Page 24 of Steamy on Set

“Uh, hello,” I say.

Monty looks at the one closest to her, eyeing him up and down. I wait for her to inform him that she has a boyfriend, but instead she moves over, inviting him to sit down.

“My name is Josh,” Gray Eyes say to me, before sliding into the last open chair. Extending his hand, he offers it for me to shake. I decline, looking to try and catch Monty’s eye. She is too busy engaging in conversation with the man next to her to even look in my direction, leaving me alone to deal with this.

“What’s your name?” Josh asks, recovering from my first rejection.

“Farrah.” I turn and inspect him a little closer. Pink trails across his pale skin, showing that I might have embarrassed him a little. Other than that, he is handsome. With dark curls and a strong jaw. I wait for him to try to flirt again as I take a sip of my drink.

“You’re hot,” he says while leaning in. The music is loud enough that he has to raise his voice for me to be able to hear him.

I incline a little towards him to make sure I can get every word. Despite the fact that his assertion is obvious, I still appreciate the compliment.

“Thank you.”

“Do you dance, too?”

They recognized Monty from the stage. That would explain the eager look in Josh’s friends eyes. I shake my head, letting the conversation die. Josh resuscitates it, asking me question after question. Despite my one worded answers, he keeps trying. When phones start to come out and Monty and the other one exchange numbers, I know what Josh is going to ask next.

“Can I call you sometime?”

I have given him no reason to think there is interest on my side, but part of me feels bad for outright saying no. I still say it, not wanting to continue this anymore. I expect him to take back his earlier compliment and remark on my weight, instead he just shrugs and stands up. They leave, and I turn my questioning glare on Monty.

“What was that?” I ask.

She widens her eyes, as if the action alone would speak to her innocence.

I widen mine back as I push for her to answer.

“Me and Charlie broke up,” she says, before downing half her drink.

“What? When?” I need a swallow of my own to wash down this information.

“Two days ago.”

Having seen her since then, the lack of her breakdown surrounding this development astounds me. How come she seemed so put together like nothing happened?

“Are you okay?” Asking the most important thing, I leave my need for more information at the wayside to focus on her feelings.

For the first time since she got off stage, her grin drops and her shoulders sag.

“I don’t know.” Her freckled cheek rests in the palm of her hand.

She opens up and tells me about all the fights they have been having. How unsupportive he has been since she moved. How hard it is to get in contact with him sometimes. She talks about how all the relationship problems she saw him have when she was his friend are rearing their head in their coupling now. I listen intently, holding her hand across the table as she lays it all out.

“I told him if he can’t handle communicating like an adult, I can’t be with him. His response was to ignore me for three days, so I texted him and told him it’s over.”

I shake my head, sorry to hear their relationship has come to this.

“That’s terrible. I really thought the love you shared as friends would push him to do better.”

But honestly, why would it? Knowing someone before you date them doesn’t change the ways in which they are damaged. Maybe that was the problem with me and Christian, too. I expected the way he was as a friend would translate the same in a relationship.

“I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want to talk about it. I still don’t, so let’s just drop it. What’s done is done, and I’m determined to get over his ass.”

I nod, agreeing to her terms, knowing when not to push her. She finishes off the martini and quickly orders another.

“What about you? That man is adorable, and you are very single.”

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