Maybe ridiculous wasn’t so bad.
“Okay, let’s get you untangled. I’m going to put you down, okay?”
He lowered me gently the floor, and my stampeding pulse began to slow. He tried for a few minutes to free me, but his fingers were large and clumsy. Finally, I said, “Just undo the earring. I’ll get it out of the curtain tomorrow.”
Laughing, he did as I asked.
Whereas before, I’d felt like I was burning up in our kiss. Now, warmth spread through me that was different, sweeter. Candlelight instead of open flame.
He rubbed at the shoulder that had hit the dresser, and said, “We’re kind of a mess.”
I pinched my fingers together, and said, “Little bit.”
He curled a hand around my neck, and pulled me forward, pressing another kiss to my forehead. I closed my eyes, thinking that this was what perfection felt like.
“I think maybe the curtain did us a favor. Your legs in that skirt pretty much killed all my self-control.”
I smiled. “I told you that I never should have worn it.”
“Oh, I’m definitely glad you wore it. It’s a memory I’ll cherish for a very long time.” I slapped him on the arm, but I didn’t mind the cheeky smile. He said, “I should probably go now, before you make me lose my mind again.”
I let him go, even though a large part of me was screaming in protest. And when he was gone, I celebrated in much the same way I had when I learned I’d gotten cast as Phaedra.
I danced.
Because… finally… things were going right.
Chapter Twenty-One
Things were so wrong.
The first Phaedra read through was a disaster of epic proportions. Even after two weeks, Cade wouldn’t speak to me at all before we started, and it seemed everyone in the cast was on his side, based on the glares I was getting. And though read-throughs tended to be a bit stale since everyone was sitting around a table, this one was worse than week-old pizza.
Every once and while, Eric would shake his head, and I could practically see him thinking, what happened to the people I cast last week?
Each scene kept getting worse like a screw going in at the wrong angle, but we just kept going, trying to make something work that would clearly not.
When it was over, I felt deflated. I had been so excited about this play. I’d been waiting for something like this since freshman year, and now it was here and it was unbearable.
Eric faked some optimism, saying things would be smoother on stage. I don’t think anyone believed him.
And if they did, that misplaced hope dwindled when we had our first rehearsal onstage, which if possible, was even worse. The unease between Cade and I seemed to permeate the entire cast until everyone was stiff and on edge.
Classes weren’t much better.
Cade stayed far away from me, and Kelsey was still angry, so I was disproving that quote about no man being an island. I was totally alone.
Except for Garrick.
I was terrified by the depth of my feelings for him. Things were too good. Nothing in life was this amazing, at least not in my life. He stopped me after Senior Prep Wednesday morning, “Bliss, wait one second.”
I took my time packing up my stuff, waiting for everyone else to leave the computer lab. When we were alone I asked, “What’s up?”
He smiled, “Nothing.”
Then he pressed me into the computer table behind me and kissed me.
I gasped in shock, and his tongue stormed my mouth. I did nothing, but blink, and then he had me lifted up onto the table, his hips fitted between my open thighs, and his mouth burned against my own.
There was no slowness to this kiss. It was a frenzied, stolen moment, and I was spinning with want. I clung to him, certain I was about to fall to pieces in his arms, and then he pulled back.
I had to concentrate on breathing for several long seconds before it even occurred to me to be mad. I swatted his bicep, “Are you crazy? What were you thinking? What if someone walked in?” I pushed him several feet away, and hopped off the table, my legs unsteady against the floor.
“I was thinking that you looked entirely too sexy for this early in the morning.”
I steeled my glare, “I’m serious, Garrick.”
“So am I,” He said. He took me by the elbow and pulled me into the far corner of the room, where we couldn’t be seen from the door, and we’d have warning if anyone entered. “When it comes to you, Bliss, I’m very serious.”
Was he implying what I thought he was implying? The look in his eyes was dangerous. I couldn’t think straight when he was so close to me. He tried to pull me into another kiss, but even out of sight from the door, I was too scared, too afraid. It felt like that first night together on my bed all over again. Was this me? Was I ready for something like this?
I turned my head, and his lips found my neck instead.
Everything was just so confusing.
How could I want something so badly and not want it at the same time?
A part of me wanted to fold my arms around him, and pray for his lips never to leave my skin. And a part of me wanted to run screaming in the other direction.
The second part came out on top.
I pulled out of his embrace, and held up a hand to keep him from following me. “I can’t. I have to go. I want to try and find Cade before rehearsal tonight, see if we can’t work things out.”
Then I fled the lab, my skin still burning from his touch.
Cade was already gone by the time I made it to the greenroom, and I didn’t manage to get him alone for the rest of the day. I thought about asking to talk to him before rehearsal, but everyone was around, staring, and I truthfully just didn’t have the energy.
But that meant that our third rehearsal started just as poorly as all the rest.
Eric, who had no idea of the offstage drama, was at a loss. I think he could tell that it all stemmed from Cade and I, which is why he sent us away. He said he just wanted to spend some time with the chorus, but still wanted us to get some work done. So, he sent us into a smaller workshop space to work alone… with Garrick.
It had to be a sign of the apocalypse. Things this terrible only happened when the world was about to end.
I envied Garrick’s composure. He didn’t give anything away.
I, on the other hand, was a train wreck in human form.
We ran our first scene together twice. Cade was lifeless and I was pitiful.
No matter how many times Garrick muttered between lines “Wake up.” or “Intensity!” or “Raise the stakes!” We were still awful.
Garrick, who knew what we were both capable of, grew more and more frustrated. He didn’t even bother faking optimism.
“Both of you take five.”
I went the bathroom, and splashed my face with water. This had to stop. If I could act opposite Dom, I could certainly act opposite Cade, no matter how upset he was. He was my best friend, but I had to learn to put my emotions aside and think of him like anyone else if I wanted to be an actor.
Feeling a little better, I made my way back to the workshop room.
Cade and Garrick were already inside talking.
“I know there is personal stuff going on between the two of you, but you’ve got to get over it,” Garrick said.
“I’m trying. It’s not that simple.”
Garrick’s back was to me, but I could see Cade’s face, which was pale and crumpled, like a discarded piece of paper. I choked up, wishing this was all over or that it had never happened.