Page 48 of A Little Bit Extra

“Lucy, I need to quit.” I surprise myself by saying these words out loud.

She turns off the ignition after parking in an employee spot in the back. “Girl, I know. I do too. Can you at least wait until after this shift? You wouldn’t be a great best friend if you left right now.” Lucy grabs her bags from the back, full of books that she won’t get to because of the crowd of people and food the guys sent with us to snack on later.

“Yeah, yeah. I won’t leave you hanging.”

“Just promise me you will still make time for me between your new boyfriend and the studio.” Lucy wiggles her eyebrows.

I glare at her. “Not my boyfriend—”

Lucy holds up her hand in between us. “But he wants to be! He was eye-fucking you the entire night.”

I roll my eyes and grab my bag. “Anyway, yes, I will obviously make time for you. It helps that we live together.”

“True. You can’t get away from me, even if you wanted to.”

For the rest of the night, I can’t get Emmett out of my head. Every time I overhear a patron talk about touring the studios, I have to bite my tongue and walk the other way. I’m afraid I’ll say something about knowing Emmett, or ask strangers what they think about him.

I take time to talk to Dave, let him know that I’m quitting. Telling him in person is the least I can do for having spent so many years here. He’s always been supportive, so I wasn’t nervous to tell him. That was the easy part.

The hard part is now I’m relying on the studio and trusting myself to land a role before the end of the year. If I don’t, it may be time to move on.

14

Emmett

I knew I had it bad as soon as the elevator doors closed and the familiar butterflies in my stomach began to flutter.

Every time my thoughts wandered, they said ‘Cassie, Cassie, Cassie.’

When I arrived back at my apartment, we all agreed to watch a movie, which only made my wandering thoughts worse, as I had to sit in silence.

Luckily, Cassie texted to tell me she made it to work, and that it was busy, but she’s going to quit. Then she sent 10 smiley emojis, and I had to bite my cheeks to prevent the biggest grin in front of my friends.

The rest of the weekend went by quickly. Sundays are my private rehearsal days. I go over the scenes for the week and make sure I know my lines and then spend the rest of the day relaxing. It’s my day to reset.

I decide to go to the studio early on Monday. On my walk to my trailer, I browse social media, knowing I could get to my trailer with my eyes closed.

When I get to the steps, I look up to see Cassie standing at my door, waiting for me.

“Shit,” I mutter and slam my right hand to my chest. “Warn a man, Sass, before you sneak up on them.”

Cassie’s looking at me, smiling. She’s already holding her clipboard, stacked with papers for the week. I can tell she's happy, probably because she quit the diner Saturday. She’s pairing high waisted jeans with a v-neck today, with her radio attached to her hip.

With a giggle she responds, “Sorry, I would have texted you but figured I’d surprise you with coffee.”

“What did I do to deserve this?” I ask. I’m partially joking, but in truth I’m surprised to see her here. We texted a little yesterday, and I would have asked her to meet me this morning, but I didn’t want to seem desperate to see her or clingy.

“I…” Cassie starts, but then averts her gaze. She bites her lower lip, and upon releasing it, she returns her eyes to mine. “I wanted to see you.”

I nod, and a smile dances across my lips. “I figured it was only a matter of time before you fell for me.” I lean against the railing of the stairs, crossing my arms, while I watch her cheeks fill with pink.

She shifts from one foot to the other, her eyes on the step under her feet. Although she’s looking down, I can see a smile forming. “You wish, Hotshot.” Her gaze snaps back to mine.

"Give it time, Sass," I say with a smirk, provoking another chuckle from her. “Want to come inside?”

Cassie nods.

I slip past her on the stairs and open the trailer door, holding it for her to go in before me. She turns to the right and heads to the couch, so I follow her. I choose to sit next to her. Not too close, but close enough to feel her warmth.

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