The double date where he’d left me panting for more with barely a goodnight kiss.
My fingers itched to text him. But weren’t men supposed to pursue? Vic certainly never needed chasing. And I was the one who invited Carter out. I was the one who knocked on his door in the middle of the night when I got locked out. I was the one who’d done ALL of the pursuing. If the damn man was interested, he needed to make a freakin’ effort. Was it possible … *cue Justin Long* that he was just not that into me? I sat on my hands to keep them from misbehaving and looked out the window, Dante slowing as we approached the temporary set.
When he pulled over, I hopped out, grabbing the set bag and running around to help Nicole. I rounded the back end of the car and saw the couple, running across the road in between moving traffic, their hands linked. My feet froze in place, Nicole huffing out an irritated sigh as she snatched the bag away. I stuttered out an apology, pulling my gaze away from the couple and busied myself getting Nicole on her way inside.
When I looked back, my hand on the car handle, they were gone.
“Why didn’t you tell me Carter had a girlfriend?” I flung open the door to Joey’s trailer and glared, my hands braced on the open doorframe. Next time I rushed across town to confront someone; I was going to pack flats. I pushed that thought aside and was stuck with the mental image that had been playing on repeat: Carter and a brunette, running hand in hand across the street like they were on a freakin’ Hallmark card.
Joey glanced up from the sofa, a half-eaten donut in hand, mouth full. Setting it on a napkin, he reclined against the leather and wiped at his mouth. “Hi, Chloe. It’s great to see you too.”
“Uh … do you guys need privacy?” Hannah piped from the recliner, her feet tucked under her butt, a clipboard on her lap.
“I hope so.” Joey smirked.
“No,” I barked, pulling the door shut and stepping closer, my hands settling on my hips, my feet burning. “Well?”
Joey finished off the donut, taking his time, my fingers itching to yank open his mouth and pull out a response. “Carter doesn’t have a girlfriend,” he finally said, sucking the end of a powder-coated finger.
“I’m gonna head out,” Hannah interjected with a loud whisper, her exit barely noticed in my irritation.
“Stop covering for him. I saw them. The brunette with the long legs? Giant boobs?”
“Oh,” he grinned. “You mean Brit.” He laughed. “God, Chloe, you should see your face right now.”
I wondered, in that moment, if I could kill the movie’s lead and not get kicked off set. If Hannah would help me hide his beautiful body or if she’d turn me in. I wasn’t paranoid. In their cross of that street, I’d had seen the grin on her face, the way their fingers were linked, the affectionate pull of her hand. Not that I had a claim on Carter but WTF. “Who’s Brit?” I gritted out the name.
“Brit. She’s … ah…” He grinned at me in the naughty way that made moviegoers everywhere swoon. “She’s a fuckbuddy.”
“A fuckbuddy.” I repeated the crass term, not sure how I felt about it. Should I be happy that it wasn’t a real relationship? Then again … I frowned. Was I just two or three nights away from being a fuckbuddy myself?
“You look stressed,” Joey remarked, reaching forward and grabbing another donut from the bag. “I can see your wrinkles from here.”
“Bite me.” I stumbled right and collapsed into the recliner that Hannah had so conveniently vacated.
“You like him, huh?” He passed me the bag of donuts, and I took one, careful not to get powdered sugar all over myself.
“I don’t know,” I grumbled, picking one. “Where’d you get these?”
“Hannah.”
“I need a Hannah.” I sighed, sinking deeper into the chair, and he laughed.
There was a long pause while we chewed, and I took a sip of coffee from his offered cup. “Don’t worry about Brit,” Joey said, glancing over at me. “They’re just friends.”
Friends … who have sex. The words hung in my mind even if they didn’t leave his lips. Men didn’t understand. They thought there could be sex without emotion but that didn’t work. You couldn’t get along, enjoy each other’s company, and have smoking hot sex without someone’s feelings getting involved. At least