10. Chapter 10
Chapter 10
Liam
M y hand instinctively goes to my lips again. Even though it’s been over two hours since that make-out session on the rock, I still can’t shake off the feeling of her lips on mine.
The pull Sophie has over me is still as strong as ever, and frankly, I don’t want to let go of it.
That moment we shared meant more than just a stolen kiss to me.
For the first time in my life, I bared my heart to someone. I don’t remember ever speaking so emotionally before that moment.
That might explain why this scene suddenly feels so easy.
She was right, after all. You can’t pretend to feel what you’ve never experienced.
Even though acting means pretending to be what you’re not, it doesn’t seem to work when it comes to love.
What does that mean?
Are my feelings for Sophie so strong that they can be compared to love?
I glance toward my chair, where she’s happily chatting away with Celeste’s assistant. Warmth spreads through me as I watch that simple moment.
The way her beauty radiates through the air makes me feel as though there’s nothing I can’t do.
“Camera rolling!”
I snap my head away from Sophie and return my attention to Celeste.
What scene are we shooting again?
Right. We’re done with the emotional part, and we’re supposed to shoot the kiss scene now.
Anger builds inside me. The thought of erasing Sophie’s kiss with a fake one doesn’t sit well with me.
Honestly, now that things with Sophie are looking good, I hate the idea of sharing my body with another woman, even if it’s just acting.
For the first time in my life, I want to call for a stunt double.
It would be a thousand times better if the stunt double was Sophie. Then, we could continue from where we stopped.
I stop that train of thought as I try to remain in the present.
“Action!” Tim calls out as the clapper’s sound signals the start of the scene.
“Jared…” Celeste breathes out, grabbing me by the arm.
I slide my hand around her waist and pull her closer. I imagine she’s Sophie as I tilt my head to the side.
Celeste closes her eyes, and at the last minute, I hold my head still and keep my lips a few inches apart from hers.
That works. We’ll just mime the kiss, and I’ll convince the director not to take a close shot.
“And cut!” Tim calls out.
I pull away from her and notice the slight frown on Celeste’s face.
“What was that?”
I shrug. “A better way to shoot kissing scenes.”
I steal a glance toward Sophie, and I’m met with her furious glare. And she isn’t glaring at me alone, but at Celeste, too.
It makes sense she’d feel jealous over this, seeing as I went mad with jealousy when I saw her just talking to another man.
Honestly, it makes me happy to know she feels deeply enough for me to get jealous.
I fight back a smile as I walk toward her.
Sophie straightens up as she sees me approaching. She banishes the look of anger on her face and stares at me blankly instead.
She picks up a towel and hands it over without looking at me. I move closer to her, cornering her between the table and my body.
She turns around swiftly and frowns when she sees how close I am.
“I’m an actor, Sophie. I’ve kissed plenty in movies, and I’m always going to do that.” I trail a finger down her jawline. “It doesn’t mean anything.”
Sophie’s cheeks flush as she glances away from me.
“I know it doesn’t mean anything.” She pushes my hand off and moves away from me. “And you don’t have to explain yourself to me. I mean, there’s no reason to.”
That statement angers me more than I expected.
She’s clearly brushing off what happened between us earlier, like it didn’t mean anything. But it did. At least to me. That kiss stirred up more than I’m willing to admit—and I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t wondered if it meant we still had a chance.
Even though I still don’t have forever in mind, I at least want to try my best.
“How about lunch before the next scene?” Sophie asks, successfully changing the topic. “The next shoot today isn’t til nightfall.”
I let go of what I’d been meaning to say and nod instead. “Alright.”
***
The cast and a few members of the crew gather around the crackling bonfire.
I let out a sigh of relief before walking over to join them.
The shoot has finally come to an end, and the team decided to start a bonfire and have a team bonding dinner because the beach is apparently giving off a “camping vibe.”
I sit down on one of the longer logs.
“Here.” Tim hands me a bottle of beer. “It’s in the spirit of the night to have a beer.”
I chuckle as I accept it. “Thank you.”
The conversations in the background are merely white noise to my ears as I scan the surroundings for Sophie.
After several failed attempts to spot her, I finally see her approaching the group with Celeste’s assistant.
I smile as she draws nearer. “Sophie.”
The group goes silent as their gazes focus on Sophie. I push down the urge to confront the guys gawking at her.
I beckon to her, patting the space beside me. She slowly makes her way toward me.
When she gets closer and I see the hint of red on her cheeks, I grin. Seeing her react to me this way makes me feel like a schoolboy receiving a glance from his crush.
As she sits down, I reach for one of the drinks in the cooler and give it to her.
“This isn’t right,” one of the male crew members says. “I’ve worked on several sets with you, and you’ve never smiled at anyone this way.”
Several of them agree instantly.
I’ve been called out, but I don’t really care.
“It’s our first movie together, but even I’ve heard rumors about your infamous aloofness,” Tim says. He smiles. “Is the atmosphere changing you? Or is it the lady?”
“Has to be the lady,” Celeste says. “He’s still pretty grumpy.”
Several other people agree with her. I feel Sophie tense up beside me, and I know I have to end the discussion there.
“Well, anyone would automatically be nicer to Sophie,” Kent, one of the assistant directors, says. “I mean, look at her.”
I shoot him a glare, but he’s pretty oblivious to it as he looks at the people agreeing with his idea.
“Not to be forward, but are you single and hopefully looking to date?” Kent asks.
My hands ball into fists around the bottle. “No, she’s not.”
My angry voice booms through the night, and several surprised faces turn toward me.
Kent doesn’t say anything else afterward, and I’m sure no other man will make a pass at Sophie. Unfortunately, I’ve definitely let everyone know that I’m romantically interested in her.
I’m not too worried about that, though, since it will keep them from going after her.
Tim clears his throat to thaw the tension in the air. “The night air is so cool. Moments like this almost make you miss shooting days when it’s over.”
“True, but I always miss it either way,” Celeste says, dangling the glass in her hand. “I feel like acting is the one thing I really enjoy doing. And although some people believe rom-coms aren’t worth it, they excite me.”
I feel as though she’s throwing shade at me, but I ignore it. I can’t ruin the perfect mood Tim has finally created.
“It’s the same reason I write them,” Hilary, the screenwriter, adds. “When I first started reading them, I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life creating worlds like that.”
“I just like how there’s always a happy ever after, or maybe even just a happy for now,” Tia, one of the supporting roles, says softly. I’ve barely heard her speak outside her role. “The world is tough enough already. When people get lost in feel-good romance movies, they’re able to put their troubled lives aside and just live in that moment.”
Hearing her say those words makes me feel bad about the view I’ve held about rom-coms all this time. It was wrong of me to think they weren’t doing anything tangible.
Compared to me, whose only reason for going into acting was to make money, these people are so much better.
I never knew I had such a warped view of the world.
The genuine smile on Sophie’s face as she listens to the conversations tells me she finds it just as heartwarming as I do.
In hindsight, Lara Jones’s challenge has helped me grow as an actor.
I grab Sophie’s hand. She turns to me, an inquisitive smile on her face.
“You haven’t eaten anything yet,” I say, pushing the pizza box toward her.
She smiles softly and takes a slice of pizza.
“Thank you.”
I watch her as she eats. It reminds me of the countless nights we spent surviving on pizza while studying for exams. She always had this same smile when she was eating.
“What about you, Liam?” Hilary asks. “What drew you to this script, since you don’t seem to like rom-coms much?”
“You can’t blame him. Only those who have fallen in love can truly appreciate the beauty of our world,” Celeste snickers.
I frown, feeling the jab of her words deep down.
“You don’t necessarily have to fall in love to appreciate it,” Tim says in my defense.
“Yeah. But the Liam Ryder we all know has never even had a serious relationship, so the topic might be out of his reach,” Kent adds.
“I’ve had a serious relationship,” I blurt out before I can stop myself.
The snide remarks are getting to me more than I expected. It’s not a nice look, and I hate it.
I need to calm down.
I take a deep breath. “Not that I can call it love, though.”
The group laughs and resumes chatting like nothing is amiss. However, I feel the instant Sophie’s mood changes.
She grows stiff beside me, and I regret my words right away.
It’s the truth, though. I can’t call what we had back then love.
Sophie stands up and leaves the gathering before I can stop her. I follow her with my gaze, and when it dawns on me that she isn’t just going to get something but actually leaving, I stand up to follow her.
It doesn’t sit well with me that she’s mad. I need to make this right. I’ve already hurt her enough to last a lifetime.