Dare You to Chase the Soccer Player (Rock Valley High Book 5)

by Lacy Andersen

  “Right.” He paused for a long moment, before giving off a heavy sigh. “I’m not sure I’m very good at pretending not to like you, Lexi.”

  The sound of blood rushing through my ears took over my senses for a moment. I scrunched my face up into a silent squeal, before containing it.

  “I’m not sure I’m very good, either,” I said slowly.

  “What are we going to do about it?”

  Say screw your contract and my future career prospects and just go out anyway? I wanted to scream it. It wasn’t fair. Life had landed a hot, caring, and real guy into my lap and I couldn’t touch him. What kind of horribly awful thing had I done to deserve that?

  “Maybe, we should focus on other things to distract us.” Twirling my wet hair around my finger, I spun in place on the carpet. “Like, what’s your favorite color?”

  “That’s easy: green. What’s yours?”

  “Amaranth.”

  He snorted. “Is that supposed to be a color? I’ve never heard of it.”

  “It’s somewhere between champagne pink and flamingo.”

  “So...pink? Why don’t you just say pink?”

  I laughed. “That’s such a boy thing to say.”

  “I can’t help it that us guys are simple. No shades of green. Just green. Now that we settled that, what’s our next topic?”

  I chewed on tip of my thumbnail and thought about it for a second. There was so much about Zane I wanted to know but was too scared to ask. Did he date other Hollywood stars? Had he ever been in love before? But those were all too big. I settled for something easier.

  “So, I know your dad is a big and scary Hollywood agent. What’s your mom like?”

  Parents were a safe topic. Everyone had them. Everyone was annoyed by them. Maybe, if Zane and I talked about something boring and safe like that, we’d lose some of that crazy initial attraction. It was just an idea—one that I was willing to try.

  “My mom...she was amazing and kind. The best mom you could ask for. She died two years ago from cancer.”

  Zane’s voice broke a bit on that last line and the sound of it went straight to my gut like a sucker punch. Dragging in a shallow breath, I closed my eyes tight and swore.

  “I’m so sorry, I didn’t know that.” Curse my refusal to google Zane and his history. That was twice now that I’d been punished for it. “Forget I asked. We can talk about something else.”

  “No, wait.” Zane’s voice grew louder. “I like that you didn’t know. It’s kind of nice to talk to someone who doesn’t already know everything about me, including my horoscope. You have no idea how many girls message me about their signs and how we’re meant to be together because the stars aligned, or some bull crap like that.”

  I giggled. Okay, maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing that I hadn’t stalked Zane online after all. “You get a lot of messages like that?”

  “So. Many. Messages.”

  Giggling again, I finally sat at my desk chair and stared down at my freshly painted red nails. “Your mom was the best, huh? You can tell me about her, if you want.”

  “Yeah.” He chuckled softly. “She really was. You know, she didn’t want this life for me. She wanted me to feel normal—like a regular kid. We used to go to the beach every Saturday, when she wasn’t filming something. And no matter what, we had to build a sandcastle. That was the law. I guess that was her way of giving me some normalcy. It didn’t matter that I was a teenager or that the last thing I wanted to do then was build some stupid castle that was just going to get washed away an hour later by the tide, she’d make me do it. But we always ended up having the best day.”

  I smiled at the carpet while fiddling with the hem of my t-shirt. Building castles on the beach sounded like the most amazing thing in the world. Zane had been lucky to have his mom. Just like I was lucky to have two amazing parents and a stepmom. His dad was another story...

  “You know, I’ve never been to a beach,” I said. “I wish I could’ve built a sandcastle with you and your mom. It’s definitely not stupid.”

  “I’ll take you some day.” Zane’s voice was quiet, as if he were lying in bed and starting to drift off to sleep. “I promise. After all of this is over and my dad’s finally off my back and you’ve survived Alanis, we’ll go.”

  Once again I was struck by how Zane’s promises lacked the hollow sounds I’d come to expect from boys my age. He had a kind of way of talking that made me think he meant them. Soft, sweet happiness swirled around my heart, making it awfully hard to say what I knew I couldn’t hold back any longer.

  “Actually, I’m thinking about quitting the job.” Rubbing my thumb and index finger over my brows, I sealed my eyes shut against the shame. “Alanis is a brick wall. She’s never going to give me the time of day. I can’t win with her.”

  “You can’t give up. You’re already making progress, I know it.”

  Sighing, I tilted my chin up and stared hopelessly at the white popcorn ceiling. “Are you sure? Because any advantage I had was lost today when I blinded the gorgeous lead actor of this new movie they’re making.”

  Zane laughed into the phone, which lightened my soul just the tiniest. “First of all, we covered this. I’m fine. And secondly, you think I’m gorgeous?”

  I grinned and continued staring silently up at the ceiling, unwilling to expand on that thought. We’d crossed so many lines with this phone call already. Coworkers definitely didn’t talk to each other like this. I didn’t even talk to my guy friends like this.

  “I guess we’ll have to return to that point later,” Zane said with humor in his voice when I didn’t answer. “But really, Alanis may seem like a robot, but even she’s made mistakes. I mean, why do you think she even took this film?”

  That was something I’d never considered. “Because it’s supposed to be the hottest teen flick of the year...?”

  “Maybe. But Alanis is way too talented to put some powder on a bunch of pimply teenagers. Dad told me that she had a drug problem and she messed up at her last job. They fired her. Sent her to rehab. And this is her trying to get back to the top. Everyone messes up. Alanis knows that. She’ll respect you more if you keep moving forward.”

  This sudden influx of information had my heart beating like a bass speaker. So that was why Alanis was so uptight about what she put into her body? And why she was holding onto this job so tightly?

  “This is all starting to make sense.” I slapped my palm on my forehead. “It’s no wonder she’s such a crab. Thank you.”

  Zane laughed. “Actually, I think she’s always been a crab, but it’s probably worse now. You’re going to have to work harder for it, but it sounds like this job is worth it to you.”

  I sucked my bottom lip into my mouth and thought about it for a second. A few days ago, this had been all that I wanted. Was it still true? Did putting myself through torture at Alanis’ hands seem worth it to break into my dream career?

  Yes. The answer was yes. I shouldn’t even have wavered. Anything was worth it.

  “You’re right. Call this idea to quit a temporary moment of insanity. I’m going back to the set tomorrow to work my butt off and impress Alanis like no one else has. Thank you for setting me straight, coworker.”

  “Anytime.” I could hear the smile in his voice. “And besides, I’ve got an ulterior motive. If you quit, I won’t be able to see you every day and that would be the saddest thing of all.”

  Skipping to my bed, I sat down and grinned. “That would be really sad. I’m not sure what you would do without me.”

  “Although I’ve got to say...my eyes might last longer if I’m not getting sprayed in the face with glistening goop.”

  With a giggle, I fell back onto my bed and sighed. “I guess you’ll just have to take the risk.”

  Every beat of my heart measured the comfortable silence we fell into as I stared up at my ceiling fan. Talking with Zane was easy. Sitting in the quiet with him was easy. It was nice just to be in his presence and in his thou
ghts.

  But that didn’t feel like enough. I wanted to be able to touch him. To be the one to brush my lips against his and not stop until I was good and dizzy. The thought of it made me bite my lip in frustration. Why did there have to be this space between us?

  “Lexi?” Zane asked, his voice as low as a whisper.

  “Mmm...yeah?”

  “I can’t stop thinking about you.”

  There it was—another jolt to my gut. It was enough to push me over the edge. I sucked in a breath, ready to throw caution to the wind. “I can’t stop thinking about you either.”

  We fell into a long moment of silence. It was heavy and full of unexpressed feelings. I opened my mouth, wondering what I should say. We’d gone way past coworkers. Way past friends. This was a dangerous zone, but the fluttering and hopeful feelings bouncing around my stomach didn’t seem to care.

  “Who are you talking to at this hour?”

  The harsh sound of a deep male voice cut through the background noise. It was nothing like Zane’s, but I definitely recognized it. His dad. The guy who’d created all this trouble in the first place.

  “It’s just Freddy.” Zane’s voice was muffled and I imagined him holding a hand over the screen. “I’m getting off now.”

  “Good, because you’ve got an early morning shot. Get to bed, Son.”

  “Yes, sir.” There was a scuffling noise, then Zane’s voice came through the speakers clearly again. “Sorry, I have to go. Goodnight, Lexi.”

  I opened my mouth to tell him sweet dreams, but the line went dead before the words could materialize. Sour bile filled my mouth. I looked down at the phone as it flashed the end of the call. So much for that.

  Reality set back in quickly. I’d been dangerously close to throwing all caution to the wind and going after Zane like I would with any other guy. We weren’t allowed to have a relationship and that was it. He was off limits. Dreaming about it on the phone was asking for trouble. No, we were better off staying as far apart as his hotel room and my bedroom.

  All of a sudden, the blankets where I’d sought comfort from only a few minutes ago felt suffocating. I kicked them off my bed, lying on the sheets with my bare legs sprawled. Frustration rolled over my skin until I reached for my phone again and opened up the text messaging.

  Me: Remind me again why I shouldn’t fall for Zane Rees?

  It only took a few seconds for the replies to pop up.

  Charlotte: Because he’s leaving in a couple weeks.

  And you want this job.

  Beth: And I’ll kick your butt if you do.

  There. That was it. Another reminder of why this was hopeless.

  I shut off my lamp and turned over in bed, staring once again at the yellow streetlights outside my window. Okay, so maybe I wasn’t ready to be a quitter and give up on my dreams. But that meant I had a whole host of problems coming my way. First was dealing with Alanis. The other was keeping my eyes and heart away from Zane.

  Tomorrow, I was going to be strong. No more flirtatious Lexi. No more clumsy Lexi. All professional, all the time.

  And Alanis was going to love me—whether she wanted to or not.

  Chapter Ten

  The love had really been missing on set today. Alanis’ scowl could’ve peeled paint from my dad’s rusted old Corvette he kept covered in the garage. She was a walking flashing neon sign telling everyone around her to back the heck up. But I’d survived. Three hours into my shift and I hadn’t done a single thing to make her yell at me.

  Yet.

  I called that winning.

  Okay, so maybe she didn’t love me yet, but at the very least she’d entrusted me with the glistening spray again. The director had called, needing to reshoot a scene from yesterday on the soccer field. I’d hustled out the trailer door, leaving Alanis with one of the poor little extras who had practically begged me with his eyes not to leave him alone. He would survive. If I messed this up again, I wouldn’t be so lucky.

  “Set up the lights here,” someone shouted as I approached the field. “We’re almost ready.”

  I looked around, ready to get to work. No sign of Freddy or the other guys. They must’ve been fooling around somewhere off set. They seemed to make a habit of it. I’d heard Alanis complain about it and how they constantly messed up her work.

  “Never work with children or animals,” she’d growled at me, as if I would have a choice in the future. Still, the fact that Alanis was passing me advice made me seriously elated. Maybe I really did have a shot at impressing her.

  But as I looked around the set for the missing cast, my gaze landed solidly on Zane. He stood near the craft table with a bottle of Aquafina halfway to his sculpted lips. Once again, he was shirtless, with all of the sun-kissed muscular goods on display. His athletic shorts hung just low enough on his hips to reveal the V cut of his lower abs that flexed as he tilted his head back to gulp the water.

  Someone help me.

  Despite the fact that my knees had turned to jelly, I managed to stay standing. I had to knock it off. I was never going to make it through the day if I allowed myself to be distracted by him. With a major dose of willpower, I lifted my gaze up slightly to find him already watching me. His lips twinged with the tiniest hint of a snarky smile, as if accusing me of checking him out. Guilty as charged. My cheeks burned and I suddenly found the blades of grass beneath my feet extremely interesting.

  “Where’s Janelle?” Our director, a short portly man named Allen, peered at one of the cameras. “I want to check the angles on this shoot. Where’s she gone off to?”

  “She’s still in wardrobe,” a woman answered. “Want me to see how they’re coming along?”

  Allen grumbled something that sounded like a complaint about actresses and their clothes, with a few swears thrown in-between. I glanced over at Zane. He shrugged and we both silently began to laugh.

  “You, spray bottle girl.”

  A thick finger appeared inches from my face. I started when I saw the director next to me, still pointing at my nose. “Um...yes?”

  “Stand in for Janelle. I need to check the camera angles. You’ll do for now.”

  Swallowing hard, I put my spray bottle on the ground and followed him toward the field. My feet moved as if I were walking through water. Doing makeup was one thing. It was behind-the-scenes work and I was pretty confident when it came to the one-on-one interactions. That was easy. Being in front of the cameras was a completely different experience.

  Sure, they weren’t rolling, but a dozen eyes were now plastered on me and my every move. Allen grabbed me on each arm and positioned me in front of the cameras and the crew. I stood there awkwardly, trying not to let the nervous laughter I felt simmering in my stomach boil over and out of my mouth.

  “Zane, get in there.” Allen stalked back to behind the cameras, his brow furrowed. “Run through your lines and the motions of the scene with her. I want to see how it presents on the screen. Makeup girl, just stand there and look at him.”

  Talk about horrible timing. Here I was, wondering how I was going to keep the entire cast from seeing the sparks between me and Zane, and now we were practically on stage in front of the entire world. It was almost hilarious, in a totally not-so-funny way.

  A bit of nervous laughter escaped my mouth as I turned slightly to see Zane walking toward me. To the rest of the world, his steady frown was the picture of calm, but I could see the hesitation flitting behind his blue eyes. He stopped just a foot from me and lowered his chin slightly.

  “I’m just going to say a few lines and then put my hand on your cheek. Is that okay?”

  For some strange reason, I could hear Charlotte and Beth’s voices in the back of my mind, screaming at me to say no. They would’ve saved me, if they’d been here. But Mighty Lexi had to handle it all on her own.

  Time to save the world.

  I nodded at him, totally unable to move the rest of my body. Zane’s frown deepened for a second and then he took a deep breath, a ch
ange overcoming his face as he turned on the actor side of him.

  “Hailey, I’m so sorry.” He took a step closer, gazing deep into my eyes as if to look into my soul. “I’m the biggest idiot in the world.”

  It felt like butterfly wings were brushing up and down my spine. I chewed nervously on my bottom lip, unable to break away from his gaze. He was a whirlpool, pulling me into the scene. Two lines in and I’d already been transported to a world where I was some chick named Hailey and Zane was my happily ever after.

  Dang, he was good at this.

  “I know I was wrong.” He leaned in closer, brushing my hair gently back over my shoulder. “Can you ever forgive me?”

  The sudden contact made me flinch, even though I’d been expecting it. Zane didn’t act like he’d noticed. His gaze journeyed down to the base of my neck where his fingers lightly caressed my skin, causing heat to shoot to all of my extremities. Somehow, my hands found their way to his bare chest. He was warm under my palms, his skin smooth. I stood, entranced, as he moved his hand up to cradle my cheek and his blue eyes met mine again.

  “I’ll take that as a yes?” His brow lowered wistfully and then he was staring at my mouth like a man wandering the desert stared at a glass of cold water.

  Molten lava burst forth in my stomach. Gone was the Hailey chick. I was myself again, but this time I’d been transported back to the picnic shelter where Zane had first kissed me. But now, my body was ready. Ready to kiss him back for all I was worth.

  Leaning toward his lips felt like the most natural thing in the world.

  “Okay. That’s great, Zane. We can call that good.”

  The sound of the director’s voice jolted my traitorous body awake from its daydream as Zane and I both looked over at him. I blinked wildly, then dropped my hands guiltily to my side. All I was supposed to do was stand there. Feeling up the star actor was not on the list of Makeup Girl approved activities.

  Zane didn’t seem to notice. He let go of my face and casually shoved his hands through his hair, tousling it in a sexy way that no hairstylist could’ve copied. He flashed the director an understanding smile, as if he was used to living with this kind of intensity every day. I stared at him in awe. How was he so calm? That act had nearly undone me.