AllFreeNovel
Share Us
We didn’t get to the kiss on our first take or our second, Berg shouting invective to get us riled up. Between our second and third takes, I touched Lacey’s knee.
“He’s just trying to rattle us.”
She nodded. “I know.” When she smiled, I felt close to her, like we were in this together. Then Berg holleredaction, and this time, it was different.
Lacey leaned close to me, thumbed blood off my face. “Why did you want me here?”
I lifted my hand till it almost touched hers, trembling in place like I was scared I might break her.
“Lock?”
“I let you die once. I can’t do it again, even if I hate you. And I hate you. I do.” My voice broke. My hand shook. It grazed Lacey’s cheek. I left a black smear of dirt under her eye. When I tried to wipe it away, she caught my hand and held it, gripped it so tight I felt my bones grinding. Then I surged forward and we were kissing.
Our lips bumped at first, nervous and clumsy. Lacey gasped. I sighed and stopped breathing. My hand was still shaking, the one she hadn’t claimed, and I dragged it through her pale hair, streaking it with mud.
She whispered “Lock,” but I heard “Eric.” It sang in my head like she’d really said it — in my head, in my heart, and down through my body. All the hairs rose on the back of my neck, and down my arms, like a static-charged shock. Her lips softened on mine and her tongue flicked my lip, and in that moment I lost myself and all sense of place. I forgot where I was, forgot about Lock, and I was Eric, and she was Lacey. And she was kissing me, all art abandoned. Her breath came fast. Her nails scraped my scalp. The rain ran down our cheeks like warm tears, and it got in our mouths with the rich taste of mud. I leaned into it, groaning, wanting all she could give. All that she was. All we could—
“Cut!”
Lacey’s thumb bumped across my taut knuckles. Her body arched up, pressed against mine. Our kiss turned tender, a lingering heat. The rain must have melted us, run us together. Blurred all the edges where I began and she ended.
“Hey! I said cut! This isn’t your bedroom.”
I let Lacey go and she pulled away slowly, strands of her hair still stuck to my cheek. Her green eyes met mine, echoing my question, the one boiling up now that the spell had been broken.
What now?
I had no answers.
CHAPTER 13
ERIC
Sleep wouldn’t come that night. My head wouldn’t quiet. I lay on my back staring up at the ceiling, then on my side, then I got up and paced. I refused to let my thoughts linger on Lacey. To dwell on that kiss would be to admit it meant something, and it couldn’t. It didn’t.
Except maybe it did.
We’d filmed two more scenes after the kiss, a wet, muddy chase scene, then me on my own, digging a grave in a shell-scarred field. Lacey had vanished when her scenes were done. I’d wanted to talk to her, catch her alone. To see if her eyes were still clear and unguarded, the way they had been after the kiss.
I checked the time on my phone, past two a.m. I wouldn’t be talking to Lacey tonight. And maybe — no,certainly— that was a good thing. The words that popped out in the heat of the moment were always the words that messed up your life. Words likeI do, vows made on impulse. I’d learned that lesson the hard way. Lacey could wait.
I paced up and down, two-fifteen. Two-thirty. At a quarter to three, I pulled on some clothes, clean workout pants and a hooded sweatshirt. I jerked up the hood so it covered my face, and slunk out through the lobby and down to the beach. The night was a clear one, the rain all dried up, the clouds a pale ring around the full moon. The waves rolled in gently and lapped at my feet.
I stood a long time watching the ocean, listening to the music from some distant beach party. Time was, I’d have gone up and joined in the fun. Now I was famous, and that door was closed. If I went to that party, it’d become about me, and what if they were celebrating somebody’s birthday? Or someone’s promotion, or their engagement? I didn’t want to bethatguy, stealing their limelight.
It was so weird, Eric Harper crashing our party. I mean, it was cool at first, but then he just… stayed? Like, get a clue, man. It’s Kelly’s birthday!
I shuddered and turned back to the hotel, but as I did, I spotted movement — a lone, slender figure trudging off down the beach, a messy blond ponytail catching the moonlight. On instinct, I called to her.
“Lacey! Hey, Lacey?”
She didn’t look back. My neck went hot. It wasn’t Lacey, just some blonde lady. Some stranger I’d latched onto, thinking—
She pulled out her earbuds and turned around. “Hello? Did someone— Eric? Is that you?”
I waved, feeling sheepish. “Yeah. Couldn’t sleep.”
She started back toward me. “I couldn’t either. I think it’s the air here. It’s always so fresh, and it has thatalivesmell, like walking into a greenhouse in spring.” She stopped a few feet from me, fidgeting, nervous. Her green eyes were fixed on a point far behind me, the glow from the campfire at the beach party.
