Page 81 of Force of Nature

Chapter Twenty-eight

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“How is it that you’vebeen here two months and you still haven’t stocked this kitchen?” Whit rifles through the cabinets of the tiny kitchenette at the front of my hotel room.

I don’t even know that I would even call it a kitchenette. More like a two foot long counter with two cabinets, a microwave, and the tiniest sink I’ve ever seen with a mini fridge tucked underneath.

“You have half a box of granola bars and three waters in here. What the hell do you eat?” She comes around the half wall separating the kitchen from the rest of the room.

“I mainly eat on set or order room service. Sometimes I go to the restaurant downstairs.” I shrug, tugging a brush through my wet hair. “I’m not really here all that often.”

“I’ve only been here a day and I swear my cabinets are stuffed full. You know how much I love my snacks.” She grins, crossing the room before plopping down on the couch positioned right below the window on the back wall.

Whit got picked up for a small supporting role on Blood Lust. I may have had a tiny hand in her landing the role, but she proved on set today that she more than deserved it.

I love having her here. Unfortunately, she’ll only be here a couple weeks, given that her character gets killed off after three episodes.

“Let me guess. Gummy bears, trail mix, and wheat thins.” I smile.

“You know me too well.” She crosses one leg over the other as she sinks further into the couch. “So, you gonna tell me what’s up with you and Branch?” She quirks a brow.

“Nothing.” I shake my head, dropping my brush onto the bedside table before shifting to face her completely.

Branch plays Oliver, the male lead’s best friend. We met the first week on set and have formed a friendship of sorts–though we rarely see each other off set.

“Uh huh.” She gives me a knowing smirk.

“I mean it, Whit. He’s an awesome guy and really freaking cute, but he’s just my friend.”

“Wanna tell me why he’s just your friend because it’s pretty apparent he would like to be more?”

“I just don’t feel that way toward him.”

“Wouldn’t have anything to do with your hot Mark Knox lookalike, would it?” She cocks a brow.

“That’s way over, Whit.” I pick at my finger nail to avoid looking at her.

“You’re an awful liar.”

“I’m not lying. It’s over.” I look up to meet her gaze.

“It may be over but that doesn’t mean you’re over him.”

“Well, that doesn’t much matter now does it? He made it pretty clear what I was to him.”

“Which is why you need to put yourself back out there.”

“I’m not interested in dating anyone, Whit. Really, I don’t have the time and my focus needs to be where it is right now. Distractions are not something that work well in my favor. I’m not good at balancing things.”

“Because you’re an obsessive person.”

“I am not obsessive,” I argue, not sure why she would say that.

“Sorry, Lake, but you really are. You get something in your head and you obsess over it. Whether that be a role, a job, a boy.” She looks at me pointedly. “You obsess until something else comes along and then it shifts somewhere else.”

“Whatever.” I push off the bed and cross into the kitchen, snagging a water out of the mini fridge before re-entering the room.

“I’m not saying it’s a bad thing.” Whitney holds her hands up in front of herself, her long dark hair falling in waves around her shoulders.

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