Page 7 of No Interest in Love

I peek around the lampshade I probably should’ve bought dinner for. “What?”

“Nothing.” She grabs at my set of lines and pushes it into her laptop bag with her copy. “You’re good. It’s all very good. You’re…I mean…You…you can go to bed now.”

I smirk and put the lamp back in its corner while she chucks her apple core into the trash, flips around, and tucks herself under her covers.

“I got your engine running, didn’t I?”

She snorts, but it’s breathless and sounds off. “Don’t flatter yourself.”

“I got you going,” I say, pumping my hips in a ridiculous dance. “You want me to walk around the halls for a bit. Give you some time with Bob?”

“Bob?”

“B.O.B…Battery Operated Boyfriend.”

Her head whips around, her black hair falling across her face. “How in the world do you know that term?”

“How do you not?”

She flips back over to her other side. “Good night, Jace.”

“Told ya,” I say, climbing into my own bed. “Romance is in my blood.”

She huffs the huff that I dig—the one that I can tell she’s doing just to avoid laughing. “Yeah, yeah. We all know you’re a great actor. That’s why I offered representation, and that’s why your head is the size of a blimp and filled with just as much hot air.”

“Well, I love you too.”

“Night.”She turns off the only light and I grin at the ceiling as my eyes adjust to the dark. If Shay couldn’t find any fault in my performance, then really, no one’s going to.

Monday

2:37A.M.

I think I’m humping my sheets. My mind is in that halfway awake, halfway not really awake, or maybe I’mall the wayasleep, but I’m definitely feeling something down under. If I’m not humping the sheets, I sure as hell am kicking my leg like a dog when it gets its stomach scratched.

Ten years ago, this was the sign that I was gonna wake up with a load in my shorts. I’m twenty-five, right? At home alone, just got off the plane from L.A., and itching to take my horny ass to the bar.

No wait…I never got on a plane.

I’m in a hotel room. With my agent. My eyes shoot open, and I twist around in the rough bed sheets. My ass tumbles off the edge of the mattress, and my arms flail out, grabbing at whatever’s closest to break my fall.

“Jace…oomph…you’re a thousand pounds.”

Shay’s breath cools the sweat I have going along my hairline, and I shift my weight, my mind trying to pry itself out of my dream and into reality. I’m dry from the waist down, but definitely not soft. Trying not to laugh, I push against what I think is the floor but ends up being really squishy and warm.

A tiny yet firm hand grasps my wrist. Shay’s sharp voice follows.

“Get your hand…off my boob.”

My hand twitches, and I snap back, releasing a bolt of laughter. I hear her roll across the floor, smack into the nightstand, and a stream of Korean spills from her mouth.

I sit up to untangle my feet, still chuckling at her in my groggy state. Man, what the hell was I dreaming about? I can’t picture a face or anything, but I was certainly having a good time.

“Hey, will you turn on a light?” I ask.

“The power’s out,” she says, and I feel the mattress dip behind my back as she crawls up from the floor to the bed. “Get dressed. We’ve gotta get going.”

A yawn pushes past my lips. “Wha…what time is it?”

---