Practice

He lowered himself slowly, already positioned so that he was straddling my hips. Balancing on his forearms that were on either side of my shoulders, he stared into my eyes. The nervousness I felt caused me to look away, off to the side, earning a questioning glance from him. Our breath was mingling in the small space between us, and it wasn't long before he crashed his lips onto mine. Butterflies were in the pit of my stomach, and I was having a hard time focusing.

"Cut!" A voice far off in the distance yelled. Both of us groaned as the unnecessarily intense stage lights were flipped back on, humming as they continued to grow brighter.

"Annabeth, my dear, you need to work with him. There has to be that... That spark between you two. You need to be two pieces of a puzzle finally coming together. Take a few minutes, get it together, and we'll try again, okay?" Steve the director spoke, and I inwardly groaned. It didn't matter how many times we went through this, I'd be awkward all the same. Steve was just far too patient.

I pulled myself out from under the part of him that was still on top of me. Quickly, I walked across the room in the lingerie they had me dressed in, too exposed for my liking. Slipping on the sweatshirt and jeans I had worn here, I left the stage and headed toward the nearby kitchen. A Snickers and a Coca Cola Classic sat waiting for me on the counter, and I smiled at the thought of someone leaving them there for me. The two combined were always my go-to snack when I was under stress, and few people knew it.

Biting down on the chocolate deliciousness, I sighed. The scene would never be up to standards. They would have to send a stunt double to do my part because I was too afraid to kiss Jake Gyllenhaal. The guy made me weak in the knees before I even began acting. Any talking parts of the movie that we had already filmed were fine, I could fake that, but it's hard to act like you're acting that you like someone when you are seriously attracted to said person in real life.

The Coke clicked and hissed as I opened it and chugged about half the can. Setting the can down, I jumped up to sit on the island counter, kicking my legs and sipping on the pop every so often.

Maybe it wouldn't be as hard to do the scene if I knew it was a mutual thing I was feeling, but the odds of that were slim to none. Just the thought that he was on top of me for five minute intervals for the last eight times we tried the scene had my stomach squirming with delight. My insides turned to mush just thinking about the fact that his lips were on mine, and his tongue in my mouth as my hands ran through his thick hair.

The three taps at the door nearly had me falling off the back of the countertop, but two arms I had grown used to seeing caught me before the plummet.

"Thanks," I mumbled, but his arms didn't move from around my waist. Jake rested his head on my shoulder and looked toward me. I didn't dare turn my head to look at him.

"So what troubles are you having with the scene, Anna?" His vocal cords vibrated against my shoulder, as his head was still lingering there. I debated telling him the truth, seeing the position we were currently in was making my guts erupt in flames, but decided against it.

"Just nervous, never done any scene like it before," I muttered, he was close enough that I needed not speak up. Jake kissed my jaw lightly, and I was surprised that I wasn't melting and seeping out the cracks in the floor.

"Anything I can do to make you feel better?" His lips moved against my neck when he spoke, and I finally turned my head to face him. Staring down at his lips as he raised his head to meet my eyes, I noticed I was leaning closer. Or was it him that was leaning closer? Eventually the gap was closed between us, and our lips moved roughly in sync. He bit my bottom lip, causing me to gasp enough so that he had time to slip his tongue into my mouth. It wasn't until we realized we were human beings and that breathing was a necessity that we pulled apart, gasping.

"What the fuck was that?" I managed to force out through my panting.

"Practice?" Jake replied, a smug smirk on his face.

"Mister Gyllenhaal, I don't believe I quite understand how to do this scene. As an actor with much more experience in the field, could you help me out?" I flashed my own smirk his way.

"Well, Miss Marks, which scene could you use my assistance with?" He hardly had enough time to finish his question as I grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him closer to me with no struggle.