Chapter 16

Ethan

"All right. Get in your places, people. We want to wrap this shit up in a timely manner, right?" Daniel Barns clapped his hands and turned in circles, repeating himself until everyone walked up toward the stage. He was another director for Eon, and not my favorite by any stretch of the imagination, but I wasn't starring in the movie, so no need to throw a fit over it.

Seeing Riley the day before had me wanting to throw caution to the wind and drown her in lust until she yearned for me the way I yearned for her. I rolled my eyes at the internal monologue going on in my head. I sounded like Rhett Butler from Gone with the Wind.

"Places. And... action."

I turned and jogged through the scene of New York City at night, the streets so real, the buildings gone. They would add those later with computer generation.

"Don't let them catch up." Tricia ran toward me and grabbed my hand as I moved in front of her and ran faster. The belts below my feet sped up and I cursed myself internally for not asking if I needed to work on my cardio before coming onto the set. All of the action parts in my own films were more strength and less cardio, which meant I could pump iron in my spare time and feel manly about it.

At the moment, I was trying hard not to keel over from the physical exertion.

"They won't. Just turn left up here and I'll turn right. Keep moving, Daniella. I'll find you, baby."

"You promise?" She pursed her lips as the camera panned in.

"Have I ever lied before?" I winked at her and turned right, running off the stage into the darkness.

"And cut. Great job. Let's move on to the bar scene on set five in fifteen minutes. Catch your breath, change your clothes and get over there. Ethan you're going to be sitting in the bar we used yesterday, having a martini, and Tricia will join you, flirting a little. She'll try and pick you up. Deny her. You know the script."

"Why do you guys do these things out of order?" I barked as I walked back out to the middle of the stage. I almost tripped over the running treadmill floor, but caught myself.

"Because of the various elements and people we need for each scene. Do not act like this is new to you and start blowing up like the diva we all know you are."

"Yep. Suck a dick to you too, Dan." I smiled and hopped off the stage like a cheerleader might. "Maybe tell someone next time they gotta be ready to run a fucking marathon for a side part too, hmmm?"

"It was three minutes of walking. From what I hear, you're more than capable of keeping up cardio for hours. What, between your fucking everything that walks and dry humping strangers on the dance floor, you should be good."

"Don't be catty because I said no to your last casting call. Jealousy doesn't look good on you, baby." I gave him some jazz hands and walked toward my dressing room. "Send me a banana, a glass of milk and a hooker please. I can make magic with ten minutes on my hands."

The laughter behind me felt good. I had a great crew for my latest film too, but we had more extras than anything. The only two side characters that would be with us when we started to film again was Marco, who played my brother on the set and freaking Vanessa, who I'd treated like a whore back in Rio. That was a comfortable discovery. Why Deza couldn't take me by the ear and point out the girls that I absolutely, positively wasn't allowed to bone when we got somewhere was beyond me. It seemed that she should suffer the same embarrassment that I did when I realized the error of my ways. The shit happened all the time, or used to. Now with Riley on the set, I wasn't nearly as bad as I used to be.

I walked into my dressing room and pulled my shirt off as Tricia stuck her head in the room.

"Hold that stripping action." She slipped in and closed the door. "What happened yesterday? With Riley? Deza was with us when you came back, remember? You didn't get to tell me the goods."

I smiled at her in the mirror as I kept my back to her. "I wasn't going to tell you, silly. I'm a guy. We don't kiss and tell."

"Did you guys kiss?" She moved around me and awarded me with a huge smile. "I think you guys would be so good for each other."

"This coming from the woman that thinks love is a hateful bitch that wants us all to suffer before we die?" I reached out and tugged on a lock of her hair. "How's your hubs? Any change?"

"No." Her eyes moved down toward the floor. "I'm not sure what to do."

"Then don't do anything yet. People move too fast and ruin things before they really think through the option. Sit down and put it on paper. Write down all the great things about your marriage and all the horrible things. Then... talk to him. Maybe you guys can work things out. You didn't get married for convenience or because you had to, right?"

"No. We fell in love."

"And that was only a year or so ago. You're still in love. Uncover what's fucking it up and change it, or decide it's not worth it and move on. You can't live in limbo."

"You're right. See you out there." She squeezed my hand and moved around me.

My own words seemed to echo in the room around me. I dropped down in the chair behind me and let my mind wander. I needed to make my own list. Why did I want to be with Riley? Truly, really want to be with her. Was it lust or infatuation? If it was, then I was done pursuing her. I couldn't turn both of our worlds upside down over something that would end after a night or two. She and I would become something worse than Clayton and I have become. The thought of our friendship souring left my heart hurting. I'd never tell him or another goddamn soul how badly I missed him, but I did.

He'd stabbed me deeply and bruised my ego, but that had been his purpose in stealing the part. He didn't even want it when they awarded it to him, but taking it from me was enough to push him to work like a mother fucker for it. Why? Why did he want to see me suffer?

It was unreasonable that his drive to destroy me in some way back then was related to nothing. There was no way he woke up one morning and hated me instead of loved me like the brothers we'd been, the friends we'd become.

"Fuck it." I got up and kicked off my shoes and my pants before changing into a three piece suit. One of the assistants rushed in as I had my pants halfway up my legs.

"Sorry, Mr. Lewis. They're ready to start filming." She was thin and short with dark hair in a tight bun and glasses that were too big for her face. She was cute. Not pretty or beautiful, but certainly cute. "Let me help with that."

"Thanks." I finished getting my slacks up and buttoned them as she worked on the buttons to my shirt. If she found me at all attractive, she did a fantastic job of hiding it.

She moved back and grabbed my jacket, helping me into it and fixing me to look perfect while I slipped my feet into the black shoes beside her. She reached up and combed my hair before smiling and patting my chest.

"Beautiful. Get out there and steal their hearts." Her genuine smile was nice. I liked her. Like I might like a little sister, or a friend of Liam's.

"What's your name?" I walked to the door and paused, glancing over my shoulder.

"I'm Margo, and you're late. Go before we're both in trouble."

I laughed and walked out of the dressing room. A few minutes later I was perched on a stool in an old timey looking bar, drinking the strongest whiskey I'd ever drank. I took another sip and stifled a growl at the burn.

Dan, that fucker. He'd probably put the toughest shit he could find in the glass just to mess with me. I'd have to get him back for it, but when he least expected it. We were idiots like that, always trying to outdo each other. He made my job hard, and I made him look bad.

Shit... I made everyone look bad.

It was the liquor talking. Had to be.