Dangerous Fling (Dangerous Noise 4)

The world is always in focus when I'm in filmmaking mode, but it's in a different way. Little sections of it are sharp and everything else is muted, but they never quite go away. Reality intrudes all the time—the light is wrong, or the tide is too high, or passersby keep walking into the shot, or the actor's throat is too sore for him to read his lines without sounding like he's dying.

As soon as we call wrap, I lose that hyperfocus. The muted parts of the world return to full color. I can smell the salty air, feel the soft breeze against my skin, see the houses on the cliffs behind us as beautiful mansions rather than shadow-casting banes of my existence.

And there's Mal, covered in green paint, looking off into the distance. With every second, my need to capture shots is fading into fuck yes, we nailed it satisfaction, and it's making room for I need into Mal's head.

Joel's bouncy voice pulls me from my thoughts. "Waltz." He motions come here. "You gotta go in with us." He turns to the beach and digs his heels into the sand in that ready to race stance.

"Us?" Kit chuckles. "Who's this us?"

"Me and Strong." Joel nods to Ethan. "And Mal."

"How come I'm not Strong?" Mal asks.

"You're like Cher or Madonna. Just Mal." Joel turns to me to motion come on. "Alright, these assholes don't want to, that's fine. Just me and you, Waltz. Let's go. Embrace the ocean."

"I'm not in green paint," I say. "And that stuff is waterproof. You need heavy-duty soap. You should let Karen hose you off."

"I'm a married man." Joel mimes offense.

"Will you shut up if we say yes?" Ethan asks.

"Only one time I shut up," Joel says.

Mal chuckles as he shakes his head. "That's not what I hear."

That only makes Joel beam with pride. He motions come on to me again. "Last chance, Lacey. Let's do this."

He wants me to run into the ocean with him. People do this kind of thing all the time—close the shoot with a fun group activity.

It's sweet my actors are inviting me into this.

And it's more than that.

They're Mal's friends.

They accept me.

They want me in their lives.

I swallow hard. This is still the second best day of my life. Or maybe the first. I'm not letting anything ruin it. I'm a fucking video director today. A real one for a real band, a fucking successful band.

And now I'm closing it with a gesture.

My feelings for Mal are not going to push that aside.

"Let's do it." I take my place next to Joel.

My heart thuds as Mal takes his place next to me. Then he takes my hand and I swear my fucking heart is going to burst out of my chest.

Everything else fades away.

Joel counts to three.

We run into the ocean.

It's fucking freezing, but then Mal's arms are around me. He's getting that ridiculous green paint on me.

I pull him under the water with me.