Free Starlet's Web (The Starlet Series, #1) by Carla Hanna

another.
    â€œNo, thank you. I can only drink one.” I laughed. I wanted another and another and another. “As you can see why, I love beer!”
    We ran through the script changes several times and were finally perfect. His six pack of beer was gone. He was drinking a Long Island iced tea, and I wondered how I’d get home since I didn’t want him to drive drunk. He had four beers and I had two. I went over my one drink maximum and felt lousy about it.
    â€œByron, good job. You rocked it. So, I need to get back to my trailer.” I grabbed my iPhone. “I’ll call a cab. Where are we?”
    â€œI don’t want you to go, yet. It’s not even ten o’clock.”
    Within a second, he was in front of me, holding me. I pushed against him to refuse him, but he seemed so sincere, so in love. I hesitated, studying his face to determine if he could be telling the truth. Did he, could he, really love me? In the next second, we were kissing.
    I stopped the kissing again. Without arguing, he picked up his guitar and sang the song he wrote for me. He had a beautiful voice that drew me in. I stood still in the center of the room between the door and him sitting on his couch, moved by the sound of his voice. The words were lost on me but the emotion caused shivers to run down my spine.
    I needed to get some friends. Manuel kissed Beth, showing a love so deep that he’d betray Mitch, which seemed so impossible to me. Beth rejected him, but I couldn’t compete with that kind of love. Manuel was dating Trish. She’d fall for him. Byron was right in front of me, loved me. I didn’t love him, but maybe I could. Waiting for the man I wanted to marry wasn’t working out for me. I was losing myself, becoming disconnected and detached from the social world. There was no reason why I needed to abstain any longer, except that I was scared.
    He finished the song, got up, and embraced me. I remained motionless and undecided.
    â€œMarie, let go. Release the tension.”
    â€œMy mom’s threat is true. If I try but change my mind, can I trust you?”
    He asked, “You’re scared?”
    I nodded.
    â€œLet’s start with kissing and see where it takes us. If you want to stop, we will. I promise.” He kissed my forehead, “Kiss me like you kiss me on set. I love how you kiss me on set.”
    And I did. I let go of my restraint and hesitation, feeling a little tipsy but not drunk. I relaxed as I relaxed when Manuel hugged me. We made our way to his bed. I continued to kiss him and let him explore my body. I did the same to him. I let go of my mind and let it feel nice. I didn’t feel much desire for him, certainly not how I felt when I had my first kiss, but it was fine.
    * * * * *
    My first kiss was on set for Left to Die, my first film. It was based on the true story of a Texas woman who sought revenge against a man who abducted and raped her, slit her throat and left her for dead on a fire ant hill when she was eight years old. In real life, the woman, Mom’s character, didn’t come back and kill her rapist twenty years later, tell her story, confess her crime, learn that revenge is bitter and then kill herself. In the movie, the girl, my character, was abducted walking home from middle school by someone she recognized. Other than that, the film was pretty true to the real story. It was a gripping, intense and shocking film, so the critics loved it.
    In the editing room, the director didn’t feel like the abduction came across as monstrous and horrible as he thought it should. The original script had the rapist taser the girl as she walked home from school alone. In the next scene, she was found by a group of children in a park, lying naked and bloody on a red ant hill.
    My mother was all for shooting additional scenes just in case they would improve the intensity of the movie. I had just turned fourteen the day before we filmed the additional