Page 122 of Dark Tangled Truths
A throat clears, and Damon smiles against my lips as I pull back. Oops. A different warm nervousness floods me.
Adam stands in the doorway with my mom. Mom smiles knowingly at me. My cheeks heat. Especially since I’m the one who kissed Damon. I guess I’m okay with PDA. Of course, I worried about doing it inadvertently before our parents knew about us.
I got used to kissing them at school. Kissing Damon whenever the mood struck. Or him kissing me. It was bound to happen sometime.
“Sorry to interrupt.” Adam walks in and pulls a chair out for my mom.
“You weren’t interrupting.” I gather my pages and put them on the chair next to mine. Being the first one here, I didn’t want to just sit and play on my phone. I’m going to need every spare minute to make this work and to make sure I have the lines down.
At rehearsal, I used the script to make sure I have everything, but I need to be off script by tomorrow. I didn’t need to look as often as I worried I’d have to. But it’s different knowing the lines and performing the lines.
“You usually don’t work during dinners.” Mom nods to the pages. “Everything okay?”
I lift my gaze to hers. “My lead had to go out of town. Her brother is in the hospital. We don’t know when she’ll be back.”
“Oh, honey. Is that your friend Mia? Is she doing okay?” Mom looks like she wants to give me a hug across the table.
“She said he’s out of surgery, but everything is still up in the air. She can’t say much about what happened though.” I received a few update texts throughout the day. I can’t help but worry. It sounds serious, whatever is going on.
“How’s that going to affect your play?” Mom sits back and studies me. This is the side of my mom Damon’s never seen. The part that’s willing to be my support when something fails.
“My assistant director and I talked it over, and I’ll step into the part. If for some reason she can’t come back in time, I can perform for the showcase. But we’re weeks into rehearsal, and bringing someone else in would make everything more complicated. Especially if Mia returns and that person doesn’t have a part anymore.”
“I think that’s an amazing decision.” Mom lets the server place her plate in front of her and then leans back in. “You’ll be amazing. I haven’t seen you perform in years.”
“You don’t act?” Adam asks as he cuts his food.
“I do, but for Anteros as you get higher in the program the tracks split. I chose the director path.” I take a bite of my food. For a second, I savor the rich sauce on the vegetables. How I got by on frozen pizza and grilled cheeses eludes me. I don’t know that I can go back to frozen mac and cheese.
The staff have definitely spoiled me.
“So what do you want to go to college for?” Adam asks. He’s being careful not to talk about Damon’s and my relationship, which I appreciate, but it feels like the elephant in the room we’re all pretending doesn’t exist.
“Film mainly, but I’d love to be able to direct and act.” I take a drink. “There are programs that allow you to do both, and some that it’s almost impossible to do both at the same time.”
Damon slides his hand against my thigh. I nearly jump out of my skin as my attention shifts to him. My eyes widen, and I’m not sure if our parents know he’s touching me. Or if they didn’t and my reaction told them.
“I talked to a guy on the team who’s in the drama program at Crowne Mawr,” he says.
“Yeah?” I ask, unable to hide my excitement.
“He gave me his number so you could call him and ask him your questions. He’s a junior.” Damon searches my eyes. I want to lean in and kiss him again. He smirks knowingly.
“Fantastic.” I drop my gaze before lifting it to our parents.
Mom’s smile is soft. Adam looks utterly amazed.
I clear my throat. “Anyway, so I’m going to be extra busy for the next few weeks. Normally, production picks up a couple weeks before the first performance anyway, but I’ve made sure to stay ahead in all my classes. So I should be fine.”
“As long as you remember to eat,” Damon says pointedly and nods to my plate.
I take a bite and drink some water. After chewing and swallowing, I give him a look likesee. “It’s going to be intense, but it was always going to get more intense from here on out. This is when my actors need reassurances, when the crew needs to figure out the exact timing of scene changes, when I need to stop making changes and make sure what we have works.”
Adam looks impressed, but I’m used to that from adults. Damon hasn’t removed his hand from my thigh and his thumb rubs slow circles. I’d tell him to stop, but I doubt he would, and it would only draw attention to what he’s doing.
“I was a little worried about giving scene notes, but Damon mentioned taking video and reviewing it to give feedback.” I smile at Damon and he squeezes my thigh.
“Has there been any new texts or anything unusual?” Adam asks.
