Like now.
Walking back to the table, I grab the bag of dried-up mango slices and start munching on them, hoping that my favorite fruit will help calm me down. Crew looks up from mixing the bowl, noticing how I’m squeezing the bag, and frowns. “Are you good over there?”
“Just peachy.”
He shakes his head. “Squeezing a bag of dried-up mangoes? Sure, I’ll believe that.”
“And you’re the mind reader now?”
Holding his bowl with one hand, he carefully walks around the table to grab the bag of dried mangoes out of my grasp and places them back on the table. For some reason, the feeling of Crew’s hand caressing mine as he grabbed my snack caught me off guard.
“Not a mind reader,” he confirms. “Just smart enough to see that something’s stressing you out.”
“And you think I’m stressed?”
“If sarcasm is your way of expressing that stress, then yes. Much more than the average STEM student during midterms, and that’snevergood.”
I sigh. “My male actor called in sick, and now I need to find someone else.” You know what? It’s fine. I can ask another friend in the industry about filling in for the time being. Sure, I won’t have enough money to pay them for just five seconds of screen time, but I think I can manage—
“I’ll do it.”
Right now, I don’t know who is more surprised at the words that just came out of Crew Shentu’s mouth: me or him.
I can’t estimate how much time exactly passes before I open my mouth. “Are you sure? I’m not forcing you to do this.”
“Carly,” he says, his deep voice sending chills down my spine. “You’re not forcing me. I’m offering.”
“But you hate acting,” I point out dumbly.
Crew shrugs casually, placing the bowl back on the table. “Exceptions can be made. I can’t spend all of my time making fake blood. You only need so much.”
The words make my heart flutter, because I never thought Crew would do that. He’d act for one scene just for me? Okay, maybe not just for me, but still—this is a big favor to ask, and I didn’t even ask him to do it.
Holy shit.
I take my time looking over Crew. The scene I’m trying to record doesn’t require him to show his face, and Crew’s tall enough to pass as a body double for Ethan, practically towering over my five-foot-seven frame, but not enough to make me feel small. I appreciate that, and his jet-black hair could be viewed as a trick of lighting by the audience.
Be professional, Carly. You’re on a film set right now. Yes, I’m practically ogling him, but I need to see what’s best for my film. The top professors of the program are going to determinewhether or not I will be graduating a term earlier than most of my peers, as I had planned.
“I don’t know what to say,” I mutter to myself before clearing my throat. “I owe you big time, Movie Star.”
He squeezes his eyes shut. “Just don’t call me Movie Star, and we’ll call it even.”
My brows rise to the top of my forehead. “Can you give me a better nickname to use?”
“Can my actual name suffice?” He shoots back. “Nicknames aren’t exactly my favorite thing in the world.”
“Less talking, more acting,” I order teasingly, grabbing onto his arm and dragging him closer to a room where Stella sits, brushing on a light layer of blush.
I step into the mostly vacant room. “Stells, could you come over here for a moment?”
Stella places her makeup down on the chair and makes her way over to us. She already has her black hoodie on and is practically ready for filming, but I have to run a few things by her first.
After explaining to her the situation, the three of us got to practicing, using the space that an old friend of mine graciously lent to me for the evening. We run through the ending a few times before deciding that we’re ready to film.
Crew changes into a crewneck, which he doesn’t seem to mind, especially because it will be covered in fake blood by the end of the shoot.
“Wow, I’m dying again,” Crew jokes.
