“Cut,” the director calls out.
Danger slumps as Ria rolls her eyes instantly, dropping her sexy pose.
People rush in from all angles to fix her hair, which is absolutely fine.
Other people are talking to Danger, who is nodding, and it appears that he’s taking it all in.
“Why’d they cut?” Lunar asks.
“’Cause Danger had a stick up his ass,” Ryan jibes, and Tillie slaps his chest. “Ow, what? It’s true. He was acting weird. All uptight and ridiculous. He’s nervous.”
Lunar purses her lips and nods. “Maybe I should go and talk to him?”
“No!” Ryan and Tillie both say in unison.
“What? Why?”
“You’re the reason he’s nervous,” I say.
Tillie slaps me across the back of my head. “Ow… you’re in a slappy mood today, Tillie.”
“If you say anything further regarding Tillie and the word slapper, I will gut you, Nate,” Ryan says.
Tillie smiles, and Lunar and Matt laugh.
“But really, why’s he nervous? ’Cause of me?” Lunar asks.
“Think about it… could you do this with Danger watching?” Matt queries.
She purses her lips, thinking, then says, “Right. True. So I should go?”
“It’s one of those double-edged sword things. He’s nervous with you here, but if you left, I think he’d be upset and worry thatyouwere upset. Which in turn would make him worse,” Tillie says.
“Mm… yeah, I see what you mean. Urgh, this is so fucked! Whose stupid idea was this?” Lunar asks.
Tillie and Ryan’s heads both snap up, looking at me, and I sigh. “Okay, yeah, it was me, but I didn’t think they’d be all sexywith each other. I thought we’d all be in a convertible driving down a highway, headbanging or something corny like that.”
“To a slow love song?” Tillie asks.
“Well, I didn’t know it would be for this particular song at the time, did I?”
“True!”
“Quiet, please,” someone calls out. We all quiet down and turn back, watching them move into position—Ria by the fake window and Danger by the door.
The music starts again, and Danger seems better this time, still stiff and a little less sex symbol than normal, but an improvement from last time. He mimes the words as he walks toward Ria. My heart rate quickens again as I watch him, his body moving to the rhythm of the music. His eyes finally take on that animalistic look he’s known for, and my lip curls up in annoyance. Ria grins at him like she loves every perfect inch of his body, which is edging toward her.
He stalks her, reaches her, and his hands move out, placing them on either side of her head, dominantly on the window, as she gazes into his eyes.
Lunar’s hand creeps into mine, and she holds it tight. I squeeze back while she gives me a sideways look.
Danger continues to mime the lyrics, and Ria mock laughs, and fuck if it isn’t the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen. She runs her hand up Danger’s back, pulling him closer to her. He’s still miming the words to the song as he moves in, running his nose up along her neck. Ria’s eyes close, looking like she’s fucking loving it.
I squeeze Lunar’s hand tighter, and she gasps, leaning into my side.
“Nate, you’re gonna make my hand fall off,” she whispers.
I look down to see her hand, bright white, and mine, bright red.
