Page 79 of Romance Is Dead

“Definitely. Yes.” I grinned, already counting down to the moment we finished with Scott and could escape to his room. But a moment later, Teddy cursed under his breath.

“Shit. My brother.” He ran a hand down his face. “I have to call him later.”

My heart sank. “Oh. Really?”

“Usually I’d reschedule, but I think something happened today. He was upset when he texted me earlier.” Teddy closed his eyes, his face falling. “Damn it, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s ok, really.” I rubbed his arm, trying to hide my disappointment. “Another time.”

“Scott really owes me now.”

“Well, hopefully he’ll repay us with information. Let’s go.”

At first pretending not to see him, Teddy and I chose seats down the bar. We placed our orders with the bartender—a beer for Teddy and a Jack and ginger for me—and slowly nursed our drinks as we discreetly kept an eye on Scott. His face long and tired, he kept his eyes down as he sipped a draft beer.

“He won’t look at me,” I whispered, keeping my voice just low enough for Teddy to hear. “What else am I supposed to do?”

“Here, let me take care of it.”

“No!”

He stared at me pointedly, and I let out a pained sigh. I’d forgotten—I was supposed to be “trusting him” or whatever.

“Fine,” I conceded. “Just don’t screw it up.”

Teddy shifted in his chair. “Hey, Scott!” he boomed, his voice unnaturally loud.

I winced, but Scott didn’t seem fazed. He looked up, slightly surprised, and raised his glass to us.

“An eventful day today, huh?” Teddy tried. Remembering the way Audrey attacked Chloe, I thought that was putting it mildly.

Scott raised a bushy eyebrow. “You two still doing your little investigation?”

“Um.” I hadn’t expected Scott to peg us quite so quickly. “Kind of.”

“Never been on a set with so many problems.” Scott shifted in his seat. “All these kids and their dramas.”

“What do you mean?” I tried to sound casual as I sipped my own drink.

“Oh, no.” Scott twisted his empty glass by its base. “I’m not getting into all that.”

My heart sank. I tried to catch Teddy’s eye, disappointed. But he didn’t return my look. Instead, his eyes were sparkling as he stared at Scott’s empty glass.

“Hey, Scott,” he called out. “Let me buy you a drink?”

Scott rubbed at a chip in the bar top, considering. “I shouldn’t.”

“Just one?”

Finally, he relented. “What are you buying?”

Teddy grinned. “You like Long Island iced teas?”

An hour later, the three of us were congregated at the end of the bar and far drunker than we should have been, especially considering we had to be up in less than five hours. Scott was on his third iced tea while Teddy and I had been careful to stick to just one. Still, the potent concoction combined with my first drink had me way tipsier than I would have liked.

“. . . don’t appreciate how much work goes into making props.” Scott dabbed a napkin at his temple, which had sprung a sweat. “Take that game of pool we filmed yesterday. Did you notice how quiet the balls were? The real ones make too much noise and make the sound guys grumpy.”

“I did! How did you do it?”

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