“Don’t you mean big shit?” Leanne put in. “If that boy grows any taller he’ll hit the ceiling.”
James laughed. “I’m just jealous of his teenage joints. Bet he doesn’t even feel sore after a run.”
“I’m actually thinking of asking him to come with us for the rest of the tour,” said Trev as he lifted a fork to his mouth and I shot him a wide glance.
“You are?”
He nodded. “He could come on as a gofer during the day and I could train with him in the evenings.”
“Wow. Did you mention any of this to him yet?”
“I hinted. I need to run it by Barry first.”
“Well,” I said, scooping up a bite of lasagne, “he’s gonna hit the roof when you tell him.”
Trev smiled big, like he was looking forward to it. “I know.”
I had to admit, all of this was very unexpected. Isaac was a great kid, but I’d never known Trev to be so altruistic. He’d always been just a tiny bit selfish, though not in a bad way. I think it was just a survival mechanism from growing up poor. Two years ago, he would have seen Isaac as a threat, just another mouth to take a slice of the pie. Definitely not someone he could mentor. I was amazed and a little in awe.
“Here’s a good one,” said Callum, his phone in one hand while he ate with the other. “What are your top three pet peeves?”
Paul narrowed his gaze. “Where are you getting this from?”
Callum shrugged. “Some girl just asked me on Tinder.”
I glanced at Leanne, but she didn’t seem bothered by the fact that he was using a dating app. I was certain if he’d made the same announcement yesterday the shit would’ve hit the fan. But now she was all casual, completely chill. They really must’ve cleared the air, like, seriously cleared the air, because this was a massive turnaround.
“If they ask for pictures don’t send any,” Neil warned, pointing his fork at Callum. He looked worried, which made me think there must’ve been trouble with that sort of thing in the past. I bet girls were constantly messaging him for dick pics.
Callum’s lips curled in a smile. “Don’t worry. I won’t fall for that chestnut again.”
I wanted to ask what he was referring to so badly, but I didn’t want to come across as nosy.
“My biggest pet peeve is when people open a brand new carton of milk even though there’s already a half empty one in the fridge,” said James casting a sharp look in Callum’s direction.
“I already told you, I thought it was gone off.”
“You do it every time though, Cal.” Paul chuckled.
“And I hate it when people check their phones at the dinner table,” said Leanne, smiling cheekily at Callum.
“Hey! This isn’t open season to attack Callum,” he protested. “Cut me some slack.”
“You asked the question,” said Trev with a grin.
“Whatever. My pet peeve is when a bunch of bastards all gang up on an innocent and completely undeserving party.”
Trev laughed. “’Course it is.”
“I’ll have you know my parents were legally wed when I was conceived,” Paul added in a haughty tone.
“Do you know what really bugs me?” I said, thinking about it. “Actors on TV shows are always going into bars and holding up a finger to the barman for a drink, and the barman serves them even though they never say what they want.”
“Maybe they can read minds,” James suggested.
“Nah, if it’s their local then the barman’s gonna know their usual,” said Callum.
“But sometimes it’s a bar they’ve never been to before. Kalinda was always doing it on The Good Wife,” I said.
“You’ve got to suspend your disbelief a little on that one,” said Paul. “It saves valuable dialogue minutes to just hold up a finger.”
“Is that a euphemism?” Callum waggled his brows.
“You wish,” Paul shot back. “I saw you checking out my arse during filming today.”
“Piss off.”
“You were right behind him,” said Leanne, a lilting tease in her voice.
“Don’t you start. Besides, the only arse I check out around here is yours.”
Leanne had nothing to say to that, her face flushing bright red. I decided to be a good Samaritan and save her more embarrassment by changing the subject. “Actually, another thing I can’t stand is Tinder. It literally makes me feel like there’s no joy left in the world.”
“You’re on Tinder?” Trev asked, his shoulders tensing.
I cast him a glance. “Well, not anymore. I tried it out a while back, but all the dates I went on were terrible.”
“Oh, I love a good dating horror story,” said Paul. “Spill the beans.”
“It wasn’t so much that they were horror stories, they were just awkward. I feel like the more I fancy someone in a picture, the less I fancy them in real life. And the guys I might not like in pictures could be incredibly charismatic when I met them. Making decisions based on appearances is just so flawed.”
“Oh my God, you’re completely right,” said Leanne in agreement. “My cousin once set me up with a friend of hers, and I didn’t like the look of him at all when she showed me a photo. But then we met and I don’t know, he wasn’t conventionally attractive, but there was something about how he looked at me when I was talking that gave me butterflies. Like he was really listening to what I said, you know?”
I thought I heard Callum let out a quiet scoff, but thankfully Leanne didn’t hear.
“Oh, totally,” I answered, ignoring Callum. “That’s why I never judge a book by its cover.”
Trev had gone very quiet, and though the conversation continued he didn’t speak much for the rest of the meal.
“You wanted to talk?” he asked low, coming up beside me as I brought my dish to the sink. Paul and James had offered to do the clean up, but I was determined to at least bus my own plate.
I glanced at Trev, noticing the tension in his shoulders was still there. “Yes, um,” I looked behind me and saw the camera crew were packing up to leave, which was a relief. “Can we go out onto the balcony?” I asked, at the same time turning off my microphone. The balcony was the only private place I could think of.
“Sure,” he answered and placed his hand to the small of my back to lead me out. His heat sank into me and I suppressed the urge to close my eyes.
It was a cool night. The dress I wore was sleeveless and it felt good to have the breeze hit my skin. Probably because Trev’s hand made me feel so hot.
“We’re heading to Paris tomorrow. Are you excited?” I asked as I sat down on one of the deck chairs.
“Yeah, should be fun,” Trev replied and took the seat next to me.
Remembering he probably had a mic on, too, I reached over and began searching his torso. He let out a chuckle like I was making him ticklish. “What are you doing?”