Part 6 (1/2)

”The h.e.l.l?” I asked, confused ”I knew I had seen you somewhere. You were in Proof last year, weren't you? At the Y?”

”Uh, yeah, I was,” I said.

”I saw you!” he exclaimed, still pointing at me. ”I saw that show! You were really, really good!”

I stared at him in shock. Proof was an awesome show, and it was the biggest role I'd had since college, but it had been a tiny little production at the YMCA. If I recalled correctly, I had been paid in vouchers from the restaurant down the street. ”You saw that?” I asked Nate. And more to the point, he remembered me?

”Yeah! It was good. I enjoyed it.” The expression on my face must have registered. ”What?”

”Nothing,” I said, shaking my head. ”I'm just surprised. You don't strike me as the theater-going type.”

”See, you shouldn't judge me until you get to know me,” he said, pointing at me again.

Over his head, I caught Ginny staring at us, a huge grin on her face.

”So do you regularly go to local theater?” I asked, still feeling off-balance.

”Sometimes,” he said. ”I have a friend who loves that kind of stuff. I go with him once in a while. I like it. We've seen some great stuff.”

”Wow,” I said. ”That's pretty cool.”

”So what else have you done?” he asked, lying on his side so he was completely facing me now.

”Uh, nothing too big, to be honest. Not since college. I've had a few small roles here and there and I've done a bunch of backstage stuff, but nothing too exciting. It's been tough breaking into the scene, ya know?”

”I bet.” He nodded. ”But you were seriously really good. I mean, I still remembered you after a whole year. That's got to count for something. I bet it's only a matter of time.”

I smiled at him. ”Thanks. Actually,” I paused, unsure if I should tell him. But he had seemed so genuinely interested in my acting. ”Actually, I had a really big audition last week. Do you know Jenner Collins?”

”Pretty boy in the action movies?” he asked.

I wrinkled my nose at him. ”I wouldn't quite describe him that way. He's from the area, did you know that? And he puts on a lot of really good shows with local talent.”

”Well, I still think he's a pretty boy. But that's cool. So what's the deal with audition?”

”It was for one of Jenner's shows,” I explained. ”It goes up in a month and a half. And I got a callback.”

”That's amazing!” Nate said. ”Good for you. When's the callback?”

”It was last week,” I admitted. ”I think it went really well, but you never know.”

”When will you find out?” he asked.

”It could be any day. The timing of this trip was really good for me, actually. Otherwise I'd be sitting at home obsessing.”

”Yeah, it's good to have distractions when you're waiting for that kind of thing.”

I looked over at his tanned, muscular body and smiled. ”Yeah. Distractions can be really good.”

Chapter Nine.

”Annie, seriously, I need to get in there!” Ginny shouted from outside the bathroom door.

”One second!” I shouted back. ”Stupid, f.u.c.king humidity...”

I attacked my hair with the straightener one last time before I gave up. It was a losing battle.

I exited the bathroom and found Ginny waiting for me. ”If you say one word about my hair, I'll kill you, McKensie,” I told her.

She rolled her eyes. ”Your hair is fine,” she said. ”You always get so worked up over it. Most girls would kill to have curls like that.”

”Frizz,” I corrected. ”I have frizz. Red frizz. And the heat around here isn't helping at all.”

”Well, why are you bothering straightening it then?” she asked. ”Why don't you just braid it? It will get it up off your face and it looks so pretty like that.”

”We're in Vegas,” I whined. ”I want to look s.e.xy and chic, not like a freaking librarian.”

”s.e.xy and chic, huh?” she said, her face lighting up. ”Who might we want to impress tonight, huh?”

”Oh, shut up,” I said, scowling.

”Seriously, are you going to see him?” she asked.

I shrugged. ”Who knows? I have plans with you guys.”

Kiki's dad had included tickets to Cirque de Soleil in our package. I was really excited; it was supposed to be incredible.

”Yeah, but we're in Vegas,” Ginny said impatiently. ”It's not like you're gonna go up to bed as soon as the show is over.”

”We might meet up at the fountain,” I admitted. ”But only if I feel like it. It wasn't set in stone or anything.”

Ginny smirked. ”Well, I hope that works out then,” she said before she headed into the bathroom to do her own hair.

I decided to take Ginny's advice and just braid my hair. There was no point in fighting it. I sat down at the desk in front of a mirror and went to work on my hair. As I looked at myself in the mirror, I smiled a little goofily. It had been a great day so far. The truth was, I was really excited about the prospect of seeing Nate again. I'd had more fun with him by the pool then I cared to admit. When we had to leave to go the stratosphere tower, I actually felt disappointed. When he offered to meet up at the Bellagio fountains later that night, I was quick to agree.

And while the thrill rides at the top of the tower were crazy fun and terrifying, I'd had had a hard time keeping my mind off my date all day.

Get a hold of yourself, I instructed myself firmly. He's not your boyfriend. It's a little fun to have on vacation, nothing more. Enjoy it, then move on.

That had been my motto with boys for years, and it had always served me well. Unlike Ginny and Jen, I had spent little of our teens years pining for boys who didn't like me back. In our twenties, I'd had few moments of heartbreak. I just worked better that way.

A few minutes later, Ginny was ready. ”See, babe,” she said, looking me over. ”You look great. Totally hot. Nate will love it...if, you know, you happen to see him.”