6. Chapter 6
Chapter 6
Liam
“C ut!” Tim calls out for the hundredth time this afternoon. “You’re still not getting it, Liam. I need your raw and heartfelt emotions to shine through in this scene.”
I grunt, running my hand across my hot temple. The sun is killing me, this particular costume is pretty uncomfortable to wear, and having to sit on the sidewalk pretending to be a lovelorn fool isn’t exactly working out for me.
Before this, I always felt montages were the easiest things to shoot. No dialogue is involved, just raw and honest expression.
But here I am, struggling to shoot a five-scene montage. I’m only on the second one, and I just can’t seem to get it right, according to the director.
Not to lie, even I can tell something isn’t right because I’m not feeling anything. I can’t pretend to be a lovesick idiot when I don’t even know what that feels like.
“Here.” Sophie hands me a bottle of water.
I eagerly take it, gulping down the contents like my life depends on it.
I hand back the bottle. “Thank you.”
She lets out a little gasp that draws my attention to her face. A little blush graces her cheeks as she quickly averts her gaze from mine.
“I’m just surprised you’re thanking me. You’ve never done that before,” Sophie says before heading back to my chair.
I rub the back of my neck, wondering why that happened. I’d been so parched that getting water from her seemed like a blessing from the brightest angel ever.
My eyes remain fixated on her as she stands beside my chair.
Memories of our time together yesterday fill my mind. Spending the day with her and getting to see everything she loves so dearly about her town rekindled the emotions I felt for her back in college.
Seeing the things she used to talk about in the flesh was like a moment of epiphany. The craziest was the visit to her family’s diner.
I’d pictured young Sophie working away with her parents while coming up with all those disastrous recipes she’d told me about before they finally settled on Grant’s special.
The diner held every memory of the beautiful family that owned it and worked there. Knowing that she lost her dad a few months before we met seven years ago makes me aware that the diner is also her link to him.
All these feelings have added to how my mood has changed since last night. Meeting her mom, I felt like the douche I was. Even if her mom didn’t say it, I’m sure she can tell I’m the same Liam who broke her daughter’s heart, yet she served me like she would any other person.
Experiencing her kindness made me feel worse about everything.
So even if I wanted to concentrate fully on this scene, I couldn’t, because Sophie Grant is all over my mind.
“That’s it!” Tim squeals happily. I glance around to see him hurrying toward me. “That expression right there is what I want you to have. That’s the lovelorn look this scene needs, Liam. I knew you could do it.”
“What?” I blink. “I had the look?”
Tim pauses. “You didn’t know. Weren’t you practicing hard for it?”
“Of course I was.”
That’s a lie. He said I looked lovelorn while I was staring at Sophie and thinking about her.
That doesn’t make any sense. This director probably doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
Which is proven when we try the shot again, and it still isn’t good enough.
According to him, I lost the perfect expression.
We try a few more times before Tim just gives up.
“I think we should go for a break,” Tim says, pushing aside his frustration. “Maybe after you get some rest, we can try again.”
My jaw tightens with anger as I nod. I storm toward my trailer, breezing past Sophie. I ignore the water she’s holding out to me without bothering to glance at her.
This has never happened to me before. I’ve never had to take a break because the director couldn’t get the perfect shot.
Directors love working with me because my acting is flawless.
Yet here I am, struggling with a cheesy rom-com movie.
“Liam,” Celeste calls, rushing toward me.
I frown. “What?”
“I was wondering if you’d like to practice with me. I can show you a few tricks to—”
“You?” I scoff, giving her a once-over. “Show me a few tricks?”
Her brows snap together in anger as she glares at me.
I ignore her and continue toward my trailer.
What a joke!
Celeste, who does nothing but take roles in sappy romance movies, wants to teach me how to act.
I throw open the door of my trailer and begin to pace.
Sophie enters not too long after me. I turn around to dismiss her, only to see a smug look on her face.
Is she deriving joy from my frustration right now? Or perhaps she’s mocking my failed attempts at acting out this role.
“Trust me, I’m not a bad actor. The script just has a lot more issues than the director is willing to admit.”
“It is just like you to do everything but accept your own faults,” Sophie taunts, not hiding her grin now. “Just face it, Liam. You’re a great actor, but you can’t play the role of a man in love because you don’t have a heart. How do you expect to fake emotions you’ve never felt?”
Anger surges within me as those words leave her mouth.
“Just stick to what you usually do. Romance movies are for people who actually appreciate the art and know the value of love.”
She sounds just like Lara Jones right now. It’s almost like she’s reading out Lara Jones’s article to me.
“You just don’t want to accept that romance movies shouldn’t even be a thing. Love doesn’t exist, for heaven’s sake, but because Hollywood keeps packaging lust as love to you people, you’ve lost sight of the truth.”
“No, you’re the one who has no idea what the truth is. You think everything that doesn’t go along with your narrow-minded worldview is illogical,” Sophie snaps. “Like back there with how you treated Celeste. She definitely knows how to help you get over your failed acting attempts, but because you’re biased against people who act in romance movies, you believe there’s nothing she can teach you.”
I scoff. “Because there’s nothing she can teach me. Why am I even arguing with you?”
“Because it’s about time someone told you the truth!” She steps closer, her hazel eyes blazing with fire. “And the truth is that you’re a bad actor.”
“Just because I can’t play some cringy role?”
“Yes!” she snaps. “You consider these cringy roles to be so simple that you don’t consider the actors who play them as real actors. But if it’s so easy, why can’t you do it?”
Okay, that burns.
No one has ever spoken to me this way except Sophie. Back when we were dating, she never had any issues arguing with me, to the point where I almost saw reason with her.
Not now, though.
I take a menacing step toward her. “Watch your mouth, Sophie.”
“Or what?” she challenges, arms crossed. “What are you going to do?”
The fire in her eyes hits me square in the chest. It’s too familiar, too electric. It’s the same look she used to give me when I pushed her too far—and the same one that made me fall for her in the first place. My pulse pounds in my ears, drowning out every thought except one.
I still want her.
The frustration simmering beneath my skin twists into something hotter, heavier. I don’t think—my body moves before my brain can catch up.
I reach for her waist and pull her to me, closing the distance we both pretend isn’t there. Her breath catches, but she doesn’t pull away. Not yet.
Her lips part slightly, like she’s ready to argue—or something else. And before I can second-guess it, I kiss her.
It’s reckless. It’s wrong. But the second our mouths meet, the world blurs. She tastes like memories and second chances, like the only thing that’s ever made sense and the one thing I was stupid enough to lose.
Her hands fist in my shirt. My heart slams against my ribs. For one beautiful, impossible second, she kisses me back.
I forget everything else. The years, the pain, the silence between us. In that moment, it’s just her and me, and the way we used to fit.
But then, like a snapped cord, it all falls apart.
She stiffens.
Her palms press against my chest, pushing me back with more force than I expect. Her breath is sharp, her eyes wide with shock.
I stumble a step, chest heaving, mind spinning.
Sophie’s lips are red and swollen from my kiss, almost calling me back for more. Her cheeks are flushed as she takes a cautious step away from me.
What did I just do?
“Don’t…don’t you ever do that again,” Sophie warns shakily, her voice breathless.
Deep down, I want to remind her that she enjoyed the kiss as much as I did. Another part of me wants to let her know that it might be impossible for me not to do that again, but I hold myself back.
I take in a calm breath and nod. “I’m so sorry for kissing you so abruptly. It was a mistake.”
It clearly wasn’t, but I’d like to believe it was.
“A mistake that must never repeat itself,” she warns.
“It won’t happen again,” I say.
Sophie’s tense shoulders relax. She pushes the door open and rushes out of the trailer. I watch her run off before the door closes.
The door is thrown open again, and I prepare myself for her return, but Julian barges in.
Julian’s curious gaze travels through the room before settling on me. I shift from one foot to the other as I adjust my shirt.
“What happened here?”
“Nothing.”
“I doubt that. Sophie just ran out of your trailer, visibly flushed, and you don’t look any better yourself,” Julian points out, his scrutinizing gaze on my face. “What did you do?”
Somehow, he’s already concluded that I did something. I’ve never been able to understand how Julian always sees through me when no one else can.
At first, I tried to thwart his attempts to read me, but after miserably failing at it more times than I can count, I gave up. Julian can see through my lies just as I can see through his.
So I need to put on my game face if I’m going to successfully convince him that nothing happened.
“I didn’t do anything. We had an argument about my acting, and we both said a few hurtful words to each other. That’s all that happened.”
That isn’t entirely a lie, since we did argue. And that’s the best way to go, mixing up the truth with a lie.
I can’t tell Julian about my history with Sophie. Knowing him, he’ll believe that this situation is fate at work.
And the last thing I need is for Julian to hound me about the distraction I’m trying to get rid of.
“It better be nothing, Liam. The last thing I want is for you to get into a scandal with one of the locals,” Julian warns sternly. “And going after Sophie is the perfect recipe for disaster.”
He doesn’t believe me. Even if he’s not outright calling my bluff, the fact that he’s still on this topic means he knows something happened between us.
I scoff and wave dismissively.
“No one is going after anyone. Believe me, a scandal is the last thing I want.”
Aside from not wanting a scandal, there’s a bigger reason I can’t have Sophie in my life. Today has been proof enough of that. She messes up my mind without even trying to. How does she do that?
“Great,” Julian says. “Now let’s talk about your role and how you can make it better. The director wants to have a one-on-one conversation with you about it.”
I groan, slumping into the couch. “I hate it already.”
“Yeah, but you have no choice.”
And not having that choice is what pisses me off the most, but what can I do? I already signed the contract.
I must see it through to the end.