“This. Ends.Now.”
It must be a trick of the light, but it feels like those impossibly blue eyes are centered directly on me.
I can’t move. I can’t breathe. I can’t think.
“Cut!”
The sharp call startles me, breaking the spell.
The director continues, “Great work, everyone; that’s the money shot. Christine, have I told you that I love you?”
The star flashes a too-white grin and laughs as stunt crew step over to unhook her harness.
“Every day,” she replies.
As the director goes to review the footage, the set comes alive again. Haley pushes to her feet, dusting off as more stunt crew move forward to help reset the rig.
Bella’s elbow bumps my arm. “Incredible, right?”
All I can do is nod.
Just my luck, just myfuckingluck, that the opportunity I’ve been waiting for my entire life—a potential shot at a long-term contract with a major star, a recurring role in a well-funded franchise, the kind of opportunity my peers would kill for—requires working alongside the alpha I loathe the most.
Motherfucker.
I plaster a big smile across my face. It’s convincing. I’m an actor, after all.
“Really incredible,” I say to Bella. “You teach her how to do that?”
Bella winks. “You know she learned from the best. She’s a natural, though; you’ll love her.”
Categorically impossible,I think. “I’m sure,” I say.
That smell of sea-spray—Christine’s alpha scent—clings to the inside of my nose, the hint of seaweed turning sour and rotten.
I think I might vomit.
But I can’t look away from her. It’s prey instinct, I’m sure. Keeping eyes on the biggest threat.
My cheeks warm as rage seethes through me. How the fuck am I going to make this work?
Bella chuckles beside me. “Star struck? I was too. A couple rehearsals and you’ll lose the jitters.”
Oh goddammit.I finally pry my gaze away from Christine, and the best I can offer Bella is a half-smile, half-grimace.
Luckily, there’s a distraction headed my way: Haley has spotted us, and now that the crew has unhooked her harness, she scurries over.
“You’re my new stunt double, then?” she asks with bright eyes and a light British accent. “AKA my rescuer?” She tugs at the edge of the harness just visible through her skin-tight costume. It’s a corset harness, then—particularly uncomfortable, even as harnesses go. “Sorry in advance if the director decides to re-shoot when they see you in action.”
Bella offers a warm smile. “You did great out there.”
Haley bites her lip. “Really? Ugh, I feel like I just flailed at the end of the line for a second. And not even on purpose. I’m going to have nightmares of randomly being yeeted into the air.”
Bella clamps a hand over Haley’s shoulder. “Really. You did great. I don’t think we’ll need reshoots.”
Relief and genuine warmth spread across Haley’s face. The tension in my shoulders starts to release.
Bella turns to me. “What do you think, Mylo?”
