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Their hands dropped away as he twisted his torso toward the camera. “No more takes necessary.”
She forced her open mouth closed, watching him walk into the house—the great Bernardo. The sun shifted its beam, warming her face, and in a vague way, she took it as a message that his words were true. You have the works, said one of Hollywood's icons.
Once in the Uber, the huge grin she’d bitten back in front of Jan erupted from her face. Her fingers tapped the phone, answering the good luck texts she’d received.
Rakell: Ana, it went well. I don’t want to get too excited, but Bernardo told me I was impressive. IMPRESSIVE!!...Send
Rakell: Thank you, Jake! Bernardo said “impressive” after I finished. Bernardo Cappuccino said, IMPRESSIVE! To ME about ME!! Can’t wait to celebrate with you…Send
Rakell: Matt, I’ll call later. Bernardo Cappuccino said I was impressive…Send
Rakell: Lana, I got your message. You and Cody are the best. I don’t want to jinx it, but I just auditioned with Bernardo Cappuccino, and he said I was impressive! Me! Did I mention it was Bernardo Cappuccino ???! Wish you were here…I need a tequila shot with a champagne chaser. OMG!...Send
Chapter Eleven
Coach Mark and a couple of scouts joined them as they watched footage of a player up for trade. “I’m on the fence about him. He’s good, but every year it seems like he’s letting more guys get through the line. Detroit’s trading him because he couldn’t be counted on anymore. He’s slipping,” Coach Easton said to the group before directing his attention to me. “Jake, what do you think?” he asked, his tone laden with potential for reprimand.
“Huh,” I responded, sounding like a clueless idiot, letting my phone drop to the conference table.
Coach Easton leaned forward in his chair, a formidable expression taxing his features. “I was just saying, Jake, that perhaps our first draft pick should be that superstar quarterback out of Oklahoma State. The one who seems to have superb focus.”
The table erupted in boisterous laughter. “Come on,” I muttered, shaking off the vacant look blanketing my face.
Dwayne’s guttural chuckle earned him a death stare. That only made the asshole laugh harder before he jumped in, “Yeah, we need our quarterback to pay attention.” His voice was blustering with haughtiness.
Shaking my head, I murmured, “Sorry, I was just checking…”
Leaning forward on his elbows, Coach's tight mouth and pinched expression made it clear he was pissed. “Jake, you’ve been looking at that goddamn phone all afternoon, and you look like you haven’t slept in days.”
Dwayne cuffed my shoulder. “He’s worrying about his girl’s audition today, Coach. It’s a big deal.” But Dwayne didn’t know the part that was tearing me up inside, that the person she was auditioning for was indeed the man who’d grandly swiped a previous girlfriend from me.
“Sorry, Coach. Dwayne’s right, I just keep waiting to hear how it’s going.”
“And she’ll let you know…by the way, she’s going to be auditioning all the time. You can’t get this wrapped up every time she goes out for something. Christ, I wasn’t planning on shopping for quarterbacks, so you need to focus here.”
“Got it,” I shot right back, sitting up straighter, resisting the urge to reach for my buzzing phone. We had one more film to watch before we headed out to grab burgers. I caught Coach Mark’s eyes on me across the table, shrugging at the phone as if the noise emanating from the device wasn’t making every neuron in my body ping along with it. Shit, what did I want her to say? “It was awful, he’s a jerk, I don’t want the part.” Okay, that was a fantasy, but so what?
An hour later, angst swirled through me. My knuckles were white as I gripped the steering wheel and stared ahead, not turning on the car, ignoring Dwayne’s throat clearing.
“Dude, what is it?” he blurted out, trying to snag my attention.
“I told you, Rakell’s got a big tryout, and…”
“My turn to call bullshit. Something’s eating you. This isn’t cheerleader Jake; this is teetering on tears, Jake. I know the fucking difference.” Dwayne pushed, “What the hell?”
“Not tears…but you may be picking up on my drive to get my ass to fucking L.A. and strangle someone,” I growled.
“Audition that bad, huh? You know, even if she was on the cover of Sports Illuminated, that’s not gonna guarantee success in Hollywood. She’s going to face a lot of disappointment; you and I both know that.”
“Listen to her last text about her audition: Thank you, Jake. It went really well. Bernardo said “impressive” after I finished. Bernardo Cappuccino said, IMPRESSIVE! To ME about ME! Can’t wait to celebrate with you.” My words diminished into a long sigh as I let the phone drop to my lap and started the ignition.
A guttural rumble escaped from Dwayne’s chest before he said, “Jesus, damn, that is some…whoa…Jake…so let me get this crazy shit straight. Your new girlfriend is auditioning for a career-changing role with the douchebag who stole your last girlfriend and flaunted it on Instagram for the whole world to see. That’s messed up, no wonder...”
I cut in: “To be fair, he didn’t flaunt it, Jessica did, and I’m pretty sure they're not still together. And if I were a betting man, I’d bet she made the moves. She wasn’t shy about her drive to get what she wanted,” I said, then rested my head against the seat. “I was a stepping stone for her, more for attention…anyway…yeah, so now the girl I am fully invested in…”
“Is mesmerized by one of the Hollywood gods,” he said, finishing my explanation.
“Shit, you’re not helping.”
