Page 58 of Lights, Camera, Love

I scan the room and spot the egomaniac director hovering beside the bar in a comically bad silver suit and too-short red tie, his nest of hair slicked over to one side. Buzz is angled towards the bar, chatting with—my stomach somersaults as a broad-shouldered man steps aside and Evie comes into view. My gaze skids down her light-pink dress, catching a glimpse of her toned thigh through the long slit. A pang of longing reverberates in my chest.

Evie’s eyes stay locked on Buzz as he speaks, a faint line etched between her brows.

Cesar, the camera operator, and Brie, one of the lighting technicians, brush past me on their way back from the bar.

‘Oh hey, Kye,’ says Cesar. ‘It’s a shame Austin couldn’t make it. Want to come sit with us? We’re just chatting with Jakob about a new script he’s working on. Could be a good gig for us if it gets off the ground. Not sure whether there’s something for Austin.’

‘It’s a thriller about a catastrophic computer virus that overtakes the world,’ Brie explains.

Can’t hardly wait to hear more about that groundbreaking idea, which probably has as much chance of getting off the ground as an ostrich,I think. But I maintain my fake-ass smile. ‘Sure, I’ll be there in a bit. Just gonna grab a drink.’

Everything I formulated on my hike today, each word I planned to say to Evie, falls out of my head as I step up to the bar where she is standing with Buzz, who has his back to me.

My gaze knocks against Evie’s, and a hot current shoots down my spine. ‘Hello,’ I say.

‘Hi.’ She swallows tightly and blinks away, her gold earrings swinging.

I’m so sorry.

Please forgive me.

Evie returns her attention to Buzz and picks up the conversation they’d been having—something about filming pick-ups because of an issue with one of the farm scenes. My chest slowly sinks into a black hole. So, she is mad at me.

Of course she is, you asshole.

My throat burns as I catch a bartender’s attention and order a beer, feeling Evie’s eyes drift to the side of my face and linger there.

Beside me, Buzz murmurs something unintelligible to Evie before turning to hack out a cough in my direction.Lovely.I can smell his breath from here—he’s been lapping up the complimentary drinks, literally. Shaking my head, I give the exit doors a wistful glance.

‘Buzz,’ Evie protests, and I turn to spot his fingers groping for hers.

She hides her hand behind her back, and the director takes hold of her opposite wrist with a sleepy smile. ‘What?’ he says. ‘I’m not allowed to hold the hand of my leading lady?’ He draws Evie’s hand to his lips and gives her palm a sloppy kiss.

‘Stop that,’ she hisses, snapping her hand back to her side.

I edge between them. ‘Everything okay here?’

‘Everything’s fine,’ Evie says quietly, her cheeks aflame.

‘Ohhh,herehe is,’ Buzz drawls, pushing off the bar. ‘The pretty-boy who’s so fucking desperate to be in the “room where it happens” that he never fucks off.’

It takes astonishing effort to keep my composure as I turn my ear to him. ‘What’s that now?’

Buzz makes a ‘pfshh’ sound and waves a hand at me.

Evie’s alarmed eyes dart between us until the director brushes roughly past me to grip her tightly by the waist. She tries to wriggle away but he presses harder into herand says something in her ear, his fingers sliding up her torso.

‘Let go of her!’ I snap, snatching hold of Buzz’s arm and wrenching him off her. With my other hand, I grip his chin hard and shove him backwards, speaking in his face. ‘Keep your fucking hands off her, you perverted piece of shit.’

Gasps ripple around the room, conversations halt, and partygoers freeze and gawk. Evie’s mouth is hanging open. My pulse is pounding in my ears, and one of my hands is clenched into a fist at my side. I step back from Buzz.Calm down, Kye.

Louis, the boom operator, darts in to wrap an arm around the director’s shoulder. ‘Should we go outside for a minute, Buzz?’ he stammers. ‘I’ve got a funny story about the horse statue across the street. The dog I had growing up, Lexington, tried to attack it once. Lex used to freak out at everything; I could tell you a million stories.’

No one gives a shit, Louis.

‘Shut up,’ Buzz sputters as he jerks away from him, his cheeks crimson and his eyes glassy. He turns to Evie and sinks into an exaggerated bow with his arms held out, tipping so far forward that he nearly face-plants into the bar. ‘I’m so sorry,dear,’ he mumbles, then stands back up. ‘The problem, you see,’ he continues in a drunken slur, ‘is that it is very,veryhard to work with someone I want to fuck. It makes my brain go …’ He points a finger at his head and twirls it around, his eyes going loopy.

Disgust shoots up my windpipe, and appalled sounds break out around the room. While I want to introduce Buzz’s jaw to my fist, this time I decide to do and say nothing, and I hope Evie will make the same decision.Let Buzz be the one to raze his reputation to the ground. I can’t imagine what his uncle Harold would think of this.

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