Page 13 of Love and Other Risky Business

Danny’s voice rings out and everything stops.

I take a deep breath, running my hand over my head, checking my fingers for blood. Nothing. Anger burns off the pain when Dex reaches a hand down to me.

How’d I get on the floor?

“The fuck was that?” I demand, slapping his hand away and struggling to my feet.

“You forget the choreography or something?” he says, trying to laugh it off. “How’s the head?”

Usually, I would laugh it off too. I’ve been punched and kicked by accident before. It happens. Instead, I snap at him. “I don’t forget choreography. You were sloppy.”

His eyes narrow in irritation. “You nearly took my head off.”

Danny strides down the aisle of the bus and everyone ducks out of his way. He grabs me around the shoulders and marches me off, calling out for someone to get some water.

Off the bus, a poor mirror image of myself—same costume, slightly taller—hands me a bottle of water someone else handed him. “You okay?” Nic asks, his face pinched.

I scowl at his question. “When did you get on set?”

He frowns at me.

“Sit,” Danny barks, pointing at a chair. “Drink that.”

“You don’t have to yell,” I grumble, twisting the cap off the water bottle. I’m not thirsty, but I take a long drink. Pressure is building behind my eyes and honestly, I want to go home, crawl into bed, and admit defeat. Life is kicking my ass right now.

Danny disappears and reappears with a…first aid person? First responder? Para…something?

“Do you know where you are?” she asks calmly.

“At work.” I hand the water bottle back to Nic, rising to my feet. The world tilts like I’m still on the bus. That happens sometimes, though it doesn’t usually make my head pound. It’ll go away in a minute. “I’m ready, let’s do it again.” This time I’ll keep my cool when I reach Dex. Getting pulled off has put my tail between my legs and I’m ready to be professional.

Nic grabs my arm and I shake him off, but my stomach’s not sitting right. “I don’t have a concussion, I’m fine.”

The first aid lady is already on the phone when I pitch forward, emptying my stomach.

Wow. That was unexpected. What did I eat? Probably Nic’s smoothie from…the other day? Or, this morning? God, when was that?

I’m exhausted. I don’t put up a fight when Danny sits me back in the chair.

Nic grabs my arm and squeezes so tight it hurts, pulling me back from…somewhere. “Hey. Stay awake. Can I call your mom? Jessie?”

I blink. Jessie? Shit, he must think this is serious if he’s willing to call my twin. It’s not. It won’t be. If I’m going out in a stunt, it’s not going to be some easy little fight sequence on a bus. “I’m fine.” I feel off, but fine. I can do this. I can do anything except make Mina love me. “I need to stop drinking your old-ass smoothies.”

“The ambulance will be here soon,” some woman with a phone says. I can’t see her—the lights are too bright and squinting hurts.

They’re calling an ambulance? Something cold prickles over my skin. I grab Nic’s hand. “Get Mina.”

Chapter five

Mina

“Workiskillingmetoday,” I complain, sipping at my iced coffee. I’m in the parking lot, the back of my hatchback open so I can sit in the pathetic shade it provides. It’s my lunch break and I’m video chatting with Charlotte and Lexi, who flew home yesterday. I already miss them. “I’ve got at least a million more seed pearls to sew onto this silk evening gown, my hands hurt, I’m pretty sure I’m going cross-eyed, and Cruella de Vil has been on me all day. I want to go home and sleep for a hundred years.”

I don’t really want to go home. I can’t afford my apartment without a roommate, and my current one is a yoga instructor named Chantal who is going to cost me my deposit if she keeps burning sage. Also, I don’t have time to sleep. I need to make a decision so I can start cutting fabric—all of it rescued from a fate in the landfill—if I want to stay ahead of schedule with my autumn release of Wild Things.

“Get a new job,” Lexi says with her usual bluntness. Charlotte looks sympathetic as she nods.

I try to ignore the way that makes my chest tighten. I need the pay and this show has high ratings into it’s third season. When I first came to LA, I struggled to find steady work, picking up bartending jobs and tailoring gigs to make ends meet because shows get canceled and movies don’t film forever. Sewing was what I knew, what I grew up with, and wanted to do, but the reality of trying to make a career out of it was hard as hell.

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