I searched in the cupboards for something to eat, at the same time listening to Barry. “I’ve decided not to delay the schedule after all. Callum’s in good enough health to perform and Trevor can be on hand to supervise during the stunts. If he’s feeling up to it we can include him in some of the shots. Even so, his injury won’t hold us back as much as we thought. The accident and accompanying drama will be good fodder for the show. It’ll certainly keep our audience watching.”
I made eye contact with Isaac and he shot me a grin. We were both pretending not to pay attention while we listened to every word. I held up a box of cereal and he nodded, so I poured us both a bowl.
When I glanced up, I noticed Trev studying us. For a second, I thought he might be jealous like he was the other day when I was talking to Paul. But then he spoke and proved me wrong.
“Why don’t we have Isaac fill in for me while my wrist heals?” he suggested. Isaac had a spoonful of cereal halfway to his mouth when he dropped it back in the bowl with a loud clatter.
“Me?” he asked, disbelieving.
“Yeah, you,” said Trev. “We’ve all seen you run. It’ll be nothing to you.”
“But—”
“You free run?” Barry asked, his expression transforming as he studied Isaac like he’d never noticed him before, and he probably hadn’t. The director sized him up, took in the toned lines of his shoulders and his strong legs. Interest marked his features as he likely came to the conclusion that he could use him.
“We’ll give you a trial run. If I like what you do, you can stand in for Trevor until he’s well enough to run again. The rest of you, we’ll be filming street shots today so be ready to go at twelve.” He paused and cast a look at Isaac. “That includes you, kiddo.”
With that he stood and waved for the other crew to follow. Isaac watched them leave, open-mouthed. I smiled and reached over to tip his chin. “If you keep your mouth open like that, something’s gonna fly in.”
“Did . . . did that really just happen?”
“Yep.”
He brought his hands to his cheeks. “Oh, my goodness.”
Trev stood from his place on the couch and strode over to us. “It’s your time to shine, grasshopper. Don’t let me down.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
Trev flashed a handsome smile. “You don’t have to say anything. Just impress the tits off Barry and thank me later.”
“You ever wonder what our babies would look like?” Trev asked casually, like it was the most normal question in the world.
I was instant-messaging with Marlene, the girl I met after my Paris gig. She worked as a social media specialist and was trying to convince me to create more of an online presence; set up a website, record my songs to sell on iTunes, stuff like that. I wasn’t entirely convinced, but I was open to her ideas. We’d been chatting a lot since she emailed me photos of my gig.
I pulled my attention away from my laptop to look at Trev. He lay stretched out on the couch, eating an apple and watching TV. Since he was still supposed to be resting, he hadn’t gone with the group to film. I offered to stay behind in case he needed anything, which I regretted now. His blue eyes glittered with mischief, like they often did when he asked uncomfortable questions. He relished making people squirm, or maybe he just relished making me squirm.
I sucked in a breath and answered calmly, “No, I can’t say it’s ever crossed my mind.”
He swallowed a bite of apple. “I do, sometimes.”
“That’s nice.” I returned my focus to my laptop.
“They’d be little beauties with blue eyes and a tan.”
I scoffed a laugh. “You’re insane.”
His mouth curved in a smirk as he pointed the remote at me. “You’ve thought about it. I can see it in your eyes.”
Now I laughed louder. “I have not, and I will not. Just consider my mind a blank canvas.”
“Oh, come on, admit it, Reya. You’d love to have my kids,” he prodded playfully.
“You’re being so bloody weird, quit it,” I said and lifted a pillow to throw at his head. He chuckled when it hit him in the face. I cleared my throat, typing a reply to Marlene as I continued under my breath, “Besides, they’re more likely to be pale with brown eyes.”
I chanced a glance at him and he was smiling so wide my heart gave a quick, hard thump.
“Either way, they’d be fucking adorable.”
I shook my head. “I just can’t with you sometimes.”
We fell into companionable silence after that, but something weighed heavy on my mind. I couldn’t stop thinking about how things ended between us two years ago and how maybe I could’ve done things differently.
“Trev, can I ask a question?”
He glanced away from the TV to look at me. “Ask me anything.”
“It’s sort of a heavy subject.”
“I’m good with heavy.”
I rubbed my hands on my leggings, my throat tightening as I met his gaze. “I was just thinking about that last call we had when I broke things off, you know, before.”
His expression darkened and he sat up straight, his shoulders tense. “What about it?”
“Well,” I started, “you don’t know this, but I smashed my phone after we hung up and had to take to get fixed.”
A loaded silence fell. Trev didn’t breathe a word, and somehow, his normally bright eyes looked cloudy. He was remembering that time, which was probably why his voice held such an edge. “I don’t entirely get where you’re going with this, Reya.”
I cleared my throat, needing to get the words out. “It took a few days to be repaired, so when you called and left all those messages, I didn’t see them until long after.”
Another lengthy, deafening silence fell between us. Trev’s face showed a whole range of emotions, from regret to anger to frustration and then the tiniest hint of resignation. My chest tightened to see how the truth affected him. Eventually, he broke the silence.
“C’mere.”
His simple command surprised me. I expected him to be angry, but when I slid my computer off my lap and approached him, Trev held his arms out and I sank into his embrace. His face was in my hair and he inhaled deeply before he murmured, “Why did you feel the need to tell me that?”
“I’m not sure. I think I dreamt about it last night. It’s been weighing on my mind all day. I guess I just wanted you to know that I didn’t intentionally ignore your calls. By the time I saw them, you’d resigned yourself to the fact that we were over. I thought it would be easier on both of us not to drag things out.”
“If you’d said that two years ago, I would’ve fought you on it tooth and nail.”
“I know,” I whispered.
“But then I probably would’ve let you down again.”
“I know that, too.”
“So, although I hate the time we lost, I know it was a necessary evil. If I never lost you, I probably never would’ve sought treatment. Things might’ve ended worse than they did. I might’ve lost you forever.”
I shifted to look at him, and my expression must’ve shown my surprise because his voice held a hint of humour. “Not what you expected me to say?”
“I thought you’d hate me for not calling you when I finally got those messages. It’s literally been eating me up inside.”