Page 30 of The Singapore Stunt

“You’ve done it before,” Wesley says with a smugness that I want to smack off his face.

“Yes, you have.” The familiar voice growls from behind me, and I don’t need to turn to know.

Mattias.

Shoulders clinched, hand balled by his side, his gaze isn’t on me but on the screens behind me. Kimberly Conrad enjoying her time in Singapore stares back at him, screaming to the world that he’s not special. The headline picks at the one thing he feared.

“I should have known,” Mattias spits at me and spins on his heels.

“Wait. Mattias, it’s not—”

Wesley steps in front of me, preventing me from chasing after him. Not that I stand a chance in hell of catching him. He’s still a world-class athlete, and I’m just a girl who plays pretend.

“If you don’t get out of my way, Wesley…” This time, I have no issue directing my anger.

“You can’t leave. We are sending out the press release in under an hour. We need to get our talking points in order.” He says the words as if they carry an iota of meaning to me.

I spin and face the monitors. I address the only people in the room who matter. “Listen carefully. I am not a brand to be managed. I am a person. There are no talking points because this isn’t a studio issue. It’s not even a movie issue. Who I date or don’t date is none of your concern.”

“It is when it affects my movie,” Marlon chimes in.

“I thought it was our movie. That’s what you said on the first day—or were those just talking points too?” I hand Arlene the iPad back and point at the monitor at Mr. Pillson. “This isn’t a game. This is my life. Tell legal I don’t agree with the release. It’s not the truth. I’m tired of lying. I won’t do it any longer. If you go ahead with that fabrication, you’ll be hearing from my lawyer, who may just advise me to step away from the production until this is all sorted out.” I point a finger at the sky. “It may take a few days to unravel, but I don’t think the Singapore Stunt can wait that long.”

I don’t wait to see their reaction. It really doesn’t matter what it is. I know what is right for me, and I know what I want to happen. Trace isn’t here to protect me; neither are any of my friends from the last movie set. But that’s okay—I don’t need them. Elliot said he’d be fine with me acting like an action hero and kicking ass. I hope they have the cameras ready because I’m going to fight like never before to get what I want.

And that’s the truth.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Mattias

I knew it was too good to be true. I’m not the one who gets the fairy tale. Why did I fool myself into thinking I could?

My life had been fine until she stepped off that airplane. I kept people at a distance because people suck. Case in point.

But somehow, I let my guard down. I let her in. All the way in.

And now I’m back in time. Stepping into the tent was like returning home from the hospital after losing my baseball career, my confidence hanging by a thread, knowing my girlfriend would be there for me.

I’d avoided relationships all these years because years of women running away from me or feeling sorry for me pushed me to this. But Kimberly made me believe again. I was the fool who believed that the beautiful Hollywood princess would fall for someone who looks like me.

After leaving the tent, my feet found their way to the Gardens and the Cloud Forest exhibit. A place that looks completely different in the daylight. The bright sun shows off the blemishes and imperfections the darkness hides at night.

I hide in the garden. There are a hundred places she’ll never find me. But I doubt she’s even looking.

And that’s the difference between us. Well, at least another one. The only reason I discovered them plotting how to make me disappear like a bad dream was because I was looking for her. I had prepped the entire stunt team. We were about to perform our pre-filming ritual when Sonya reminded me we were missing a member of the team—Kimberly.

My team sees her as a member of our team. The highest honor anyone could earn. Pride carried me into the tent, wanting to share the news. That’s when I saw her in the light, doing what she’s done before—trying to spin the public, even after she told me she was through with it.

I turn on my phone for the first time since I arrived on set. After Kimberly knocked on my door last evening, I turned it off, not wanting anything to interrupt us.

The notifications flood in. Too many to ignore.

Beauty and the Beast. The Ogre who loves me. I only have eye for you. The memes are relentless. If they weren’t directly at me, I might pause to appreciate their creativity.

The buzz from the walkie-talkie blurts through with an update on the production. “Ten minutes to positions.” A reminder that the show must go on.

I scroll past the rest of the nonsense and notice that Xavier has called eleven times. I dial immediately.

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