Capture

She moaned.

And I felt absolutely nothing.

No blood rushing into all the wrong places, which wasn't the norm at all. If anything, it was awkward as hell being turned on during a scene, but it was simple human anatomy. If you were turned on, your body was going to show it, regardless of if you wanted it to or not.

"Cut," Jaymeson hissed.

I pulled back and grinned.

"Wow." Pris wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "Well done, Linc."

"Oh, please." Jaymeson joined us. "The first time he tried was like watching an awkward turtle on its back."

"Thanks, man."

"Any time." Jaymeson flashed a grin. "We need to set up for the next shot, so you can take a few minutes and check out your trailer while I go make sure they haven't burned the house down."

"House?"

"For the party," Jaymeson explained. "Also the set for the music video. We're going to kill two birds with one stone."

"Great."

Jaymeson frowned. "Are you alright?"

"Huh?" I jerked my head away from Dani and felt my face heat. "Yeah. Sure. Why? Don't I look alright?" Shoot me now.

"Showing up drunk on the first day is frowned upon," Jaymeson whispered under his breath.

"Not drunk." I started walking away and pointed behind me. "I'm gonna go take that break."

CHAPTER TEN

Dani

WATCHING HIM KISS MY SISTER HAD to be the most awkward thing I'd ever experienced in my entire life. I trembled with the wrongness of it. I mean, my sister.

Granted, she was married.

And they were acting.

But the way he touched her, the way he hovered over her, protected her with his massive body, his lips caressing hers… and I wanted so selfishly to be on the other side of that kiss.

No guy had ever looked at me like that.

Elliot had never kissed me like he wanted to take his time. He'd been a great boyfriend until I was too much baggage for him…

"Why can't you just be happy, Dani?" he shouted. "For once! There's more going on in the world other than the accident, alright? I know it sucks, I know it hurts, but for the love of God, it's been a few months! At least do SOMETHING!"

I flinched at his words, at the tone of his voice. He'd never yelled at me before. I hugged myself with my arms and nodded, trying desperately to just be okay. I mean, how hard could it be? I forced a smile on my face and nodded my head.

"Look…" He approached me slowly, like I was broken, he talked to me softly, like I was stupid. "… this isn't working out."

"But…" I held the tears in. God, it hurt so bad. "… but I promise I'll do better!"

"You've been promising for months, Dani. And look? We're still hanging out in the condo, shut out away from the world. You refuse to eat pancakes, won't watch TV because it reminds you of them, and the last time you even asked about my day was because I told you to."

The walls around my heart shattered. He was the last thing I had of my old life, the last person, other than my sister, who had been a part of the old Dani. The happy cheerleader without a care in the world.

Losing him felt like I was losing my parents all over again, because he was right. I didn't even recognize myself anymore. My normally highlighted hair was dark brown, the circles under my eyes matched, and the last time I had put on makeup was for their funeral.

"I get it." I hugged myself harder, imagining my daddy's arms around me, telling me everything would look better in the morning.

It never did.

If anything, in Seaside, it looked dreary — worse.

"Dani." Elliot cursed and jerked away from me as if I'd slapped him. Except I was the one dealing with the emotional blow of one of my best friends not only dumping me, but basically saying goodbye to me forever because he couldn't handle my sadness.

I didn't blame him.

Sometimes I couldn't handle it either.

"It's fine," I whispered. "Just go."

"Dani—"

"Go!" I wailed, tears clouding my vision.

He left me that day.

He started dating my best friend the next week.

I quit cheerleading and dropped out of school the week after that.

"Cut!" Jaymeson shouted.

I jerked my head to attention and watched Jaymeson interact with Pris and Lincoln. Feeling awkward to just be standing there, I shoved my hands in my pockets and waited.

My job, while Lincoln was shooting, was to make sure everything was perfect for him when he took his breaks. Did he have enough water? Was he fed? Clothed? Happy? Was he tense? Did he have his friggin' Skittles? What? The water has to be lukewarm — not too cold. Wouldn't want the star getting stomach cramps. And don't even get me started on his trailer.

There had been a list.

I got two items done on it before I was ready to shred the paper in half.

I came back to the set to ask about the list, hoping to catch him on a break.

Not to catch him cheerfully making out with my sister.

"Hey, Dani." He waved and jogged over to me. "I'm gonna take a quick break. Trailer ready?"

I made a face and held up my hand, waving it in a so-so motion.

"By that expression I'm going to assume you burned down my trailer, and I'm going to have to grab a lawn chair and umbrella."

I grinned and shook my head.