She carried two bottles of beer in her hands. Her eyebrows went up when she saw me. “Hello.”
“Is one of those for me?” Grant asked.
“Yes, sir. I thought you could use one after your talk last night about your tight neck.” She looked at me. “I didn’t know you’d be here or I would’ve brought another.”
“Oh, that’s okay. I’m only seventeen.” As if I needed to get caught drinking here. That would be excuse enough for my father to rip up my contract and send me back to my mom’s.
“Oh, right,” she said. “That’s why your dad is always hanging around.”
Grant laughed and opened the bottle. I knew Grant was only nineteen, but I was sure normal rules didn’t apply to him. I had no idea how old Amanda was.
“I keep forgetting what you look like without makeup on,” Amanda said to me.
Grant kicked his foot in Amanda’s direction. “That’s exactly what I just told her.”
“And the dirt highlights are awesome too,” she said.
I ran my hand through my hair. Or tried to—it was nearly impossible. “It’s one of my better looks.”
She patted Grant on the knee. “Make room for me.”
He scooted down the couch, and she wedged herself between us. I was glad she’d come. Having an extra person here would make conversation easier. “Are you two dating?”
Grant laughed. “No. But great friends.” He tapped his bottle against hers.
“Did you know each other before this?” I asked.
“No,” Amanda said. “But we’ve been hanging out.”
If I had been able to stay here on location twenty-four seven, I’d probably be more bonded with them.
“So what were you guys doing before I got here?” she asked.
“I’m not sure,” Grant said. “Lacey just showed up. Did you need something, Lacey?”
“No, I wanted to hang out for a little bit. Remy mentioned our chemistry today, and I thought this might be good for us.”
Grant and Amanda exchanged a look. “Yeah, could help,” he said.
“What is it? Is there something I should know?” I asked, because they’d obviously talked about this.
“No, not at all,” Amanda said. “You’ll get there.”
“I know,” I said. Just because I was young didn’t mean I didn’t know how to act. I sighed and looked around the trailer. This wasn’t working. It felt forced, awkward. We needed to do something. “Let’s play a card game. Do you have a deck?”
“Uh . . .” Grant pointed to a drawer by a sink. “Try there.”
I stood and slid open the indicated drawer. Toward the back, past a pad of paper and some opened mail, I found a deck. I freed it and held it up. “Let the games begin.”
“What are we playing?” Amanda asked. “Go fish?”
“Funny.” I sat down at the table and shuffled the deck. “So here’s the game: It’s like war—high card wins the hand. But in this game, low card has to divulge something about themselves. Whoever has all the cards in the end wins.” This would not only help me get to know Grant better, but competition always livened up a room. And when people were having fun, they bonded.
I patted the table in front of me. “Come on, you two, the night isn’t getting any younger.”
“Not any younger than you,” Amanda said with a smile, but she stood anyway and took the seat across from me. I wasn’t sure if she was trying to be funny or if she was trying to dig at me for some reason. Either way, I knew how to hold my own.
She looked at Grant, who had his phone out again. “Don’t be boring. Play with us.”
He maintained his seat on the couch. “This game is pointless. Everyone already knows everything about me.”
“Grant,” Amanda said in a warning voice.
He gave an annoyed grunt and joined us.
I dealt the cards. “Keep them on the table facedown and we all reveal them at once. Are you ready?”
They both nodded.
“Okay . . . go.”
We flipped. I had a jack, Amanda turned up an eight and Grant came in low with a three.
“And we have our first loser,” I said.
“Of course,” he said.
“I’ve never seen a loser look so much like a winner,” Amanda said.
Oh. That was the problem. She may not have been dating him, but it was obvious she liked him. She liked him and thought I was here trying to take him from her. In a few weeks I was going to have to kiss him on camera, but I had no interest in him off camera. He was nice to look at, but he was not worth stalling my career over.
“Okay, Grant,” I said. “Hit us with something interesting about you that we haven’t already read online.”
“Maybe it would be easier to correct some of the things you’ve read about me online.”
“That works too,” I said. “It’s something new either way.”
“Okay, I do not, in fact, have a cat named Buddy. His name is Bucky.”
“Boo,” Amanda said. “Give us something interesting.”
“You’ll have to win more than one hand for those,” he said.
“No,” I said. “That was fine. The key to this game is speed, so someone shares a fact and we immediately do another round.” I rested my hand on top of my deck. “Also, I didn’t know you were a cat person. How come you don’t bring him to live in the trailer with you?”
“He lives with my parents when I’m filming.”
“Next,” Amanda said, and we all flipped our cards.
“Amanda,” I said, when she got the lowest. I snapped my fingers. “Speed.”
“Yes, I like to drive fast.”
I rolled my eyes, but we all flipped again.
Grant drummed the table with two fingers. “I used to play.”
“The drums?” I asked. “Were you good?”
“Why do you think I became an actor?”
I laughed. “Much more practical.”
The next flip I lost. “I can eat an entire large pizza by myself.” Although I hadn’t done that lately. Lately, I’d been watching nearly everything that went in my mouth.
“Gross,” Amanda said as we flipped again.
Now the game was picking up.
“I have watched every single animated Disney movie,” Amanda yelled out.
“Impressive,” I said.
“I used to run track,” Grant said after he lost. “I like to run.”
“I hate animals,” I said for the next round. “They stink and leave fur all over stuff.”
Grant gasped, and Amanda laughed.
“I can sleep for twelve hours straight,” Amanda said. “I would beat anyone in a sleep-off.”
“My weakness is carne asada french fries,” Grant said. “I spend an extra hour in the gym daily so I can eat them.”
“I have acted in three different soap operas,” Amanda said.
“Nice,” I said.
“And now I’m in a movie,” she said.
“You are?” Grant asked. “Which one?”
“The best one in the world,” I said.