On the Outside (Caught Inside #3) (11 page)

Chapter 20

“Why are you here?” I rung out my saltwater-drenched hair, ignoring the elementary school-like tantrum Wyatt was having behind me. Muttering something about taking five, our director stomped off toward the crafts table, no doubt looking for a beer or some hard liquor. Xavier stood in front of me in all his chiseled glory, looking like an archangel come to save me.

Xavier’s upper lip twitched slightly, but he kept his expression as calm as possible. “You’re forgetting my butt’s on the line too. I told Wyatt I’d help you out and here I am. Judging by what I just saw, it’s a good thing I came.”

“So you’re here for Wyatt and not for me?” I shot back angrily, though deep inside I knew it was ridiculous I expected so much from him.

His jaw clenched. “Listen, I can’t just leave you hanging like that. Unlike
some
people, I care about my friends.”

“What’s your problem? Why do you care so much about your sister’s friend?” I was speaking out of my ass and I knew it. Riley deserved to be cared for. She was that great of a person.

“Somebody has to care about Riley,” he shot back angrily. “Besides, don’t you think I am her friend too? We all grew up together. She’s like a little sister to me.”

I bowed my head, feeling awkward, stupid, and
guilty
. “Like I told Kacy, I didn’t mean for it to happen.”

“So you didn’t mean for his penis to fall into your vagina?”

“Wow, what is it with you Greenes? Do you have to be so crass?” I asked, scowling.

“Hey, I’m just being honest. Accidents like that don’t just happen. They’re usually premeditated.”

I narrowed my eyes. “What if I say I was drunk that night?”

His face paled. “He didn’t…he didn’t force himself on you, did he?”

“What?” I asked in shock. I shook my head in a hurry. “No, of course he didn’t.”

“Well, that’s good…I’m glad you weren’t hurt.” He tugged at his Adam’s apple and cleared his throat, quickly looking away.

“But you aren’t glad that I did it,” I finished for him.

“Who would be? That was a pretty low thing to do. Besides, you hurt somebody I care about.”

My blood was boiling. Why didn’t anyone ever think to listen to
my
side of the story for once? They were always so busy drawing lines between invisible dots that they forgot to focus on one of the most important things—the facts, which I had!

In a muted tone, I replied, “Riley and Aaron were broken up, Xavier. For a long time, mind you. Despite this, I tried to fess up and tell Riley as soon as it happened, but she didn’t answer my calls. Do I regret that it happened? Hell yes. Would I do it again? Of course not. There were no feelings involved
at all
.”

“There weren’t? Not even before?” he asked doubtfully.

I was flustered. “Is that what got your panties in a bunch? You all thought I was messing with Aaron before the breakup?”

He shrugged. “Kacy said that Riley mentioned you guys were a bit
friendly
before they ended things after
he
cheated. Not to mention you had his number on your phone the whole time he was trying to get back together with her.”

I rolled my eyes. “He looked me up. That’s how he got my number. He thought I’d be the bridge back to Riley and the only reason that we were friendly was because I was being a good friend and trying to distract him so he wouldn’t stalk her. Granted, he did take a surprise trip to Mistcoast, but that’s beside the point.” Xavier opened his mouth to speak, but I quickly pressed my index finger against it. “Don’t even say anything. I know I didn’t do anything wrong. I never liked him like that.”

His lips felt soft against my fingertip. I pressed a bit harder and could have sworn he puckered his lips a tiny bit.

I took a step back and begrudgingly dropped my finger. “Before you and your sister judge me, be sure to get all the facts straight first. I would never see a friend’s boyfriend behind her back. In fact, I was the one telling her to forget about him to begin with.”

“Fine, then. Good.”

A moment of silence passed between us. Riding on the waves of our awkward conversation—no pun intended—I asked, “Tell me the truth…this wasn’t all about Riley, was it?”

He blinked in surprise. “What?”

I lifted my chin. “You heard me. You’re mad because of something else.”

He rubbed at his newly buzz cut head, scratching at it loudly. Though I was never one for guys with short hair, the new do really complemented his cheekbones. Gosh, was he handsome.

“Um…I guess it just bugged me to think you’d go for someone like Aaron. I always thought the guy was a douche—”

“That he is,” I agreed.

“Yeah…” His voice trailed off as he shifted his weight uncomfortably. The wooden pier groaned underneath his weight. “It wasn’t just that. It bugged me to think I’d be such a bad judge of character. Despite everything the casting agents warned me about you, I thought you had a pretty nice and decent head on your shoulders. I’ve never been wrong about a person before and I hated to think I was wrong about you particularly.”

Cue my beating heart. “Why?”

He shrugged and looked off into the distance. From my periphery I could make out Piper gesturing toward me. My head snapped in her direction and in response she mouthed, “Do you like him? Keep talking!”

I shook my head and frowned.

“What’s got Piper all riled up?” Xavier suddenly asked.

I yelped and turned back around at the same time Wyatt stomped over to us. He took a moment to eye Xavier before sneering back at me, “What the hell was that, Montgomery? You cost us about an hour of time! We’re already struggling enough as it is.”

I gulped. “I-I’m sorry. I…”

“I, I, I.” Wyatt shook his head. “That’s your problem, isn’t it? You only think about yourself? You Hollywood divas are always such a pain in my ass.”

I stared at him, dumbfounded. “Huh? I’m not a diva.”

Xavier suddenly cut in, interrupting us. “Wyatt, we talked about this and I was stupid to think I could stay away from shooting. You know what we have to do.”

I blinked in confusion. “Wait, what are you guys talking about?”

Wyatt tapped two fingers against his bullhorn and sighed. “Okay, in the water.
Both
of you.” Slowly turning toward me, he let out an exasperated growl. “But if you screw up again, I have no choice but to recast. Got it?”

I nodded weakly.

“Good.” His head bounced between us. “Any questions?”

Before I could get one syllable out of my mouth, he climbed back into the director’s chair and began yelling at the crew. Bewildered, I spun around and eyed Xavier questioningly. “What’s going on?”

Xavier snorted. “Pushing you into the wave. What else?”

Chapter 21

Xavier was a lifesaver! Not only did he help facilitate my ability to catch a wave, but his mere presence was enough to give me the boost of confidence I needed to finish day number one of shooting. By the time we were ready to call it a wrap, Wyatt was visibly relaxed and, dare I say,
happy
with my performance.

Of course he’d never say it to my face.

Soaking wet, Xavier and I trudged onto shore and found Charlie waiting for us. His eyes momentarily darkened when he saw Xavier, but just as quickly brightened when his gaze landed on me.

“Hey, you were great out there,” he praised, clapping his hands softly.

“Thanks.” Grabbing a towel from Piper, I shot him a confused look. “What are you doing here? I thought you weren’t supposed to come until tomorrow.”

He shrugged, each one of his muscles flexing as he lifted his arms. “Figured I’d come check the set out. Wanted to see how you were doing. I was curious, you know.”

“Oh.” My cheeks warmed underneath his gaze.

Of course Xavier would choose that very moment to practically rip my leash off of my ankle. I yelped in surprise just as Xavier straightened himself, rolling the plastic tube up into a circle.

I scrunched my face in annoyance. “What’s the big idea? First you don’t want to talk to me and now you’re interrupting someone who does.”

Charlie couldn’t wipe the arrogant grin on his face, nor did he care to hide it. As Xavier’s cheeks visibly flushed, the Aussie actor reached out to touch my bare arm, which was ridden with goose bumps. “Want to meet up again tonight? To run over our lines
again
?”

What the fuck was going on?
Charlie was acting like a weird pod person.

Xavier’s lips tightened for a moment before he interjected, “We were already going to dinner tonight.”

Since when?

I continued to shoot both men bewildered looks while my petite makeup artist beamed with excitement. If I didn’t know better I’d think she was actually having fun watching my turmoil. Shooting another annoyed glance at my newest friend, I blurted out, “It’s always great being told you had plans that you didn’t know you had, don’t you think?”

Piper started to giggle at the same time Xavier’s eyes widened in embarrassment.

“What are you talking about,
Harper
? You do remember our…uh…
thing,
right?”

I continued gaping at him as Charlie broke out into a laugh. “Wow, pathetic. Forcing a girl to go out with you when she was just about to have plans with another man. You never cease to amaze me, Greene.”

Okay, now I was getting upset. I hated being talked about as if I wasn’t standing there.

Xavier rolled his eyes and sighed. “We were going to talk about Riley, remember? We were discussing it right before Wyatt made us go back into the water.”

Yup, that totally caught me off guard, but who was I to oppose a chance to explain my side to the story?

“Wha…oh! Yeah, that’s right. We were finally going to discuss the elephant in the room like rational adults instead of the stupidity we encountered yesterday at the restaurant. And by stupidity, I meant your sister.”

Xavier and I glared at each other, causing Charlie to step back in discomfort. “Uh, yeah. Guess I caught you two at the wrong time. Harps?”

What the fuck is with people calling me ‘Harps’?

“Yeah?” I replied, pressing my lips together.

“See you tomorrow. I’m looking forward to shooting all our scenes together.”

I nodded my head, never taking my eyes off Xavier. “Yeah, see you.”

Once Charlie was out of earshot, I snapped my fingers in Xavier’s face. “What the fuck was that about? This isn’t just some ploy to make me feel bad, is it?”

His mouth dropped open. “Huh?”

“You know, making me think that we’re actually discussing the situation as rational adults when you’re really there to chew me out.”

“Erm…I’m not making you think anything, and I am definitely not going to chew you out. Speaking of which, you’re one to talk.”

Now it was my turn to drop my jaw. “What do you mean?”

“All this time I thought…”

“Thought what?” I demanded through gritted teeth.

“You made me think that you were interested in me!” he blurted out, leaving me in shock. “I should have known better. You’re an actress. Isn’t it your job to
pretend
?”

I could feel my forehead scrunch up. “Not when it comes to my personal life and not when it affects another person’s life. What makes you think I was pretending?”

There was a moment of silence, which led me to fidget. Xavier continued his expressionless scrutiny, eyeing me as if deciding what to say. I buried my feet in the cold sand, secretly wishing I was an ostrich so I could hide my head instead. By the time Xavier spoke again I had decided I was probably going to play the actress card after all. It was better looking like a bitch than a pathetic loser, right? Besides, it was what the world already thought of me. Why not keep the façade going? I could be the bad girl of Hollywood if that’s what everyone wanted.

“You know what? If you think that badly of me, maybe I don’t even want to go to this stupid dinner.”

Yes, I do. I really do!

Xavier threw his head back and sighed. “Just come with me, Harper. We need to clear the air on a lot of things. It’ll really help me out when it comes to filming. Wyatt’s already blaming me for the delay in our production schedule.”

“What’s in it for me?”

He paused for a beat before replying. “Me.”

With that he turned and walked away, leaving me gawking after him. Piper ran up to me and began clapping her hands manically.

“Oh my gosh! Are you guys going out on a date? This is so exciting! Who would have thought the behind-the-scenes tomfooleries could be much more interesting than the actual script?” She squealed in delight. “Maybe I should watch those special features on the DVDs after all.”

“Well, I’m happy that you’re happy because I literally have no idea what just happened.”

Piper pushed back her long hair and snorted. “Uh, he likes you? Seriously, for a grown woman you are totally clueless.”

“I am not,” I shot back.

She bowed her head and grinned sheepishly. “Okay, whatever you say, but I must say this—I don’t know what the hell you two are arguing about, but it seems to me whatever it is, he wants to work it out with you. Why do you seem so shocked about it?”

“Because he was so opposed to working things out before. Why the sudden change?” I was still stunned at the sudden turn of events.

“Do you really have to ask why?”

I nodded, dumbfounded.

“Let’s see, it could be because you’re pretty and you’re sweet. Why wouldn’t he want to fix things?”

Pretty? Sweet? Oh, poor, naïve Piper. It was only a matter of time before she found out all my dirty laundry, so I might as well tell her now. With a sigh, I explained. “Let’s just say I messed something up with a mutual friend of ours. It was pretty bad, and now I’m pretty sure his perception of me is skewed. Not to mention his sister absolutely
hates
me.”

“Just because of that whole drama with your friend?” she asked doubtfully.

I nodded.

“Don’t even worry about that. A real
adult
male doesn’t care what his friends think. He has a mind of his own.” She looked up at me and nudged me in the rib. “A grown woman is the same. I know you’re worried about his sister, but you really shouldn’t be.”

“I’m not worried about that Kacy bitch.”

Her tiny lips curled up into a mischievous smile. “Yeah, maybe she should be worried about
you
. Besides, if all goes well tonight, this ‘Kacy bitch’ may end up in your life for a really long time. It’s good to know you’re not scared of her.”

I nodded my head but couldn’t help but feel a twist in my stomach.

Am I afraid of her?