Page 12 of #Starstruck

There was a lot of waiting involved as the lights were set up and conversations were had, and I didn’t know why Lexi wanted to be an actress so badly. It seemed like a lot of boring. My best friend, however, was in her element. She couldn’t stop grinning and preening in her spot. It made me smile. I was happy she was getting the chance to live her dream.

A loud whisper rumbled through the room, starting at the door of the soundstage and making its way over to us.

Somebody next to me said over their shoulder, “Chase Covington is here.”

I heard the DA hiss, “Be professional!”

He was here.

It was him.

Chase freaking Covington.

CHAPTER FIVE

Captain Sparta’s uniform was a white-and-gold molded bodysuit with a red cape and a Spartan helmet. Chase carried his helmet under his arm and came over to the director to shake hands and presumably say hello.

My heart was beating so hard in my chest that for a second I couldn’t hear. It was actually him. Lexi was right. He was even better-looking in real life, and I’d already thought him the most incredibly handsome man alive. I looked down and saw that my legs were shaking. I was grateful I was already sitting.

It was strange seeing him. Up to that point, Chase hadn’t been a real person to me. He was a character in a movie or a faceless entity sending out tweets. It was like it suddenly dawned on me that he was an actual human being. Like me. Or Lexi.

Obviously way hotter and taller and more amazing than Lexi or me, but still.

In all those years when we planned on meeting him, my imagined reactions usually involved screaming and jumping up and down, with tears streaming from my face.

I didn’t feel the urge to do any of those things. Turned out I had some dignity where he was concerned.

It was a nice thing to discover.

The director showed Chase where he wanted him to lie down—at the end of the lane where Lexi was bowling.

“Let’s do a quick run-through,” the director said. Chase got down on the floor, and an assistant came over to hand him his weapons—a long, pointed spear and a battered Grecian round shield.

“Quiet on the set! Places!” the assistant called out, raising both of his hands. I sat as still as I possibly could, watching Lexi as she held up her bowling ball, poised as if she were about to send it down the lane.

“Boom! Explosion! Everyone is scared!” the director yelled, and I did my best to react.

Chase had put his Spartan helmet on, and it covered most of his face. He leaped to his feet. He brushed off some imaginary dust and marched down the lane, stopping when he got to Lexi.

“Sorry I ruined your score, miss,” he said to Lexi. And there it was, that bone-melting, deep voice that sounded like smoke wrapped in velvet. It made me shudder.

Where I was falling apart even though he hadn’t been speaking to me, my friend had no problem stepping up to the plate. She put one hand on her hip and with a flirtatious smile said, “If you want to help me score later, call me.”

There was some loud laughter from the crew, and the director called, “Cut.” We had been told there wouldn’t be any dialogue in this scene.

Was Lexi going to be fired? Chase had spoken to her first. She had only responded. It would kill her if they made us leave.

I might also die a little on the inside if I was forced out after I’d finally gotten the chance to ogle Chase in person.

Okay, I would die a lot.

The same assistant as before came to collect his spear and shield. Chase took off his helmet, and some strands of sweaty blond hair stuck to his forehead. He was so sexy I couldn’t breathe.

“Marty doesn’t like it when I ad lib. That’s why I do it only on test shots,” he said to Lexi in a conspiratorial voice. “Kudos to you for that comeback. Hey, you’re that girl from the radio station, right? Is your friend ...”

His voice trailed off, and he turned, looking dead at me. Ignoring Lexi, he walked over and offered me his hand. “You must be Zoe Miller. I’m Chase. Covington.”

He added on his last name like I wouldn’t know who he was. It was kind of endearing. I stared at his hand until the girl on my right nudged me, and I gave him mine. A zap of raw electricity sparked at his touch, his hand warm and strong and big. It shot up my arm and spread throughout my body, making every part of me tingle.

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