Page 33 of Camera Stays On

Her smile deflated, and she nodded tightly. I glanced at Sawyer and saw the same expression on his face that he’d had that day at the restaurant. Was she one of his past dalliances? It seemed like it.

“I’m gonna be assistant directing,” Juliet finished.

Next to her, a stunning tall woman of Asian descent, who, like everyone else, seemed to be about mid-twenties, introduced herself as Lux. “I’m playing the femme fatale.”

Darius, beside her, was a tall muscular Black man. “I’m Darius. Sawyer and I go way back from college. I’m gonna be Lux’s boyfriend in the movie?” He checked with Sawyer, who nodded.

“Did you major in film?” I asked. The school we’d attended wasn’t huge, so I found it odd if everyone was a friend from college, but also a film major. Darius shook his head.

“No, education. I work at a private school. We were dating a set of sisters back then. That’s how we met.”

I pressed my lips together as my eyes widened in surprise. How long had Sawyer waited after I called off our marriage to start dating again? Sawyer cleared his throat and gave Darius a mean look, then motioned for us to move on.

Asher and I were next. He introduced himself as the cameraman, and I as the lead actress. Beside me sat a pale man with freckles and long braided red hair. His ginger beard was as long as his hair, reaching halfway down his torso.

“Mick, my character is just body count padding, but I’m also editing the movie.”

“Body count padding?” Lux asked, causing me to raise an eyebrow. Did she not study film either? I was beginning to suspect Sawyer had lied, or at least stretched the truth, about the people he’d chosen to work on his movie.

“A person of no consequence to the plot of the movie that helps raise the kill count,” Ash explained. “In horror, the kill count is—”

“I know what a kill count is,” she snapped. The table grew quiet only briefly before another woman spoke up.

“I’m Bea! I actually just finished college, so this is my first gig out the gate. I’ll be doing the boom mic!” a tall, eager brunette with space buns and braces said excitedly.

The last person to introduce himself was the only one, besides Sawyer and Ash, that I’d known before returning to Collingwood.

“Gavin Gardner. Sawyer’s been my friend since we were in diapers. I’ll be doing a little bit of everything.” He shot me a glare, and I looked around, checking to see if the dirty look had been directed at me. I was pretty sure it was. Why?

Asher clapped loudly, drawing attention to himself. “Okay, now let’s couple up. We’ve got nine people and five beds. Who’s going where?”

Ever the tension remover, Asher’s comment drew laughter. We’d all seen our rooms and knew it wasn’t true, but it did spark playful banter around the long wooden table about who would bunk with whom. Sawyer was not entertained, but he forced a smile whenever he caught someone looking at him. He really hated the attention not being on him.

Halfway through the evening, long after the pizza had been consumed, we were all drinking and having a good time, when Sawyer pulled out his phone and frowned.

“Everything all right?” Juliet put her hand on his shoulder and squeezed. I rolled my shoulders uncomfortably. It wasn’t that I wanted to be reacting like I was, but the way she glared at me each time she touched his arm made me cringe.

“Yeah, actually, I don’t know. Hold on—” He brushed her hand off and stood abruptly, continuing to read whatever was on his screen. We watched him disappear outside, and a moment later he began to shout. I looked around the table, my eyes finding Juliet.

She shrugged innocently. “I didn’t see what it was.”

Lux stood and began to clean up dinner. “Let’s move this party into the living room. Those couches looked comfy.”

We took care of the pizza and plates and followed each other into the living room. Casual chatter came easy with Sawyer gone. The tension seeming to slip away entirely.

Half an hour later, Sawyer returned, his hair disheveled, as if he’d been tugging on it, his eyes wild.

“The writer rescinded the rights to the movie,” he announced. “Ash to Moth can’t happen.”

The room fell silent.

“What does that mean then? The movie’s off?” Darius asked. “I’ve already unpacked.”

“Well, we have no script, and we can’t use any of their concepts, or she’ll sue the fuck out of me.” Sawyer threw his hands up and dropped down on the couch beside me. He put his hand on my thigh, and I jerked, pushing it off me. My face grew hot, hoping no one noticed, and thankfully, no one seemed to, because Juliet flew to his other side and yanked him toward her.

“Oh, it’ll be okay. Can you get another script? What about one of yours?”

“Sawyer isn’t a screenwriter.” Ash snickered, taking a sip of his beer.