“Yeah,” he says casually. “I had lunch with Nacho yesterday, seems like a cool guy.”
I hum in agreement as I turn on Fairview, entering Huxley’s neighborhood.
“You ever read the play?”
I catch Huxley smirking from the corner of my eye.
He doesn’t answer my question immediately, as if thinking about what to say next.
Finally, he speaks. “My tongue will tell the anger of my heart. Or else my heart, concealing it, will break.”
My breath catches in my throat, and I almost veer off the road. Hearing Huxley quote Shakespeare has unexpectedly turned me on, heat pooling low in my stomach.
Fucking. Hell. That was hot.
I try to conceal my physical reaction with a surprised laugh, my knuckles turning white on the steering wheel.
“Well, well, well,” I tease, desperately trying to shake it off. “Huxley McKenna, the secret thespian.”
He scoffs with humor. “There wasn’t much else to read in prison. Had to pass the time somehow.”
Another one of his dismissive remarks.
I crave to continue our conversation and dig deeper into this softer side of him, but to my disappointment, I turn onto his street, his apartment just a couple of blocks away.
“I’ll pick you up tomorrow.”
The words rush out of me as I park in front of his building.
“No, you won’t,” Huxley says as he unbuckles his belt.
I sigh a little too loudly just to have him look at me. His green eyes flick up suspiciously.
“Iwantto. Just accept the offer, dumbass.”
Huxley’s lip quirks up when he hears me calling him a dumbass. He stares at me for a few seconds, then nods.
“Okay, fine.” He pauses, his hand on the door handle. “Thanks for the ride.” His smile is shy but genuine.
I smile back. “My pleasure.”
19
CONNIE
“He’s cute,” Jamie whispers beside me, pointing to the stage.
I look over at her, my mouth wide open in mock shock. “James Elizabeth Ferdinand,” I whisper back. “You are atakenwoman.”
It’s my second week at the Remington and the first full day of auditions. I called Jamie and asked if she wanted to come and judge the auditions with me.
She agreed immediately.
We’ve spent the past hour sitting in the far back of the auditorium, eating M&Ms and critiquing the actors’ performances.
Jamie quietly bursts into a laugh, hiding behind her hands. She clearly knows I’m just teasing, but says, “I still haveeyes.”
I smirk and glance back to the actor currently on stage. He is cute, I must admit. Lean but with broad shoulders, like a swimmer’s body, his auburn hair falling in waves down to his shoulders. Talented too.
