After the Climb (River Rain #1) - Kristen Ashley Page 0,20
rosé wine in order to take a fortifying sip.
“You know, I’ve seen him around, and I will preface this next by saying, when it happened, I had utterly no clue that he was yours, but I’ve seen him and I’ve had some very lustful thoughts,” Heddy declared.
I wished this did not affect me.
But even way back when, Duncan being a fifteen on a scale of one to ten and the amount of female attention he got because of it always stuck in my craw.
And as ridiculous and nonsensical as that feeling was to have now, I was having that feeling.
I did not share this with my friend Heddy.
At least I thought I didn’t.
But she hooted and then stated, “You’re jealous.”
“I am not jealous, and he is not mine,” I retorted and finally took my sip of wine.
“Okay, I’m a tertiary character on a huge-ass television show, my character has a short, but heartbreaking story arc as the friend Bonnie makes at the hospital while Devon is fighting cancer. The friend who bites it, because…duh, she’s got cancer. My career tanks because I tell one director to shove it because I was tired of people telling me my ass was fat, even though my ass is fat. I get the hell out of that demon industry, only to have that super-famous chick I made friends with on the set have superhuman dedication to keeping friends. Therefore, she kept me as a friend, no matter the time or distance. I then find myself fated to live in the same town her ex-boyfriend, first-love, keeper of the gift of her cherry lives. I lust after him and share that. She gives me the look of death. And he’s not yours?”
Obviously, after my crying episode last night, and too much alone time over croissants and coffee at the bistro table in my suite, by the time I’d made it to the restaurant, I was ready to unload.
Something I did.
So much of it, we’d managed to order wine, but not any food.
And it was something I wished right then I did not do.
“Your ass is not fat,” I snapped.
Heddy grinned largely. “Babe, this is demonstration of your superhuman dedication to keeping friends, that in all of that, not only do you pick the thing to address that would make me feel better, you do it subtly dropping the hint I should let this Duncan Holloway thing go. PS. I’m not letting this Duncan Holloway thing go.”
“I don’t have superhuman dedication to friendship, Heddy. My best friend in all the world accused me of cheating on him. He then disappeared from my life. After that, I became famous and learned very quickly the wealth of ways people can, will and do use you or screw you over because you’re famous. So I put a fair amount of effort into keeping the good ones.”
She looked remorseful, but just said, “Babe.”
I picked up the menu, tipped my gaze to it and requested, “Can we just select our tapas and stop discussing this?”
When it dawned on me she didn’t answer, I looked her way and saw her attention was to the doorway out to the patio.
She must have felt my gaze, because she belatedly answered, “I’m thinking yes on both, since it’d be rude to discuss someone when they’re sitting right there and it’s time for us all to have some lunch.” She then raised her hand, waved, and called loudly, “Yoo hoo!”
My skin tightened, my eyes flew to the doorway and yes.
Snaking through the many tables was a big, handsome bear of a man.
And behind him was Duncan.
Good God.
Too late, I reached for Heddy’s raised arm, but even if the damage was done, and Duncan and his friend, as well as everyone else, were looking our way, Heddy leaned so far to the side, her chair almost toppled over, and she kept calling out while waving.
“Yes. Here. We know them. And we have two extra seats! Save a table! They can sit with us!”
“I swear to God, Heddy,” I hissed under my breath.
But to no avail.
“Yo!” the big man boomed, smiling so wide, my face hurt, and adjusting their course to head our way.
Duncan, studying me closely, followed.
Someonekillmesomeonekillmesomeonekillme.
#SecondWorstDayEver
Okay, maybe third, after Duncan dumped me, then yesterday.
What was I thinking?
Fourth.
Because the day I found out Tom was cheating on me absolutely vied for the top spot.
Nope, fifth.
Seeing as the day we told our children our marriage was over was totally up there.