Lennox
An entire week. Who cares that we’re practically living in a closet. I get one whole week of Jace Wilder’s undivided attention and I can’t wait to learn more about the broody man with obsessive compulsive tendencies.
At what point do I tell him I grew up watching his shows? I mean, whenever I had access to the telly at least. There was just something about him when I was young and trying to figure out life. If you didn’t want to be him, you crushed on him. I qualified in both categories.
Maybe I’ll keep all that to myself.
The last thing I want is for him to think that I look up to him and like him. According to the media, he doesn’t like me. At least from the things I’ve read, he was pretty pissed off when I beat him last year.
I never read or saw an interview with him where those words came out of his mouth directly, though over the course of this past year, it’s been insinuated by the media and they’ve enjoyed comparing our achievements and failures.
We’re completely different, so I have no idea why they’ve been so hyper-fixed on this non-existent thing between us, but now it’s coming between me and my co-star, and that irritates me. The tension is so thick it’s clogging the air in this half-pint size of a house.
He hasn’t said much since we arrived and if I were to guess by his awkwardness, he’s not used to such a small space, nor is he used to sharing it. That’s fine for me. Nothing can be worse than the first night at an orphanage when you know no one and feel more alone than ever.
This…this I can handle.
I grab a pillow from the linen closet, toss it over on the sofa, then pull out a blanket spreading it over the cushions. The sofa faces the fireplace at the back of the cabin but is parallel with the threshold of the bedroom—if you could call it that.
Unbuttoning my jeans and pulling off my T-shirt, I drape them over the arm of the loveseat leaving me in just my boxer briefs.
I sit down, tucking myself underneath the blanket, and I now have a direct line of sight of Jace on the bed, reading what I recognize from the orange and green cover as the screenplay for our movie. His bright blue eyes skim over the pages behind a pair of sexy-as-sin reading glasses.
He’s so reserved, and I think he’s used to doing everything on his own. I can relate to that but my reasoning is probably far different than his.
I’m determined though. Determined to prove myself to him. To pull him out of his shell that he wears like armor and get to know my co-star because I’ll need to be closer to him than anyone I’ve ever worked with.
“Want to read some lines tomorrow?” I ask, tipping my chin at the script in his hands.
Glancing up, he pulls the dark rimmed glasses down his nose, and his eyes trail my body spread out over the sofa. My feet are peeking out from under the blanket that doesn’t cover me fully.
A look of pity crosses his face. No, maybe that’s guilt. I’m not sure. I don’t know why I’m so concerned with how he feels or why I care so much.
“Sure. That’s probably a good idea.” He places the manuscript down on the corner of his nightstand, placing his glasses on top, then reaches for the lamp switch.
I can’t help but take in the corded muscles in his arm as the sleeve of his T-shirt pulls up with the stretch.
I have to keep reminding myself that I’m a professional.
The problem is, the only way I’ve been able to immerse myself in the characters is how I was trained in method acting, and I know Jace was trained this way, too.
It’s the most effective way for an actor to feel the emotions of the character and really take them on body and soul.
We transform our real life persona into them.
In the story, my character, Ryan, falls in love with his character, James. Ryan is care-free and wild, diving headfirst into the rockstar lifestyle, while James is serious, professional, and holds the band together. And the irony of all of this are the parallels between reality and our portrayal.
Maybe Pierre is a brilliant mastermind of casting and story telling.
But as Jace rolls onto this side and I catch the small sliver of moonlight shining over his smooth skin and sharp jawline, I know method acting will be far from difficult for me.