between me and Maddox for our kiss. We need to recreate that moment at the toilet paper dress ball where there were fireworks.
Yeah, after everything that’s gone down between us, it’s going to take a miracle.
As for Jemma, she can keep her big mouth shut.
Once I’m back from coffee, we begin rehearsing, and the day goes from shit to shittier. The tension on set has reached a breaking point, and Maddox and I aren’t vibing at all.
Smith looks like his head might explode, and I’m actually a little worried he’s going to give himself a heart attack at thirty-seven.
When it’s time for the last scene of the finale, I’m vibrating with nerves and frustration.
Agent Sullivan is knocked unconscious, and Agent Bryce is there for the rescue. Dressed in our characters’ suits that’ve been burned, torn, and bloodied from our high-speed chase and shoot out, Agent Bryce is trying to get Sullivan to wake up.
The director’s assistant counts down, and Smith mouths, “Action.”
I lean over Maddox, screaming, “Come on, Sullivan. Wake up.” I put my ear up to his mouth to see if he’s breathing, and I choke back tears as he doesn’t respond to my shaking.
I’m getting ready to give him mouth-to-mouth, tipping his head back when he opens his eyes. He shoots me a smile and says, “If you wanted to kiss me, Bryce, you could’ve just said so.”
I slap him on the shoulder, saying, “You scared the shit out of me.”
“Ah, don’t worry. I wouldn’t leave you.” The genuine tone of his voice is the old Maddox. And when he meets my eyes, the twinkle is back. He whispers, “I’d never leave you.”
I stare at him adoringly, hoping it’s Maddox saying that to Riley, not just Sullivan saying it to Bryce. “Good.” I smile before bringing my lips to his.
He pulls me in, and at first, he’s stiff, like we’re just two actors fulfilling our duties. Then the tension melts away. He pulls me closer and opens up, moving his mouth over mine hungrily, like he couldn’t wait another breath to hold me, kiss me, and feel the electricity that thrums between us whenever we touch. It’s like the last few days never happened.
I feel the thudding of his heart beneath mine, and then he moves his hand along my back like he aches for me. When Smith yells, “Cut,” Maddox doesn’t stop.
“Cut, Maddox, cut!” Smith is having kittens.
I love that it takes Smith screaming for Maddox to hear. When he pulls out of the kiss, he gazes at me, almost in a trance. We stare at each other, and for a fraction of time, it’s just him and me again.
Why can’t we be home in Maddox’s bed instead of in the middle of a road, filming?
We finally get up, and Smith says, “That’s a wrap! Congrats, everyone. Season two is in the books.”
The cast and crew erupt in applause, and I have a moment.
I’ve just finished my first season of my first show of my first acting gig, and it’s incredible.
