Skyler
There’s something incredibly hot about watching your man work on what he’s passionate about.
I’ve known about Kip’s passion for the film industry ever since before we even officially started dating.
I know he’s obsessed with television, specifically that he has dreams of creating a series viewers can’t help but be obsessed with.
I’ve seen the posters on his walls, the podcasts filling his phone, the documentary DVDs spilling out of his dresser back at UCLA.
But it’s something altogether different to see him in his element.
I smile, sipping my coffee as I relax in the casting director’s chair Kip made just for me. It was a joke, of course, but I appreciate the fancy place to sit with my fake title on the back anyway. While I’ve been chiming in now and then with my thoughts, I’m mostly here for support.
And to watch his fine ass in director mode.
I love the way his glasses keep falling down the bridge of his nose as he examines audition notes on his clipboard, his brows furrowed in concentration.
I love the messy way his blond hair is styled, the waves mussed from him scrubbing his hands through them.
I love the smiles he flashes when he encourages someone auditioning to try again, giving them notes for a better application.
I love how even dressed in a white button down and navy dress pants, I can imagine his lean muscles ebbing and flowing beneath the fabric.
More than anything, I just love that he’s here.
At Palm South.
With me.
I was unsure when he first told me he was going to make a show about our story, about all the games we played, the lies we told, the rough and rocky road we had to take to get to where we are today.
But I know this is about more than just us.
It’s about exploring the grief he feels over losing his father, and the complicated relationship they had while he was alive.
It’s also a commentary on young love, on college, on finding yourself while also finding a relationship.
Whatever he does with our story, I know it will be amazing. Because it’s him creating it.
I smile a little more, inhaling the sweet scent of my latte. I’m in a state of peaceful calm and just taking in all the scenery.
That is, until my doppelg?nger walks through the door.
Kip rented the smaller of the three auditoriums on campus for auditions, so everyone is waiting in the hallway until they’re called in for their turn.
So far, we’ve seen auditions for Kip, his dad, my parents, Kade, all the girls, and some extras.
Kip must have been saving the auditions for me for last.
That makes me smile, too.
Still, the sight of the girl who just walked in makes me dizzy.
Her long, brown hair is the same shade as mine, pinpoint straight and parted just how I part my own.
Her lashes are a little longer than mine, her skin a bit fairer, and I’d give just about anything to have her amazing lips.
But her eyes are the same shade of blue that I see reflected in the mirror every morning, and her tight little athletic body reminds me of how I looked when I was at my prime.
It’s unsettling and exciting, all in the same breath.
She looks a little nervous, waiting by the door. Kip is engrossed in a conversation with one of the students he brought on to help with casting, reviewing notes from the last audition. So, when the girl’s eyes flick to me, I smile and usher her over, patting the empty chair next to me.
She blushes, looking around for a second before she smiles and makes her way toward me. The closer she gets, the dizzier I feel, but I fight past the feeling with a grin of my own.
“Hey there,” I say when she’s standing in front of me. “I bet I can guess which part you’re going for.”
She chuckles, tucking her hair behind one ear. “Skyler Thorne?”
“In the flesh,” I answer, waving a hand over myself dramatically. “What’s your name?”
“Natalia Colburn.”
My brows shoot up. “Wow. You already have a movie-star name.”
“Right? That’s what I told my parents when I was twelve. I said, ‘You already gave me the name. Now I just have to win the lead in the school play.’”
“And did you?”
At that, Natalia cocked a brow, looking down at herself before she gave me a pointed look. “What do you think?”
I laugh. “I like your spunk, Natalia. Here,” I say, patting the chair next to me again. “Have a seat. They’re finishing up something anyway.”
“Why, thank you,” she says, and when she’s seated next to me, she shakes her head as she looks around. “This is so cool.”
“Yeah?” I ask, looking around with her. “I mean, I think so, but I figured you’d be used to it by now. I’m sure you have been to many auditions.”
“Not in college, though.”
“Ah,” I say with a smile. “Freshman.”
“And eager as hell to make my mark.”
That earned her a laugh. “I know that feeling well. Where are you from?”
“South Dakota,” she answers with a grimace. “And yes, it’s as bland as it seems. Drama class was all that got me through to graduation.”
“Your parents still there?”
At that, her smile slips. “Yeah. Neither one of them has a college education. I’m the first in the family to even attempt a degree.
” She shrugs, looking down at her fingers folded in her lap.
“I want this part so bad. Not just for me, but for them. If I could be a part of a show like this, and it takes off? It opens so many doors. It could launch my career.” Her eyes flick to Kip then, and she smiles.
“And if there’s anything I know about Kip Jackson, it’s that he’s talented enough to make it happen. ”
I smile, surprised. “You know of his work already?”
“Oh, yeah. I always do a lot of research into the roles I’m auditioning for, and getting to know the director and producer is step number one.
He’s done a lot of great things in just one short year out in California.
And the fact that his professors sent him here to film his pilot?
” She shakes her head. “They know something special when they see it. And I want to be a part of that magic.”
Natalia and I share a smile then, just as she’s called up to the stage. She gives me a nervous wave goodbye and I tell her to break a leg. Then, I sit back and settle in for her audition.
And I’m blown away.
I don’t know if Kip gave her clips of me or an in-depth character description in the casting call or if she has straight up been stalking me, but Natalia nails her impression of me so much so that I can barely keep my jaw off the floor.
Her mannerisms, her voice, her well-delivered jokes and deeply moving monologues when she talks about her family — er, my family — about poker, about PSU…
it’s incredible. Kip has her run a few lines as if she’s hanging out with the girls in the sorority house, has her run a part of the scene he wrote for the night he came to watch me at the poker tournament downtown, has her speak a monologue like she’s sitting on her paddle board out in the water in the early morning light.
I’m so moved, so touched, so enraptured that I almost feel like I’m having an out-of-body experience.
When she finishes, Kip and the casting director share a knowing smile before excusing her and letting her know they’ll be in touch. The minute she’s out the door, before they can call in whoever’s next, I’m out of my chair and running to Kip.
“Cast her.”
His smile is dazzling as ever as he arches a brow at me. “You like her, huh?”
I shake my head. “I don’t just like her. I love her. She gets it. She gets me. And she comes from means that I know she can really understand what it’s like to be me.”
“I saw you two chatting over there.” Kip smiles, looking down at his clipboard. “We have seven other girls outside waiting to audition, though. I think—”
“You said you’d let me have a say in who played me,” I remind him.
“I know,” he replies with a chuckle. “But you’ve only seen one girl.”
“I don’t need to see anyone else to know she’s the right choice.”
Kip frowns a little, and I huff, throwing my hands toward Dina, his casting director.
“Come on, you had to see it, too,” I say to her. “The girl was magic.”
Dina bites her lip, looking at her notes before her eyes find Kip’s. “She really did have something, Kip. The look is spot on, and the monologue she gave about Skyler’s parents…”
“I know,” Kip says on a sigh, looking at his own notes. “I almost got teary-eyed.”
“See?” I grab his arm and plead, giving him my best puppy dog eyes. “Trust me on this. She’s the one.”
Kip smirks, then, shaking his head as he tucks me under his arm and presses a kiss to my forehead. “Alright, then. She’s the one.”
“Yay!”
He laughs when I throw my arms around his neck and kiss him all over.
“Even as great as she is, she’s got the toughest part in the show,” he says, resting his arms around my hips.
“Because I’m a pain in the ass to understand?’
“No,” he says, kissing my nose. “Because there’s no one in the world like you.”
“Thank goodness for that.”
He laughs, and then his lips find mine, and I revel once again in how happy I am that he’s here.