Page 19 of Between the Lines

I truly didn’t have the energy for what “company” would undoubtedly be if she came over.

And honestly…I wasn’t really in themoodfor it either.

It was a long-ass day on setI told her, which was the truth.I’m damn near sleep right now.

Stella:I can take you the rest of the way.

Shit.

Definitely should have known that was coming.

I shook my head as I texted right back.You know how much I appreciate the offer, but my call time tomorrow is early as hell too. Gotta rest up.

She knew mewell enough by now to know I took rest seriously, and if she came over here,restwas the last thing I’d be getting. I’d be groggy as hell in the morning, and if I didn’t want that reflected in my face and performance, I would have to ingest an IV drip worth of caffeine, which I’d just pay for in other ways.

Cascading failures.

I understandshe sent back with a heart emoji.

And then, a few spaces down, a sad frown emoji, a crying emoji, and a broken heart.

All of which she followed up withjk, get some rest. You can make it up to me later.

I shook my head, chuckling at her antics as I typed out and sent a reply promising I would do exactly that. I started to toss the phone back onto the couch beside me, then remembered Istill hadn’t responded to Ellie yet. I had the phone in my hand, ready to type something out when another one came through from her.

Don’t mind meit read.#insomnia thoughts.

I raised an eyebrow.You having trouble sleeping again?I asked.You know what the remedy for that usually is. In the bed, lights low, no phone. Did you take your melatonin?

Damn, Dad. LOL. Not even home right now.

I frowned at the time represented in tiny white numbers in the corner of my screen.Seriously?I asked.Where are you?

Out for a drive. I’m out by you in the desert getting a big-ass box of fries. Good thing Luna is always in those a-line dresses. A bitch is gonna be bloated af tomorrow.

I chuckled at first, but then a thought occurred to me.

Wait, you’re not texting and driving are you?

NOshe texted back.

A moment later, my phone was ringing with a video call.

When I answered, Ellie’s face was a good distance from the screen, hidden behind oversized shades. Her hair was tucked under a hat—no jewelry.

I didn’t have the heart to tell her she’d belessconspicuous if she lost the shades since she was indoors, and it was night, but that wouldn’t do much good now. She grinned at the camera as she stuffed more fries in her mouth than she probably should.

“See?” she asked. I could see the bright neon lights from the fast-food restaurant she was seated in reflected in the window behind her.

“No soda, right?” I teased, and she laughed.

“Nope, no caffeine. I got a water. And I have another big-ass thing of water out in the car, full of ice and cut lemons. So refreshing.”

“A big-assthingof water?”

“That’s what I said.” She held up her hands next to her head. “Big as this noggin.”

I chuckled. “You know our call time isrealsoon, right?” I asked. “In like six hours. We’ve got things together tomorrow, co-star.”

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