Page 27 of A Lucky Shot

“Libby?” she said, turning to her best and longest friend.

“I know.” Libby looked as ashen as she felt.

“This is bananas. What?—”

“I haven’t seen him in years,” Libby whispered. “What am I going to do?”

Who hadn’t she seen in years that was an oh-my-god-I-know agreement? Cass opened and closed her mouth like a fish.

“It’s fine,” Libby continued. “That was a long time ago. He could have a girlfriend. Or be married. He probably doesn’t think about me anymore, anyway. Besides. I’ve moved on. Totally over him. I’m a different person now. It’s not like I didn’t think it would happen one day, anyway.”

A sinking dread pooled in her stomach. Libby’s reaction could only mean one thing. Cass hadn’t looked past a single name after Josh jumped out, and she scrolled through the rest of the agenda.

Stephen. On as first assistant director. Libby’s long-time boyfriend, who left for Vancouver right after university without a second glance. No wonder Libby was freaking out.

Cass shoved her own concerns aside. She could spiral over Josh later. A one-night stand was nothing compared to a broken heart that still hadn’t healed.

“It will be fine,” Cass said, her eyes on the screen, where her perfect one-night stand twiddled a pen between his fingers. The same fingers that had plunged deep in her pussy as he licked his cum off her breasts.

Oh. Dear.

She squeezed her eyes shut. Spiral later. This was about Libby. “It will be better than fine. You are brilliant. You are capable. You are a smoke show. Who knows what could happen?”

“Hey, Libs,” Stephen said to the black square he would have seen on his screen, an affectedly casual tone to his voice Cass hadn’t heard before. “Been a while.”

Libby pulled her gaze to Cass, eyes pleading. “We’re going to need margs and nachos.”

Cass squeezed her hand. “It’ll be okay.”

A private message landed in her chat. Karl, her old sound buddy.

A few of the guys in lighting said they worked with the director on a shoot in Van where he was first AD, and he’s a mofo. We’re in for a ride on this one.

What if I’ve already ridden that one?

They had clicked instantly. They’d talked each other’s ears off for hours before they dragged each other into bed. He’d texted her after, and almost every day since, just to say good morning. Until she blocked him, anyway.

Maybe he’d want to pick up where they’d left off. Who knew where things could lead?

Texting him now, after hiding behind a turned-off camera for an hour, would be the coward’s way out. The in-person production meeting was scheduled for next month. She’d test the waters then.

Where he could turn her down in front of the entire creative crew if he wasn’t interested.

Honestly, if she didn’t have bad luck, she wouldn’t have any luck at all.

Cass tipped her head to look up at the faded underside of the umbrella. “We are going to need all the margs and nachos.”

CHAPTER SIX

JOSH

Melanie hadn’t been kidding about wanting to get started. Once production planning was moving, it moved. A month of meetings blurred by and the filming schedule came together. Summer for pre-production, and fall and winter for principal photography in Calgary.

Back when he didn’t think Sirius Darker would ever get made, it had seemed like a good idea to write a winter script. A barren, icy landscape was the perfect backdrop for SD’s bleakness. After looking up Calgary winters, however, he regretted not adapting the movie’s setting to the fucking tropics.

Life in Vancouver was easy to put on hold. No pets to care for, no plants to water. He notified insurance companies, cancelled grocery deliveries, and, after very little debate, parked his car in the safety of his parents’ garage.

“Don’t worry, angel. I’ll be home before you know it,” he’d whispered as he draped the custom protective cover over her. No way the Bimmer was coming to Calgary. The junker Stephen drove was pitted with hail dents and rust spots.

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