Page 54 of Reel Love

“Uh. Yeah. Grilling. I’ll grill.”

Bodhi chuckles, obviously aware of the source of my bumbling words.

I’m grateful to have a grill and the guys clustered around it. Cooking meat will give me something to do besides worrying about how to act around Alana. We aren’t supposed to know one another. I’m pretty sure I’m carrying that part off without even trying. I haven’t appeared at all familiar or comfortable with her yet.

I think I’m in the clear, but Ben exits his house right behind me.

“Stevens! I want you to meet someone.” His voice booms across the back yard.

Everyone present turns to stare at us. Probably people around the neighborhood would stare if they could see over the fence surrounding the yard.

Subtlety is not in Ben’s wheelhouse.

“Kalaine, I hate to interrupt,” Ben says as he ushers me close to the two women and barges into their conversation with all the finesse of a timeshare salesman.

“You do not hate to interrupt,” Kalaine says with an adoring smile at Ben.

“Took the words right out of my mouth,” I mumble.

Alana’s eyes hook on mine and I can tell she’s waiting to see what I’ll say and how I’ll act. I can’t look away. Whether I had met her before or not, I would not be able to turn away from her at this proximity. Solar magnetism. A pull twice as strong as the earth’s.

Alana giggles lightly at my comment. I’m so focused on her, the rest of the crowd and even the details of the back yard fade into a blur like peripheral objects in portrait mode.

“Alana, this is my friend, Stevens. He’s a nerd, but a cool one. He does marine biology stuff.” Ben claps me on the back. “Stevens, this is Alana Graves, as you know.”

I send up a private thanks that Ben didn’t blurt out what a big fan I am.

“He’s such a massive fan of yours.”

Premature gratitude.

I’m pretty certain I’m blushing.

“So, you’re a fan, huh?” Alana says. Her eyes are playful.

“I admit it. I am.”

“What’s your favorite movie of mine?” she asks.

“You’re going to make me pick?”

She beams.

“I loved you inTwisted… Your performance. I loved your performance.”

“We’re all eagerly awaiting the release ofBlasted,” Kalaine says.

Alana’s still holding my gaze when she thanks Kalaine and then asks me, “Twisted, huh?”

“You play a great spy. And those martial arts moves? Wow. Impressive.”

I question myself, but apparently all the chill I ever had has exited the premises. “Is that actually you? Or do you have a stunt double?”

Alana smiles widely, dips her head, and then she looks me in the eye again. “That’s all me. I do have a stunt double. She fills in for certain scenes, but I do all my own stunts.”

“Just like the T-shirt!” Ben says with a laugh at his own joke.

“Yeah. Maybe I should get one of those,” Alana says to him.

---