Three Player Game Read online

  As he lay there, some of his worries flew out along the rays of sunshine into the Pacific somewhere. Hopefully, they wouldn’t come back on the tide.

  When Pete arrived on set, the cameras were already set up. Alicia always impressed him that way. She was efficient and had achieved a phenomenal rapport with her assistant, Matty. They really didn’t need his input for this stage, so he turned to face the exec assistant who was waiting near the edge of the set, a stack of papers in hand.

  Pete hurried over to her. “Hey, Bonnie. You got everything?”

  She looked over her glasses at him, expression amused. “You’re kidding, right? Please. You’ve met me. I’m practically done here. Most of the guys—and gals—have signed already.” She held out a sheaf of papers to him. “You’re the last one, Pete. I put arrows where you have to sign and initial. It’s all the standard stuff. Everything belongs to Wolf’s Landing, for use in the video game, no posting anything online, yadda-yadda. You know the drill.” She offered a pen. “Sign away your free time, crazy person.”

  Pete grinned at her. “It’s not that bad. It won’t take all six weeks of hiatus.” But it would take some, and for maybe the first time since he’d left film school, he wondered if his career was worth the time away from his home.

  “Five, now,” she reminded him. “You already had the first one off.”

  “I know. But if this takes more than three, I’ll be shocked. We’ve got a great crew, and no actors. How hard can it be?”

  She snorted. “Not my area, thank God.” She took back the signed contract and winked at him. “Enjoy.”

  He would. He loved his work. And taking this job would look excellent on his CV. As long as he didn’t think about what he’d left behind in their bed, he’d be fine. The newness of it was breathtaking, and it would still be there when he got back.

  Just keep telling yourself that, Pete. He watched as the rest of the equipment went up and, only a few times, lost track of the studio in favor of remembering how Lee’s hands felt on him. Annoyed, he stuffed a hand in his pocket and gripped the crystal there. Its smooth warmth against his palm centered him, and he managed to turn his mind back to his job.

  When he strode onto the set, Alicia found him, as did a young, vibrant girl with green pigtails and to-go cup of coffee, which she handed him. “Hi.” She held out her hand. “I’m Kylee. I’ll be your girl Friday for this.”

  Good lord, she was cheerful. Had he ever been that eager? He glanced at Alicia, who only raised an eyebrow and smirked. “Hi, Kylee. Thanks for the brew.” He sipped and was pleasantly surprised to find it was exactly creamy and sugary enough for him. At least she did her research. “I emailed a list of shoots for today. Do you have it?”

  She pulled a tablet, which had been hanging behind her in a weird but obviously efficient harness, around and tapped the screen a few times. A spreadsheet opened and she rattled off the first three shoots they wanted to get done.

  “On it,” Alicia said, winked at Pete, and called for Matty as she strode for her camera.

  Pete had decided to start simple, with shots of the police station façade and a few of the more useful interiors. He wanted to get a feel for how fast Alicia, Matty, and their crew could set up and tear down their equipment before he scheduled the beach and forest shoots. Ideally, they could knock this gig out in just a couple of weeks, then the bulk of the crew could go back to their hiatus, and he and Alicia could package up the raw footage that would be used for digitizing into the game.

  “All right, people,” he called out over the set.

  Heads turned, Alicia grinned at him, and they got down to business.

  Lunch came and went. Kylee had arranged for Flat Earth to feed the crew, and at two, as they were winding up the last police station angle, she stepped up with a bag filled with calzones for Pete, Alicia, and Matty.

  “You guys need to take a break,” she told them. “I got easy stuff lined up for food for the week. Today is calzones. Tomorrow through Thursday, the catering company will have a small spread. Friday I’ve got Cookie Crumbles making sandwiches, and next week, it’s catering again.”

  Pete accepted the sack she handed him. “You’re efficient.”

  “Of course.” She examined the two remaining bags and handed one to Alicia. The other she held out to Matty. “Specifically nut-free to prevent you swelling up like a balloon and dying. And, so you know, the caterers won’t poison you. Just make sure you get your individual portions, as usual. They’ve been reminded about your allergy.”

  Matty grinned. “Thanks, man.”

  “It’s my job.”

  Pete liked her. She was very good, very organized, and definitely ahead of the production schedule curve. So far. It was the first day. It would be interesting to see if she kept on like she had begun. Whoever she worked for on the regular production, he just might think about poaching her. He could use someone to take over some of his scheduling logistics. His strength was with the actors. He was a people person. He had a feeling he and Kylee would make an extremely successful team.

  After lunch, they moved the shooting inside to capture the interiors. That would probably take the rest of the day, and possibly through to Thursday. He’d have to fine-tune the schedule sooner, rather than later, so Kylee could arrange for the lunch delivery to the right place on Friday. He scribbled notes as he watched cables being run and lights being set up.

  “They’re efficient, aren’t they?”

  Pete turned at the comment to find Levi Pritchard watching the crew’s progress. “Oh. Mr. Pritchard.”

  Levi smiled at him. “Didn’t mean to interrupt. I didn’t expect anyone else to be around.”

  “We’re shooting some backgrounds for the video game.”

  “Is that Caruthers’s project? I had no idea they needed actual footage.”

  “I guess they’ll take the raw footage and digitize it or something. I’m not sure how it works, exactly. I have a list of what they want, times of day, lighting, all that. Pretty simple stuff, really.”

  “No actors getting in your way.” Levi grinned.

  “Oh! No, that’s not what I meant at all.”

  “Relax. I was kidding.”

  Heat flashed up into his face. So much for being smooth with the actors. Not that he had a lot of contact with the principles on set. Normally he worked with the extras, and that was a completely different ballgame. “Sorry.”

  “Don’t be. I’ll get out of your hair. I was just here to pick up a disc I forgot.”

  “New movie for Carter?” Pete asked absently, as he made another note.

  “How does everyone know about that?”

  Pete smiled. “I may have assisted in the securing of rare copies of a few titles on Mr. Samuels’s behalf.”

  “No shit. You’re his source?”

  “I might have connections.” In fact, Carter had been frantically searching the universe for something he wanted to give to Levi, and eventually, Pete had discovered that he was looking for a specific, obscure movie. Pete had vented to Vince about the disruption. They needed the actors on point, and obsessing over a gift had clearly gotten under Carter’s skin. He hadn’t been unprofessional, but he was a Big Deal, and his distractions filtered down. Part of Pete’s job was to keep those disturbances from affecting the schedule.

  During his search for the movie, Vince had come home with the disc, which Pete had found out later had been Blaire’s doing. The end result was that Carter had come to him a few times since then for more of the rare movies he and Levi liked to watch together, and each time, Blaire had come through.

  “You’re a resourceful kind of guy,” Levi mused.

  “It’s a job requirement, actually.” Pete grinned at him. “Why don’t you go on through and get what you need while they’re moving equipment around? We’re still fifteen minutes or so before the next shoot.”

  “Thanks. I will.” Levi was partway onto the soundstage when he turned back. “Hey, Are you going to be directi
ng the voice-overs too?”

  “Voice-overs?’

  “For the video game. I guess they want authentic voices, since they asked a few of us to do some work. I got a call from my agent this morning.”

  “I hadn’t heard,” Pete confessed. It didn’t mean much. He could be told on Friday evening he was expected to be somewhere Monday morning for a shoot, and he’d be there. That was his job.

  “Well, I hope you do. It’d be nice working with you.”

  “Thanks.” Pete stared after him. Weird. Levi Pritchard really shouldn’t know him from a hole in the ground. He was a third AD, after all. No one important.

  “Hey. Pete?” Alicia’s call broke into his thoughts and he turned back to the task at hand.

  “Yeah.”

  “Come have a look and tell me what angle you want to start from.”

  He hurried over and the afternoon got underway. In the periphery, Levi stopped to watch for a few minutes before waving and sauntering off.

  On any other day, he’d have been thrilled to be noticed by someone like Levi Pritchard. When big names noticed the little people, there was a chance of moving on—moving up. Pete frowned. Moving up could mean away from Wolf’s Landing and Bluewater Bay. Well. Any kind of job security in this business would eventually lead away from Bluewater Bay.

  But Vince was here. Lee was here. His home—the first one he felt was his on a bone-deep level—was here. The safety and security he’d found away from his brother had begun in Bluewater Bay, with Wolf’s Landing and Vince— “Shit.” The pen he’d been taking notes with had snapped where the two halves joined together, and he eased his cramped fingers open before he broke the ink cartridge too.

  “Here you go.” Kylee handed him a new pen even as she plucked the shards of the broken one from his fingers. “You seem a little tense. You should try some relaxation techniques,” she told him. “Breathing and stuff. You’d be amazed how much easier it makes the job.” She popped her gum and turned her attention back to the set.

  Pete stared at her profile for a few heartbeats. She was perfect. And annoying as hell. She reminded him a lot of his younger self, only she was definitely calmer.

  “Didn’t know you knew Mr. Pritchard,” she said.

  “I don’t. Not well, anyway.”

  She shrugged one shoulder and hugged her ever-present tablet. “Cool.” Another snap of her gum. “Good connection to have, though.”

  It was. And it wasn’t. Not if he wanted to settle, at least. Now, though, he didn’t have time to worry about it. If they stayed on schedule, he’d have a few days, maybe more, at the end of this job for time with Vince and, hopefully, Lee. He didn’t want anything to distract him from them. Levi Pritchard’s notice would have to wait. If he could get it out of his mind.

  The morning with Vince had been . . . weird. He hadn’t realized what a buffer Pete was between them until he wasn’t there. It had been one thing to accept Vince’s offer of help when he had been injured. Now he was well enough, he didn’t need to stay. But there was the sex. That had happened.

  Lee didn’t know what to do with it.

  Without Pete there to offer a distraction and make it about himself, take the emphasis off Vince, Lee had nowhere to look but at what he had done. With his coworker. Twice.

  “You’re freaking out,” Vince told him as the afternoon sun was slanting through the office’s blinds and across their desks.

  “Not talking about this at work.” Lee adjusted the cant of his laptop screen, like that was going to block his view of Vince’s concerned expression.

  “Why? Blaire’s not here.”

  “Because I’m working, and so should you be. Have you found all the coders yet?”

  “I don’t know. There are options. I have to talk to Blaire about them. I know what he thinks he wants to do, but it might not be the most efficient way.”

  “Since when does he care about the most efficient business strategy? He likes to be in control.” Lee glanced over his screen at Vince. “You should be all over that feeling.”

  Vince narrowed his eyes at Lee. “What does that mean?”

  The cold edge to Vince’s voice sent a silver slide of something down Lee’s spine, and he shivered. “Don’t.” He lowered his gaze back to his screen, but nothing there made sense.

  “Don’t what?”

  “Don’t use that voice on me. Not here.”

  Vince sat back in his chair. “I’m sorry. You’re right.”

  Lee flushed, the silver slip of nerves turning sharp, darkening to ire as it rose up to the surface. He narrowed his eyes back at Vince as he met his gaze. His nostrils flared as he drew in a breath, and his heart pounded.

  “I was inappropriate, but either you want me to be “all over it” or you don’t.”

  “Get me a cup of coffee,” he growled, voice rough. Everything inside him quivered as he waited to see what Vince would do. He wouldn’t be the weak one. Not again. And definitely not with Vince.

  Vince’s head tilted, his eye contact piercing and focused.

  Lee’s palms sweat, and he pulled his hands from his keyboard to cross his arms and sink into his chair. He couldn’t yield now. He’d uttered the order like he’d done so many times in the past, and he couldn’t take it back. He just didn’t know if it would work anymore. He didn’t know what their dynamic was now.

  The office door opened, and Blaire breezed in, saying hello and blowing off the tension with a wave. If he noticed anything amiss, he didn’t show it, just settled behind his desk and opened his briefcase.

  Vince gave Lee a small, capitulating nod, stood, and smiled. “Blaire? You want a coffee too?” He walked placidly to the kitchenette.

  “I’m good, thanks,” Blaire said. “Lee, how’s your back? You should move around, maybe.”

  “I’m fine.” Lee remained resting back in his chair though. The position was a nice relief for his muscles after leaning toward his computer for the past forty-five minutes. That had been too long, but he wasn’t about to admit it.

  “I don’t want you straining yourself,” Blaire said.

  “Don’t worry.” Vince returned with Lee’s coffee, which he handed over. “I won’t let him do too much.” He grinned at Lee. “Everything’s under control.”

  Lee accepted the coffee. “Thanks.” He stared at Vince, who didn’t look the least bit put out as he returned to his side of their shared space. The coffee, when Lee sipped, was exactly as he liked it, a lot sweet and a touch creamy, with a hint of caramel underneath. Had Vince purchased a new creamer?

  “You like?” Vince asked. “Pete found a flavored sugar at Daley’s. Thought you might appreciate it, so I brought some in.”

  Lee grunted, but did take another, approving sip of the coffee.

  “Eventually,” Blaire said, not even looking up from whatever he was doing on his computer, “you’re going to have to accept that Vince is very good at what he does around here, Lee. He manages to make this office a pleasant place to be just by paying attention to what we need. He deserves your respect for that, at least.” He peered up at Lee. “You know he can do the actual job, and his office politics aren’t as bad as you once thought, are they?”

  “It’s an office of three people. How badly could he screw that up?”

  Blaire raised an eyebrow at him, and Lee almost flushed, but managed not to let the emotion get the better of him.

  “Balancing any relationship can be tricky,” Blaire said. “Understanding the dynamic of how three people fit together and keeping that peace takes a lot of intuition.” His smile was more knowing than Lee liked. “I thought that would be obvious to you by now.”

  In fact, nothing was obvious to Lee. He didn’t like how unobvious every little thing actually was.

  He didn’t say much for the rest of the afternoon.

  Vince didn’t even try to engage him. By five, Lee was done with the day, with the office, with people in general. His back ached because he should have moved around more. He wa
sn’t going to acknowledge that, though. Not out loud, at any rate.

  Slowly, he eased out of his chair.

  “You okay?” Vince asked as he watched Lee practically hobble to where he’d hung his jacket.

  “Fine.”

  He didn’t fight when Vince took his coat and held it so he could slip his arms inside.

  “I’ll see you boys tomorrow,” Blaire said. “Lee, take the morning off.” He shrugged into his overcoat and grabbed his briefcase.

  “I’m fine!”

  “And after a half day resting, you’ll be even better. You still have some paid time, Lee. Use it. No use pushing yourself. If you have work left, do it from home. You know what I expect of you; you know what your deadlines are, so there shouldn’t be a problem.”

  “I don’t need anyone to coddle me. I can make decisions on my own, and I can do my job. I was good at it when you hired me, better than most, or you would have found someone else. What do you think has changed?” He lifted his chin in challenge, and Vince gaped at him.

  Blaire stopped, a hand on the door. He bowed his head for a moment, then turned back. “Wanting you healthy and not in pain is not coddling you. Pushing yourself to immobility is pointless. This isn’t New York. I am not my father. I trust you to get your work done, and I insist you look after yourself. Not because I’m worried about my bottom line.” He stopped and waited until Lee finally looked at him. “Because I care about my employees.” He pursed his lips, then sighed. “My friends, Lee. I would hope by now you understood we all sink or swim together. As a team.”

  “‘As a team,’ my ass. You don’t trust me. You’ve micromanaged me since we started, overseeing everything I do, double-checking—second-guessing me at every turn.”

  For a long moment, Blaire studied him. “Have I?” his tone was calm. The bastard was completely unruffled. “We sink or swim together,” Blaire said again. “But, at the end of the day, I am the boss.”