Page 41 of One Life to Loathe

“It wasn’t a dig at you,” he reminded me.

“I know. You just bring out the worst in me sometimes.”

His expression was hard to read. “I’ll stop trying to bring out the worst in you,” he said finally. “I don’t want to be the one to steal the sunshine from others.”

“Or you could let some of the sunshine invade your cold, black heart and become a sunshine guy,” I suggested.

“Yeah, that’s never going to happen.”

“Never say never.”

“Actually, on that front, I can say it. I’m not a happy guy. I’ll try not to drag you down with me, though. It’s the best that I can do.”

It wasn’t enough. I wanted him to find some joy in life. How could I make that happen, though?

12

TWELVE

Imight’ve been bouncing out of bed the first week of filming, but by the time the second week rolled around, I wasn’t feeling nearly as chipper. My time so far had been split between scenes with the coven—meaning Sylvia was sucking the energy out of me like an energy vampire instead of a witch—and with Leo. We’d spent half the week filming outside after dark, which meant my days were topsy-turvy. I couldn’t tell if I was coming or going any longer.

“We’ll do better about doling out the night shoots if we get a second season,” Miles promised as he sat with me in the bar after we’d finished filming for the day.

“That will be nice,” I replied automatically. I might’ve been exhausted, but I was never one to forget my manners.

“Yeah.” Miles searched my face. “You look tired.”

Of course I looked tired. We’d filmed until three in the morning. Then I had to turn around and be back on the set at ten o’clock. Thankfully, most of the stuff going on today revolved around Ed and the vampires. I had one scene with Leo to film and one with Sylvia. Then I was done for the day.

And my bed was calling me.

“I’ll take a nap,” I said. “It’s fine. This is part of the job, right?”

Miles didn’t look convinced. “I’ll look at your call times again. I thought I did a better job than this.”

I didn’t want him worrying about me being delicate. Just like Leo’s “difficult” label had followed him, a “delicate” label would haunt me. “I’m fine,” I assured him. “I just need to adjust. You don’t have to change anything for me. I’ll get better at taking naps.”

“Are you sure?” Miles didn’t look convinced.

“I’m sure,” I assured him. “Don’t worry about anything. I’ve got this.”

He studied me a beat longer, then nodded. “You’re doing really well. You and Leo have electrifying chemistry. I was a little worried at first, but you guys have been great all week.”

Since Leo and I had reverted to sniping and glaring at one another on a regular basis—the long hours and short breaks getting to both of us—I found that observation interesting. “I’m glad you’re happy,” was all I could say.

In truth, I wasn’t happy. Being around Leo was torture. Whenever we were close, my heart rate sped up, I had trouble remembering my lines, and my cheeks kept flushing to the point where they had to fix my makeup. All that slowed down filming. And Leo? Yeah, he seemed to get frustrated whenever the filming was dragged out for no good reason. I couldn’t blame him really. If he were the one causing issues, I would’ve been angry too.

He was just so Leo.

“You guys are on fire,” Miles continued, apparently not noticing how my demeanor changed the second he brought up Leo. “If I didn’t know any better, I would totally think you guys were fighting feelings for each other in the real world too.”

“Well, that’s not happening.” I sipped my iced tea.

“Of course not.” Miles waved his hand as if I’d said the funniest thing in the world. “You guys haven’t bonded. I think that’s what helps the chemistry. It’s not something I considered before, but it might be a tactic moving forward.”

“Yes, well…” My eyes moved to the door when the man in question appeared. Leo looked as tired as I felt. He was still handsome of course—damn him!—but he’d lost a bit of pep in his step, and I wasn’t surprised when he hopped on a stool and ordered a Jack and Coke.

“Are you guys plotting how you’re going to make my life worse or something?” he asked without looking at us.

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