Someone I Used to Know - By Blakney Francis Page 0,45

tripped down the stairs. She claims she’s fine. She just twisted her ankle, but Alfred took her back to my trailer to put some ice on it.”

Something unfamiliar, as cold as ice, crawled up to take residence in my stomach. It was completely opposite of the fiery acid that had nearly burned a hole right through my chest at the sight of Adley in that pool with Tyler Warford the night before. Tyler Freaking Warford.

The bloke was known for one thing in Hollywood; fucking up America’s Sweetheart’s heads and hearts so bad they had to cut the second season short of the number one show on television, while the young actress completed a stint in rehab. And Adley was just chatting it up with him all smiles in her bloody underwear! Did she have any clue how damn sexy she looked with water dripping down her nearly nude body? Tyler freaking Warford sure did.

Jealousy wasn’t such a foreign emotion that I didn’t know what I was feeling. I knew what it was even if I didn’t exactly understand why I was experiencing it. Hearing Adley had injured herself evoked a twinge of the same protectiveness I felt for Madeline…Except I’d never wanted to have sex with Madeline. Even the idea of it made me want to gag, my mind instinctively flashing to my sisters. Disgusting.

Maybe I felt a sense of responsibility for Adley. She was alone, her only connection gone off to New York. That, combined with physical attraction, was cueing all sorts of misfires in my brain, discombobulating my reasoning.

It was an effort to stop my fingers restless tapping as Madeline and I took our marks. I reprimanded myself and tried to clear my mind in preparation for the scene we were about to film. My focus was all over the place. It was completely unprofessional.

There wasn’t a doubt in my mind about whose fault it was. It certainly wasn’t the Adley Adair I was getting ready to make out with, either.

***

“Declan!” Madeline exclaimed, not giving Georgia a chance to yell ‘cut’. “It’s your line! You missed it again!”

Georgia stepped into the shot, giving Madeline a look that clearly stated that she should worry about her own lines and let the director do her job.

“I’m a real whacker today. I’m just a little off my game, Georgie.” I tried to charm her with a smile I’d been told was dazzling, but my heart wasn’t really in it.

Defeat hung her head forward, as a messy gray and raven avalanche obscured her surely disappointed expression.

“That’s a wrap for the day,” she called loudly to the whole crew. I’d already started to hurry away, but she didn’t bother to lower her grumbling voice, “That face better sell more tickets than Twilight with all the shit I’ve had to put up with.”

“Wait a second, Davies.” Madeline was quickly on my trail. “What the hell was that back there? I’m finally filming some decent takes, and you decide to go all Degrassi: The Next Generation on me? What is this – amateur hour?”

“Did you even check to make sure she was really okay?” I snapped over my shoulder.

She lagged behind as I powered on. I’d done the impossible. I’d struck Madeline Little speechless…at least temporarily.

“You mean Adley? She said she was fine –.”

“She says a lot of things, but did you even bother to care that she might have really been injured?”

“She’s fine! God, Declan, she just twisted her ankle. Mom was going to give her something for the pain.” Her tiny legs worked twice as hard to keep up with my strides. When she spoke again, it was twisted with a reluctant hiss of suspicion. “Why do you even care?”

There it was again. Why did I care?

I had no answers to a lot of questions pertaining to Adley. Why didn’t I kiss her last night when I had the chance? I wanted to. Any straight male on the planet would’ve wanted to.

I would’ve taken everything – anything – she gave me. I’d own her body and take pleasure in making her scream out the answers to all her puzzles, mysteries, and secrets.

But I hadn’t.

My feet slowed to stop as I let Madeline catch up with me. My mouth tensed in preparation, knowing I’d have to choose my words carefully.

“It worries me when I see you putting your job before normal human responses…Be honest, if Adley really had been hurt would you have helped her, even if it meant being late for your call