“Fine. I’ll wait for Ethan if he has a car. We can pick up some groceries, too. Do you guys have any allergies or whatever?”
“Just Connor, no shellfish. But I can write you a list,” Andrew offered, pulling out his phone. “What’s your phone number?”
I recited it out loud and noticed Brodie saved it to his phone as well. When I gave him a look, he just shrugged as if to say,it’s fine, we’re besties now.
Andrew muttered something about putting together a shopping and supply list, then washed his mug and left the kitchen.
“So…will you help me prepare for my audition?” Brodie asked once we were alone. “The excerpt is highlighted on page forty-seven.”
I flipped through to the highlighted scene, then snorted a laugh. “You had Andrew reading lines with you? Did he use a girl voice or…?” Because the piece in question was Brodie’s character interacting with the female main character. Flirting, to be precise.
Brodie pouted. “I asked him to, but he wouldn’t do it. No wonder I couldn’t feel the scene.”
Chuckling, I took another sip of my coffee and sighed. “I guess I can help, seeing as you did buy me coffee. I should warn you, though, I’m a crappy actress.”
“You couldn’t possibly be worse than Andrew,” Brodie replied enthusiastically, tapping the page. “Start here when you’re ready.”
For the next hour, I ran lines with Brodie and tried really fucking hard to remember that we wereactingand Brodie wasn’t flirting withme. I had fun with it, but I was already quietly relieved when his agent arrived to drive him to the audition.
My phone chimed five minutes later, and I pulled it out to see that Andrew had started a group text thread.
Andrew Knightsbridge: Here’s the list of food for the house. The school has a running tab with both the hardware store and the grocery store. They will be covering the expenses.
Below there was a very long list of what looked like mostly health foods, including five different protein powders. Holy fuck. I was definitely going to have to sneak some junk food in there, or the weeks of my periods would be a bloodbath. And I wasn’t even talking about literal blood.
Another message popped up a second later.
Connor: Was it really necessary to use your full name, asshole? I’m fairly certain even Cinderella could have figured out who the message was from with just “Drew.”
Even Cinderella…? That motherfucker. I was really starting to hate Connor Sullivan.
Eve: Oh, you forgot the oysters, Andrew Knightsbridge. But don’t worry, I won’t forget. Shellfish is my favorite.
You pulled a gun on me; I poison your food. It was called balance.
Or karma.
Brodie: LMFAOOOOO I leave you all alone for five minutes and all hell breaks loose. I’ve never been so excited to finish up an audition and get back home. Might want to stock up on EpiPens, Con.
And sleep with one eye open.
Ethan: Meet you out the front in five minutes, Eve. The rest of you, sort your shit out. You don’t want me to sort it for you.
Well, fuck. When Ethan took charge like that, it had me imagining him in charge in other ways, and if I didn’t get laid soon, my lack of sleep was going to be the least of my worries.
Racing to my room, I grabbed my shoes and bag before checking my reflection in the bathroom and deciding that would have to do. There was no hiding the lack of sleep reflected in dark circles under my eyes or how pale my normally tanned skin looked. Ethan hadn’t appeared turned off by my haggard appearance yet, and I was too exhausted for more than the minimal effort.
Okay, maybe lip gloss because I wasn’t a complete troll.
There was no one downstairs when I walked through, and I headed out front to find Ethan was already parked and waiting.I eyed his ride, a black Suburban, with heavily tinted windows, looking like aI travel with bodyguardsstyle of celebrity car.
“Nice ride,” I said as Ethan moved around to open my door for me. “Is this yours?” I hadn’t known many teachers who could afford a car this fancy.
“Nope. It’s mine.”
I closed my eyes at the familiar, annoying voice behind me. Connor had followed me out of the house and was apparently pushing to be murdered today. Not that he was worth a lifetime in jail.
Ethan looked apologetic as he took my hand and led me to the passenger side. “Sorry, it’s bulletproof, and we wouldn’t fit much in my Porsche. More importantly, I want you to be safe.”
