Page 29 of The Spotlight Effect

“Why don’t we practice a scene?” she answers. I sit my donut on the table beside me and turn to Alexia.

“Okay let’s practice,” I say, walking over to the table and picking up the script on it, flipping to a page with one of our scenes. “Here are your lines.”

Alexia looks over the lines before sitting the script down. “Got it,” she says. That fast, I wish I could say I'm impressed, but she can do better.

“Why are you avoiding me, Chase?”

“We are playing a dangerous game, Nica.” I step closer to her.

“I’ve been locked in here and you found me! Now you’ve left and I’m alone again.” Alexia has a sad tone in her voice. She is great at acting.

“It’s complicated, Nica. You’ve been gone for a year, and we have no idea how you got here. People are dead! And I have agirlfriend.” I follow the stage directions and turn to the door, but she grabs my wrist.

“Then we solve the mystery,” she says.

God, she’s good at this. How is she good at this? She’s even giving those begging eyes and I’m getting lost in them. I want to kiss her.

Stop it.

“How?” I ask.

“Bring me all the student death reports, and I need the footage from the day I went missing.” There’s supposed to be a pause here before I agree and tell her she has to wait until tonight for me to bring it. Our characters are exes because she went missing, and they still have unresolved emotions, and there is a kiss in this scene.

I turn around in her grasp and walk closer, placing my hand on the side of her face. I lean in, closing my eyes and I can tell I’m close by her breath fanning on my face, but I don’t kiss her, I just stand there for a moment and then lean back.

“I promise I’ll come later,” I say. I wanted to kiss her but if I ever do get another chance, I want it to be special and not acting. Not that I’m going to actually kiss her one day.

“See, you can do it! Remember next time to kiss the person,” Alexia says, coming back to her regular self.

“Are you saying you wanted me to kiss you?” I ask, one to annoy her and two I’m curious about her answer.

“In your dreams,” she replies with a smile and leaves the room.

She’s right, in my dreams.

We started filmingscenes with Alexia for Emerson’s TV show. Which doesn’t involve me yet, which means I can leave. So, I’m in my dressing room packing up and making sure I knowmy lines for tomorrow. Tomorrow, we have to shoot the scene we practiced earlier after Alexia has her StarStruck magazine interview, and we have a flashback scene, which will take a while so that’s all for the day.

As I am walking out of my dressing room, I see Mariana walk into Alexia spilling her smoothie on Alexia’s light green baby tee before walking off with a big grin. I admittedly want to help feeling bad for her. She looks utterly upset about it. I kind of want to laugh because the shape looks like a chicken nugget as I get closer, but I don’t. Scarlett says a girls ' clothes are never a laughing matter.

“Need some help with that?” I ask, approaching her.

“What can you do?” Alexia answers, trying to wipe it off.

“Come on, let's fix it,” I say and grab her hand, which she immediately wiggles her hand out of. I tried. I walk her to my dressing room and turn on the light as I enter. I pick out one of my T-shirts from the duffle bag I keep in here and toss it to her. “You can wear that,” I tell her.

She takes her bookbag off before walking into the restroom.

A minute later she comes out in my shirt. “Thanks,” Alexia says.

“No problem. I can wash that,” I offer.

“It’s fine ,” Alexia says.

“Are you positive?” I ask.

“Yeah, it’s fine Grayson,” she says, grabbing a trash bag from the side table and putting her stained shirt inside before compacting the bag and stuffing it in her bookbag.

I take a second to look at her in my shirt. The simple fact she’s in my shirt is just making me sweat. Her body looks amazing in it.

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