“FOMO.”
He laughed.
“Mostly the usual reasons you leave a small town. I went to college in Seattle, and then did my master’s degree at UCLA, and I found out I liked it here. Plus, Vivi was in L.A. by then, and she required a little … oversight.”
“You wanted to be a part of things?”
“No! The opposite. I like the anonymity. Where better to go unnoticed than in one of the most crowded cities in America? I love being lost in the hustle and bustle, as long as I don’t have to do any hustling. There’s not an in-crowd and an out-crowd, not in the circles I run in—there’s just a crowd, everywhere. And as long as you don’t do anything weird, no one notices you. The chaos of the city—it’s like an invisibility cloak. I can ride the Metro and read my book and totally fade away. I love that.” She winced. “Sorry, but I do.”
“Don’t be sorry. So, you’re out there in the middle of things, but not part of things?”
“I’ve never felt like part of the world. I’m an infiltrator. An alien here to observe humans and report back.”
Griffin caught up to her on one of the awkwardly small ledges, leaving them huddled beside a tree that was stretching sideways as if it had ambitions of crossing the divide. Her back was flush against the sun-warmed sandstone.
“I’m not actually an alien,” she said.
He frowned down at her, suddenly fiercely serious.
Her forehead prickled. “Griffin? What is it?”
“No, I’m just…” He glanced down as if to collect his thoughts, then slowly his gaze rose again. The amber sunlight illuminated his eyes to a hypnotic pale green. “You’re fascinating.”
“I’m a freak.” She said it more defensively than she’d intended. Heat crept up her chest. Any second it would reach her face. Wait, wasthather tell—blushing? Not exactly Advanced Psychology. “I mean, I’m quite capable of interacting with people—though they usually think I’m weird and awkward—but if it comes to a choice between interacting and not interacting, I’ll choose not. I don’t have a ton of friends. I live in my little studio and I go to work, and I come home and read books. I do go to trivia night with my colleagues, and sometimes the theater,but I’m not otherwise what you might call an active participant in the world. But I’m happy … enough.”
He raised his eyebrows at theenough. “If you’re a freak, then I’m even more of a freak.”
“You, a freak? Ha! Aren’t you like the epicenter of the mostinin-crowd in the world?”
“I live in a pool house on my parents’ property, when I’m not in hotel rooms. I work fourteen-, fifteen-hour days, and then I come home and learn my lines for the next day. I work through the summers and never take vacations, and on weekends I watch films—and read books—mostly alone. And that’s me.”
“And go to glitzy award ceremonies and premieres and galas,” she said. Griffin’s mouth quirked. “The cop showed me some photos—just to prove to me who you were.”
“Very occasionally I go out. And don’t get me wrong—I love my job. I wouldn’t put in these hours if I didn’t. I’m the kid who never had to stop playing pretend. But when I’m not on set, I mostly sit at home and look out over the world and wonder what it’s like to visit a library.”
Now it was her turn to be dumbstruck. His guard was way down, and she could see the vulnerability he showed on screen. Maybe evenloneliness. “So, when you said you don’t get out much…?”
“I really don’t. Plenty of actors have no problem with going out and having fans approach them. Not me. Even with the nice ones—and they’re mostly nice—I find it awkward. People think they know me. I’ve never figured out how to respond to that.”
“You’re not at all who I thought you’d be.”
“Neither are you.”
His gaze tracked across her face, and he raised a hand to her hair, gently freeing some strands that had caught in the tree. His brow creased, and he leaned in. She swallowed, her throat dry.His warm breath coasted along her cheekbone. She raised her chin, closing her eyes as he shifted ever closer.
But no kiss came. She opened her eyes, and he lurched past her, shoving his hand into a fissure under a branch. He pulled out something pink and rectangular.
Vivien’s phone.
Chapter 7
Lana
If only the stone at Lana’s back would open like a portal and suck her into another world, any world. Fortunately, Griffin was so intent on the mission—hermission—that he didn’t seem to notice her take-me-now pose. And why was she thinking about kissing someone when Vivien was in trouble? Not just any someone, either.Griffin Hart. Aside from his far-too-obvious good looks, there was no logical reason to be this attracted to him. She’d been raised to believe that wealth didn’t equal worth, and neither did power or fame. He was a human being, like all the other human beings. Loads of hot guys came into the library, and she didn’t get giddy over them. And there was certainly no logical reason he’d be attracted to her.
“Must have been dropped off the bridge, and slid through the branches,” said Griffin, examining the phone. “Screen’s cracked, but it’s been sheltered from the worst of the elements. There’s a charger in my trailer.”
“I have a power bank. Let’s get to the top while there’s still light.” And while she retained a few crumbs of self-respect.
