He already had his phone out and was googling the pizza place. “What’s your brand?” He braced himself as if she was going to suggest something awful with light spelled the stupid way.
“Fat Tire,” she said and Luc shot her a look of warm approval that made her feel that unacceptable heat again. But no, it wasn’t unacceptable. It was fine. It was friendship. Warm, fuzzy friendship with a large, sloppy, unappetizing side of damn it had been forever since she’d had sex. “But if they don’t have that, anything crafty, amber, or locally brewed works.”
“And now I love you madly, too,” he told her, his smile making his pretty eyes dance. “Ah, excellent, I can order the pizza online. What do you want on your side of the pie?”
“Just cheese,” she told him, digging her in bag for her wallet.
“One large cheese,” he said, as he input the info.
“Let me give you some cash, or—”
“My credit card info’s already in here.” He moved his phone for emphasis. “It’s faster. Easier.”
“Well, save the receipts. I want to pay you back.”
“Whoa, it’ll be ready in fifteen. I better move.”
“Wait!”
Luc stopped short on his way to the door, looking back at her. But the quizzical expression on his face rapidly morphed into understanding. “Yeah, you really don’t need to explain. Todd’s a douche. I get it. No problem.”
“But he’s not,” Casey said. “When he’s on, he’s dialed up to eleven and it can be a little overwhelming. I think it was all those years working with Drew, who’s so funny and charismatic without even trying, but... Todd’s actually really great. He is. But he’s... well, he’s also unapologetically love-the-one-you’re-with, and I tried, I did, but I just couldn’t make that work.”
The so why do I need to pretend I’m your boyfriend then question marks were coming back into Luc’s eyes, so she plunged on. “So he’s my ex and that’s obviously awkward. I try to schedule cons where he’s not on the guest list, too, because... Well, it’s more than just old-school awkward. It’s...” Time to just say it. “Whenever we’re together, I end up sleeping with him and then hating myself after.”
Luc, bless him, looked neither shocked nor stunned. “That’s not good,” he said mildly. “The hating yourself part, I mean.”
“If Todd thinks I’m with someone—you—he’ll be respectful—of me—and he’ll keep his distance, and I’ll keep my pants on. So, see, it’s really not him, it’s me. It’s all me. And I’m sorry I blindsided you that way—I should’ve asked before—”
He stopped her. “It’s okay. Really. I’ll be nicer to him. But I gotta fly, that pizza is screaming my name.” He opened the door. “Don’t leave the room.” But then he turned back to look at her. “Unless... you want to give me a key, so you can change your mind and go secure yourself in Todd’s—”
“Absolutely not.” Casey cut him off before he said room. “No. Nope.”
“I won’t judge.”
She appreciated that, she really did, but she would absolutely judge herself enough for both of them. She shook her head. “No, thank you. You going to Trader Joe’s for the beer?”
Luc nodded. “That was my plan.”
“Good,” Casey said. “Get something chocolate for dessert, please.”
He smiled. “Happy to.”
“We started going out at the end of season two,” Casey told Rio.
They were eating picnic-style, on the bed, with the pizza box between them. She’d showered again while he’d been out on the pizza-beer-and-chocolate run, and with her face washed clean of makeup, wearing a pair of oversized, baggy men’s red plaid flannel pajamas, Rio found her somehow even more strikingly attractive.
Maybe it was because she was finally completely relaxed. Her guard was gone, her defenses down. It was nice to see.
“I knew he really liked me from the jump, but I spent the first year of filming learning how to be a professional actor,” Casey continued. “Also, I had a boyfriend. Shaun. We broke up after he graduated—he got into some school in Texas, so he used that, the distance, as an excuse. In truth, I think he was freaked out that so many people were suddenly hot for Dana Zannino—who looked just like me, right? It was hard enough for me to deal with it; he was completely unprepared. And unwilling, which... kinda sucked. But okay. So, Texas. And then, for me, Todd, who’d also met me BD—before Dana—before the show hit. So being with him felt... well, it was really great—when we were together 24/7. We were either on set together, or doing press junkets together, doing cons like this one together... But when the show got cancelled and we both started getting films...? Suddenly he was in Boston, and I was in Seattle and... well...”
She seemed to want Rio to say something. He’d been quiet up to now, just letting her tell him this story. It was the kind of conversation he wasn’t very good at having, but now he tried to pretend that he was Dave, who would’ve been in his wheelhouse. The man didn’t shy away from deep-feelings talk.
In fact, once-upon-a-time, Dave himself had told Rio a very similar woeful tale about his relationship with Casey’s brother.
“Sounds a lot like Dave’s experience with Jon,” Rio ventured.
“Really?” Casey winced. “God, I don’t know why I didn’t know that. I mean, I kind of know it now, but... Or maybe I tried not to know it, because in my mind they just always had... well, what I desperately wanted.”
