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What a coincidence. The universe sure had a way of fucking with my heart.
God help me. If these instances kept on, how would I survive, let alone cope from the backlash? It was toying with me, and I hated being reminded how unstable my emotions became when he honed in his focus on me. There was no escaping him.
My eyes connected with his, and my heart galloped faster. For a brief moment, I felt like Anton, breathless and out of sorts. How did he have such an overwhelming power over me when I had known this man even before he became someone revered by the world?
Unabashed with my lack of greeting, he diverted his attention to my friends, whose eyes busied flickering to and fro. “I’m River, Cara’s friend from the olden days.” He stuck his hand out to Kells first to shake.
River was in his Don Juan mode, and no woman was immune. He smoldered. He conquered. You became imprisoned, enraptured; your senses arrested. There was no escaping once he locked in on you.
“I’m Kells, err, uh, Cara’s friend.” They shook hands before he directed it next toward Anton.
“God, I’m such a huge fan,” Anton gushed as he shook River’s hand. He held it like River was some kind of royalty. “I love your work—” He paused, looking like something had just clicked in his brain. “You were the guy on the phone! Holy shit balls.” He glanced back at me.
Kells, who seemed too sharp not to piece the puzzle together, immediately invited River to sit with us. A part of me prayed that he would decline, but River was beyond delighted. So much so that he was sliding in the booth next to me before Kells could even finish the invitation.
“So, you guys are old friends, huh?” Kells immediately interrogated before raising her brow at me, playfully grinning toward us. Gone was that awestruck look of hers, and in came mischief and pure curiosity. She was like a retired detective.
“Yeah, from middle school. We actually grew up together,” River responded without hesitation, making me wonder how much information he was willing to divulge.
“Damn, that’s like waaaay back, back.” Kells pasted a cat-got-the-cream kind of smiles, green eyes gleaming. “Wonder why little Miss Missy here didn’t tell us she knew you. I mean, after all, we’ve done back-to-back movie marathons of TVM every other month.”
River immediately directed his dashing grin at me, daring me to say something truthful. Instead, all I could think about was …
“I thought you were out filming in Ireland,” I blurted, agitated and confused as to why he was here, sitting with my friends and having this damning conversation.
His dark depths bore into mine, arresting me. “I was. I am, but I had a prior commitment to shoot a commercial tomorrow, so I had to fly out here. This was all scheduled beforehand.”
Why didn’t he mention it the last time we spoke? And for the love of everything holy, when would my breathing normalize? It was maddening how my body reacted to him.
The second he heard about his favorite franchise ending, Anton became a diehard fan once again. “You’re shooting the last film? God, I’m beyond stoked for that. When are you flying back out?”
Odd as it was, River didn’t seem to mind the direct questions my friends threw at him. “Tomorrow night. I’m only here to shoot then bounce out again. I got in an hour ago. It’s my boy’s birthday tonight, so I can’t skip not going out with him.”
Anton batted his lashes at River, blatantly enthralled by his presence. “That’s nice, but stressful. I don’t do pressure like that. I’d probably curl up and die from overthinking and functioning.”
“What did you think of Cara’s performance inClover?” Kells asked, ready to get down to the details.
River lovingly gazed at me with one of those toe-curling, hellish smiles of his. “She was brilliant. Really proud of her. She was just amazing to me. She always has been, though, so I wasn’t surprised. She does everything well, just name it—dancing, singing, acting … I’m her biggest fan.”
Kells’ face perked up, looking like she was piecing a very curious entertaining puzzle. “So, you guys used to sing, dance, and act together, too?”
“She was the one who inspired me to act. I wouldn’t be in this position now if it weren’t for her,” River modestly admitted as he quickly glanced at Kells then gazed back at me with those expressive eyes of his. “She’s been an inspiration.”
Why was he giving me credit for his gift? I did nothing but encourage.
“You were good at what you did. Everyone thought so back then. I did nothing really.”
“You did more than you think,” River interjected.
Anton and Kells looked at each other like they had just found out the America’s nuclear codes and didn’t know what to do with them.
“So, you guys were the best of friends, then?” Anton quipped, raised brows, wicked smile, and all.
River’s smile dimmed a little, remembering the past. “We were thick as thieves.”
I was silent, pondering his responses. Going down memory lane agitated me. Tonight was about having fun. Getting emotional wasn’t on my to-do list.
Not only did I find the prospect daunting, it was stifling, too, a surefire to dampen my perky mood. However, it seemed that my friends weren’t going to stop grilling River. And since they knew I wasn’t forthcoming, this would be the best bet to get answers to any of their lingering questions.
