Chapter 14

Ethan

I shut the door to her dressing room and leaned against the wall, covering myself and trying to catch my breath. I couldn't ever remember feeling so much at once. After pretending to feel half of my life, I wasn't sure how to do it properly anymore.

Deza rounded the corner and jogged toward me, real concern on her face.

"What the hell is wrong?" She stopped in front of me and glanced down where I was cupping the top of my dick. "Did something happen?"

"No. I left my robe in there, and I have a hard-on. No biggie, other than everyone around here has a fucking camera on their phones. I'm not walking out there half-naked." I shrugged and nodded toward another dressing room. "Get me the robe out of there, please?"

"Sure." She turned and walked across the hall as I closed my eyes and let out a shaky breath. My cock was pulsing violently as I was close to release over the pretty girl in the room behind me. How she drove me so close to the edge was disgusting... disgusting and addictive.

Deza handed me the robe and lifted her eyebrow. "What's going on with you? I feel like I'm missing out on something here."

I turned and pulled my robe on, tightening it as the bathroom door down the hall opened and Riley's blond friend stepped out, stopping short as she saw me.

"It's nothing, D. Let it go." I walked down the hall and extended my hand to the girl. "Jade. It was nice to meet you today. Make sure you celebrate tonight with Riley. I'm pretty sure she's going to get this part. If it were up to me, it would be hers for sure."

"Charlotte," the girl murmured.

"Okay, good stuff." I patted her arm and walked back out into the studio before making a beeline to my trailer. I nodded at the guard and closed the door behind me, not waiting another minute to tug my robe open and take myself over the edge. I wasn't a sex fiend and yet Riley did something to me that left me wanting to go into porn as long as she was my partner.

I groaned her name as my eyes closed. I was back there on the bed, but her little stitch of wet cloth was gone. The sound of her panting drove me over the edge, and I lifted off the chair I was sitting in as my body exploded.

"Fuck," I growled and drove into my tight grip until I was shaking. "I need to get laid, or get a beer. Or both."

A knock at the door had me cursing. I grabbed some jeans and pulled them over my legs. My dick was sticking out of the top of the pants too far to play it off. I growled and pulled a t-shirt over the top of my head before jogging down the small steps to the trailer door. I opened it to find Riley standing at the bottom in a pretty dress, her eyes filled with hurt.

"Do you really think I meant to do that today?" Her lip quivered.

Damn.

"No." I reached down and grabbed her hand. "Come here."

She walked up into the trailer and sat down in the first seat she came to, crossing her hands in her lap and watching me. I felt like a different man around her, one that wanted to give a shit about life, about people, about her.

"I would never do that to you. I'm not one of those crazy bitches who licks your picture poster outside of the movies. I'm a starting actress, trying hard to play this game and impress someone." Her eyes filled with tears. "Anyone." She glanced down at her hands as a soft sob left her. "I should go."

"Hey. You really saw someone lick my poster?" I moved to kneel in front of her and touched her hands. "That's fucking awesome."

She laughed and wiped at her tears. "Yeah. I got pictures of it."

"Let me see." I reached up and wiped at a tear as it rolled down her soft cheek.

Kiss her. Now.

Damn, I wanted to, but it was what would have happened in the movies, not in real life. I was tired of following a script. She and I would be working together side by side for ten months at the very least. We had a lot of untapped angst and passion that was sure to make a great movie, but I needed to be careful. Really careful.

"No, you're not seeing it. It will just make your head bigger." She laughed again and wiped her eyes. "I'm really sorry. I would-"

"Me too. I was being a dick because I was turned on, but it wasn't you. It was Trish. She came in before you, and I've had a hard-on for that woman since I was ten." I forced a fake laugh, hating myself for lying to her.

She glanced up and nodded. "Oh. Yeah. Absolutely. She's so incredibly talented."

She was hurt by me taking back the power she might have thought she had over me. She stood, half knocking me backward.

"Anyway, I just didn't want you to misunderstand. I'm here to hopefully get a part in this movie, but if not... It just wasn't meant to be." She squared her shoulders, and I realized I'd fucked up. I'd lost her again.

"You'll get it, and we'll protect each other like I promised you up there. Half the joy of working with someone you connect with is teasing each other and having fun." I slid my hands into my jeans pockets and shrugged. "Just remember it’s all part of the show. It's not real, you know."

"Of course. Thanks for seeing me." She walked toward the door as indecision tore me in half.

"Wait."

"What's up?" She turned from the bottom of the stairs, her expression deadpan as if she were talking to a drive-through attendant.

"You want to grab some dinner or something?" I pulled my hands from my pockets and crossed them over my chest, hoping to hide how badly my heart was racing. Was I asking a girl out for the first time at twenty-four?

Yeah, I was.

"I appreciate it, but I have a date. Thanks again for today. Nice to work with you, Mr. Lewis."

I rolled my eyes. "This again? Are you not ever going to call me Ethan?"

"The first time I see a human emerge, I'll be sure to call you by your name." She shrugged as she pulled the door open. "Until then, you're what everyone thinks you are. High and mighty, but me... I'm just one of the little people."

"Riley." I walked toward her as the door shut. A growl ripped from me. How had things gotten so fucking out of control over nothing?

I kicked the chair in front of me, breaking my toe and sending the thing to bounce around the front of the trailer.

"Fuck!" I yelled and walked to the back room, dropping down to the edge of the bed and sliding my hands over my face. The script would tell me to go after her, to catch her in the parking lot and pull her close. To kiss her perfectly soft lips and grip her with my strong arms. To tell her that I want her, that we would work things out...

"Work out what? She's a fucking stranger." I laid back. "What's wrong with me?"

The image of her above me, sliding along my shaft as she enjoyed herself rolled over me, and I began to question the scene. Was she enjoying herself or was she just that good? Her moans and the tight press of her fingers into my back as she undulated her hips and pretended to work me said she wanted more of me. All of me.

I groaned and pressed my hands tighter to my face as anger burned through me. It was a lie. All of it. My whole fucking life was a set of lines that could be erased with the pink end of a pencil.

"She was wet." I jerked up and took a sharp breath. "She was wet."

Getting up, I jogged to the front of the trailer and pulled the door open, almost running into Deza. I gripped her arms and let out a short laugh. "She was wet."

The guard beside us choked on his soda, spitting it out on the ground beside him.

"What are you going on about?" She popped me in the face softly. "Get it together. We have a press conference tonight at the Marriott. It's over the tryouts and our plans to continue to involve new and upcoming stars. Fix your hair and get that pinstriped suit that makes you look like a god. Now."

"Deza." I got in her face and pressed my forehead to hers. "Riley was acting like that scene didn't mean shit to her, and yet... she was wet."

"Are you really telling me this like I want to know how you know that she was wet?" She pushed at my chest a little. "I told you that you're not crossing the lines."

"I'm not. Her fucking panties slid over during the scene. That's why I stopped it, thank you very much." I moved back and put my hands on my hips. "Thank you very much, Ethan, for being a gentleman."

She pressed her fingers to the bridge of her nose and shook her head. "We can't make this shit up, right?"

The guard chuckled beside us as I smiled. "All I'm saying is that she's not immune to me."

Deza jerked her head toward me as she narrowed her eyes. "It's irrelevant."

"Agreed. I'm not doing anything about it, BUT... she was wet."

"Say it again and I'm casting you as the sex slave in Dani's next Barbarian film."

I pretended to zip my lips and turned, jogging back into my trailer to get ready for the press conference. No matter what, Riley was getting the part with me. It was almost exhilarating to think about teasing her to the edge of need and never once touching her.

Game on.