Read Online Under the Lights by Dahlia Adler - Free Book Online Page B

leaving
—“a waitress.”
    â€œOf course it’s weird. Jade is weird. You know this already.”
    â€œI don’t like feeling deceived.” My voice is stiff, and even I want to laugh at myself. Why do I care what my publicist’s freaking intern thinks or does? “Whatever, it’s—”
    â€œI’m sorry,” she says, cutting me off and surprising me. “I won’t do it again.”
    â€œOkay. Thanks, I guess.” This conversation has definitely taken a turn for the strange, and I don’t really know what else to say. “I should go. I left Josh and Zander alone in my trailer, which seems like a terrible idea.”
    She laughs. “I’ll tell Jade you called. And hey, listen, if you wanna take a few bites of an onion or something before your spit-swapping scenes with Josh Chester, I swear, it’ll be our little secret.”
    â€œI appreciate that,” I reply, feeling a full, genuine smile creep onto my lips for the first time that day. “Bye.” She says goodbye, and I hang up and stare at my phone for a minute before heading back to my trailer, where Zander and Josh are, unsurprisingly, giving each other shit.
    I leave the door open behind me to give Josh easy access to leave and surprise them both by dropping in Zander’s lap. “Don’t you have
anywhere
else to be?” I narrow my eyes at Josh.
    â€œNah, I think I’ll just watch.”
    â€œYou know what? Go ahead.” I pray Zander’s somehow become a better kisser in the last five minutes, and then I press my lips to his. If there’s one thing I’ve learned being an actress, it’s to fake it ’til you make it.
    And if there’s another, it’s that sometimes, you’ll just have to kiss with an audience.

    â€œIt’s been one week of filming, and already he’s a royal pain in my butt.” I put the phone on speaker so I can set it on my dresser while I trade the clothes I wore to the
Daylight
set for the sports bra, tank top, and cropped yoga pants I’ll need for my nighttimeBikram session. “I don’t understand how you dealt with him for a
year
.”
    Ally laughs. “He’s not so bad once you get to know him.”
    â€œI
know
him,” I remind her. “I still don’t like him.”
    â€œThat’s what you thought about Brianna, and you seem pretty okay with her now.”
    Do I?
I hadn’t realized I’d even been talking about her to Ally much. But things with her are definitely better. The e-mails that used to be short and kinda formal are way friendlier now. She’d even sent a few texts that week—things like,
It’s only 3 eps!!
and
I haven’t seen a single news story on the murder of Josh Chester, so I hope that means it’s not so bad!
It’s been nice having her support, especially with Ally gone.
    â€œYeah, she’s cool.”
    â€œWell, given that she’s the spawn of Satan, that’s actually pretty impressive, isn’t it?”
    I laugh. It’s pretty amazing to think that she’s Jade’s daughter. Unlike her mother, she’s actually sweet, and thoughtful, and she smiles every now and again, dimples and all. “Very.
And
she’s a fan of
Sherlock
. Like, every possible incarnation of it.”
    â€œAw, that’s cool, Vanny. You guys should hang out. Hey, hang on one sec.” There’s a crackling sound as her hand covers the receiver and then her muffled voice as she yells something to someone. Whoever it is responds, and as their conversation continues, I let my mind wander.
    Would it be weird to ask Bri to hang out? Would she even want to?
    I could ask her to come over for a
Sherlock
marathon, maybe. Or go shopping. Ally used to go with me, but now that she’s gone, I haven’t been in, like, forever. Or maybe to Pinkberry…Would that besacrilege without Ally? Does Bri even like Pinkberry? Will