Read Between the Lines for Free Online Page B

in Austin.
    “I get the whole ‘keep Austin weird’ and ‘we’re an artsy, freethinking town,’ but you’d think they could at least nod towards the conventional Marlboro man look enough to give the place an authentic Texas feel.” He huffs a sigh and twitches his head, his hair lifting and falling right back where it was.
    Occasionally someone in the media or the public sees my blond hair and blue eyes, adds ‘lives in California,’ and concludes surfer dude . Standing next to Tadd, though, I could be from Canada. His platinum blond hair, straight as a razor, has two options: feathered straight down around his face, as it is now, or spiked straight up. That, coupled with clear blue eyes, a perpetual tan and his propensity to actually say things like dude , edge me out.
    “You do realize Brokeback was set in Wyoming, not Texas, right?”
    He peers at me through his bangs before pushing them back. “And your point is?”
    “Maybe you should go look for your personal Marlboro man there.”
    “Unfortunately, we’re filming just over a thousand miles south of Wyoming right now,” he retorts.
    “How do you know that?” I ask. Tadd has a memory bank full of trivia, apparently including an innate knowledge of US geography.
    “That is not the point !” He pretends exasperation, and I laugh as conversations fade and eyes widen near us. “The point is where the hell are the cowboys ?”
    “Dallas?”
    “Har-de-har,” he deadpans.
    That’s when I spot Brooke coming onto the set. I haven’t seen her, in person anyway, in years. She’s even more beautiful than she was at sixteen. Staggeringly so. A morbid curiosity settles over me concerning how this is going to proceed. She’s talking to Meredith Reynolds when she sees me. My role in School Pride has been well publicized—it can’t be a surprise that I’m here. Even still, she appears taken aback. I stare at her with just a hint of a smile. I don’t want her to know that her face still has the power to take my breath away. Her eyes narrow for the length of one heartbeat, and then her face goes passive. She never wavers in her conversation, turns away, doesn’t look at me again.
    We’ll have to interact at some point. Her character is the sister of my character’s best friend. We have scenes together, speaking parts with each other. Plus, in a group this small, there will be interaction between all of us, socially. If we’re wishing each other dead, even silently, it won’t go unnoticed.
    ***
    When I walk up to the craft services table during lunch break, I end up just behind Emma and MiShaun. Perusing the spread of sandwiches, fruit, cookies and drinks, MiShaun touches Emma’s arm lightly, saying, “Don’t fall asleep standing up. That wouldn’t end well.”
    “Huh?” Emma blinks, stares into the steaming cup in her hand, and yawns. “I would kill for a double shot latté. This coffee is awful, but I need the caffeine.”
    MiShaun selects a turkey sandwich and a bottle of raspberry iced tea. “The time change can feel like mini jet lag. Why don’t you get one of the set assistants to run to the nearest coffee house and grab a latté for you?”
    “Can I do that? I mean would that be an asshole thing to ask?”
    Wow, she’s got a lot to learn about being a movie star.
    MiShaun laughs. “No, crazy , they don’t want the stars running off set to get their own drug of choice.”
    “What’s funny?” I ask, stepping up between them, grabbing a sandwich from the top of one pyramid and taking a bite. Tuna. Not my favorite, but Olaf, my trainer, would approve of the protein content.
    MiShaun cocks an eyebrow at me. “ You’re funny. Don’t you two have a kissing scene in a few minutes? And there you go eating tuna fish, no care at all for poor Emma.”
    I stop chewing. “Shit. I forgot.” I want to kick myself— I forgot we’re about to kiss isn’t the most flattering thing to say.
    “Um, that’s okay.” Emma takes the smallest wedge