“You made it,” she breathes, eyes alight with surprise andlonging.
It makes something in my chest feel tight. I need to remind myself that we’re acting right now.Fuck, get your head in the game, Everett...
“I told you I would.” My voice is gravelly, bearing in mind that the scene before this one my character was in a fight with the villain and his voice would be hoarse.
“But I thought...” she trails off and I close the distance between us, cradling her face and bringing her in for a kiss.
“I will always find you. No matter what comes. As darkness rises, we’ll face it together.” Our foreheads rest together, and even though it’s not scripted, I pull her back in for another kiss. Pressing her body tightly to mine and kissing her with all the intensity my character’s feeling in this moment. Relief at being reunited with her, and fear over what the future holds.
The camera pans forward, as if it’s allowing the viewer to jump off the building past us. The rest of that shot will be completed via drone footage, to give the illusion of flying through the buildings and up toward the sky.
Even though the camera’s no longer on us, I don’t break the kiss.
“And cut!” Arnold yells. The crew breaks into clapping and cheering.
Breaking away from her lips, I press our foreheads together and smile down at my beautiful, brilliant girl. We did it. We finished filming our movie.
The sound of someone popping a champagne bottle pulls our attention sideways.
“That’s a wrap on filming forDarkness Rising!” someone shouts.
I pull Arnold into a tight hug, and he messes up my hair. We fucking did it. We filmed Starlight’s first superhero movie, and I can tell it’s going to be good.
Chapter Fifty-Nine
ROMAN
Photoshoots are one of my least favorite parts of the job. There’s no real acting involved, you pose in character for a few minutes if they’re doing those kinds of shots, and then the rest of the time you awkwardly stand there being ordered around and posed like a mannequin.
It’s forced and uncomfortable.
Today’s shoot has a different energy to it though. It’s a photoshoot and interview withEntertain USorganized by Starlight Studios and our publicists.
Our first official bit of promotion for the film, and Clover and I get to do it together.
Being here with her in New York has felt like a blissed out dream. Getting to film, working on music, and being with the woman I’m obsessed with has left me floating on cloud nine.
“That’s great, you two!” the photographer says.
We already got the character shots, and now they’re having us goof around together in front of the camera.
It doesn’t feel forced this time. Wrapping my arms around Clover and whispering in her ear is something that comes naturally to me.
She looks stunning in the casual look they’ve got her in today. Jeans and a white tank top, with her curled hair tossed into a ponytail that gently swishes as she walks.
“Keep the ponytail when we leave,” I tell her.
“Why’s that?”
“I want to wrap it around my hand while I fuck you later,” I whisper into her ear.
“You wish.”
“Yeah, I do,” I admit. She laughs with the most undignified snort, which causes me to break into laughter.
“Alright, you two, that should be good for pictures,” the photographer says, setting down their camera.
“Wrap on photos!” An assistant calls, and the photoshoot is abuzz. People move directors’ chairs to the area where Clover and I were standing, setting up for the video interview portion of the day.
