***
We worked through the scene several times before Frank called in a guy named Marco and a girl named Vanessa. Ethan's whole demeanor changed when the woman walked into the room.
"Fuck," he mumbled and walked back toward the snack table Deza had set up sometime during the day.
"What's up?" I moved over to stand beside him.
"That's the chick I took home with me last night. I had no clue she was an extra, but she knew." He ran his hand through his hair and glanced over his shoulder. "This is why I hate being me most days. Every decision seems like a bad one."
I couldn't help but rub salt in the wound a little. "Didn't you just tell me yesterday that sleeping with a random stranger was the quickest way to get your ass in trouble?"
"Yeah, I did." He crossed his arms over his chest as his expression darkened a little. I didn't want a fight, but there was no way in hell he was getting away with being a hypocrite and me not calling him on the floor for it.
"And then you go and do it?" I glanced over at her as she watched us. She was gorgeous with thick black hair and almond-colored skin. Her curves were thick and she had a good twenty pounds of sexiness stacked on her from where I stood. I couldn't come close to comparing. I felt like a pubescent boy with her in the room.
"You don't know what it's like to be alone, Riley. You have people in your life. Go judge someone else, all right?" He turned and walked toward Frank. "Let's do this shit. I'm ready for a nap."
"I know exactly what it's like, asshole." I moved up beside him and turned my attention on Marco. "Let's go first and show them how it's done?"
He chuckled and moved up to the center of the room. He looked like a male version of Vanessa. Charlotte would have a fucking cow if we ran into someone as good looking as him in the mall. Was everyone in the movies so well put together, and if so, did I really belong?
"Get into position," Frank barked from beside Ethan.
I winked at him and he smiled before locking his expression into surprised anger.
I pushed at his chest and let my anger for Ethan and his shitty decisions fuel me forward. "I've given you all I have to offer. My time, my money, my attention, my body, my fucking heart."
He gripped my hands and pulled me in tightly, locking my hands beside his thighs and glaring down at me. His dark features made him even more attractive, and yet he wasn't Ethan.
"And you'll keep giving it to me until I'm done using it." He leaned down and brushed his nose by mine as he took a step forward, which pressed us even closer. "You're mine. I don't care if you run a million miles from this place. You'll always be mine."
I jerked back and popped him in the face softly, trying not to overdo it. We were just rehearsing.
"You're going back to her and you expect me to stay beside you? To keep your fucking bed warm while you live another life?" I thought of my mother leaving me alone to raise myself, my father dying on us, Derick's bloody body being dropped on the front door and me finding him. Tears blurred my vision. The image of Ethan making love to the beautiful woman just behind Marco was the rest of the fuel I needed to dive into despair. I was alone. I'd always been alone. Now was no different. A sob left me that wasn't part of the script.
"You'll do what I need you to do, Stacey." He gripped the sides of my face and leaned down as tears dripped down my cheeks and I let out another soft sob.
"Because you'll force me to? To love you from the sidelines forever?" The tears rolled down my cheeks as I pressed up and closed my eyes, putting my heart into the kiss. All the broken pieces I could collect and offer.
"Cut." Ethan's voice surprised me. "We're not doing the kiss too, right?"
"No," Frank whispered and wiped at his eyes. "Shit. That was beautiful, Riley. Great job Marco. Very, very good."
I wiped at my eyes as Frank moved up and ran his hands down my shoulders. "That was beautiful. So much pain in your performance. You okay?"
I nodded as another wave of tears filled my eyes. "Yeah. Just trying to pull off the impossible."
"Well, you're doing it beautifully." He moved back and called Ethan and Vanessa up to run through the scene. I turned and walked out of the building. I knew Frank wanted me there to watch and take notes, but I needed a minute to get myself together.
I walked out to the edge of the water and slipped my hands into the back of my pockets and let out a long sigh. Ethan was so wrong about me. I knew more than anyone else what it felt like to be alone. He was a cocky bastard for thinking that he was the only one that suffered through life's tsunamis. He was one of many, and it would seem that most of his heartache was self-inflicted.
"Riley? You want to run the scene once more before we break for an hour?" Frank called down to me.
"You bet." I wiped at my eyes and jogged back up to the conference room.
Ethan and Vanessa were arguing in the corner when I walked back in, but I ignored them.
Marco moved up beside me and smiled. "You did great. So passionate."
"Thank you. Do you have a part in the movie?"
"Yeah. I play Ethan's brother." He shrugged. "It's fun. I love being on set no matter what part I have. One day I'll make it to the front of the stage."
"I think that day is coming sooner than you think." I smiled and moved toward the center of the room as he grasped my wrist and stopped me.
"Riley. You wanna maybe go out for a drink while you're here this week?" His eyes moved across my face.
"Yeah. That sounds fun. Maybe after we get through the first few days of filming. I'm so new to this that I don't want to mess anything up." I gave him a sheepish smile that wasn't at all my personality.
"Sounds great. You just let me know when." He winked and moved back beside Frank.
"Let him know when what?" Ethan moved to stand in front of me. The pink stain on his cheeks and neck let me know that he was struggling. Vanessa wasn't going to let him live down whatever happened with them the night before. I almost felt sorry for him. Almost.
"He just wants to get a drink."
"Tell him no." Ethan glanced over at Frank. "Let's do this. I need a drink."
"Don't tell me what to do." I tugged at his t-shirt. "Focus and stop being an ass."
"You're not getting a drink with him." He gave me a tight, asinine smile as Frank yelled action.
We moved through it with intense anger until we reached the slap. I hit him harder than I had Marco, but not nearly as hard as I had the first time.
"You're going back to her and you expect me to stay beside you? To keep your fucking bed warm while you live another life?" I half-screamed with emotion so real it ripped open my heart.
"You'll do what I need you to do, Stacey." He gripped the sides of my face and leaned down as tears dripped down my cheeks.
"Because you'll force me to? To love you from the sidelines forever?" I searched his eyes for the truth of his answer.
He moved in like a snake, striking hard as he pressed his lips to mine. The world disappeared as I wrapped my arms around his waist and lifted up, meeting his passion with something blistering hot - my own need to belong to him.
He pressed his tongue deep into my mouth, and I turned my head and opened up, sucking hard as I dug my fingers into the top of his ass and groaned into his mouth.
He deepened the kiss and jerked me farther against him. I could almost hear Frank speaking, but nothing mattered.
His fingers brushed down the side of my neck as he broke the kiss and pressed his head to mine, panting softly.
"I want you so fucking bad," he whispered and went in for another kiss.
By the time we pulled apart, the room was empty and emotion rolled over me in a way that left me crippled.
"I'm going to my room." I turned and half-stumbled to the door as tears burned my eyes. I wanted that passion in my life more than I wanted my brother back. More than I wanted my mother to be a mother. More than I wanted my career to blossom into something that made me feel worthy.
I wanted him. Period.