“Okay, showoff, that’s all well and good, but please note that I’m not yawning.”
“Keep going,” Luc said. “When you first start doing this exercise, it can take two or three minutes to trigger. And you might not even yawn at first. You might simply find yourself taking a big breath in and then out. Again, like when you have a dog and they’re next to you on the sofa and they just sigh and it rattles a little...?”
“You like dogs, huh?” she asked.
“I love ’em,” he said.
“Me, too.”
“It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to have one,” Luc told her at the exact same time that she said, “I haven’t lived in one place long enough to get one... Yeah, I don’t want to get a dog and then never be home. That’s not fair.”
“Nope,” he agreed. “So it’s probably counter-effective to try to do this exercise and have a conversation, especially when you’re first learning how it works.”
“In other words, shut up.” Casey sighed. “Wait, was that it? Was that the deep breath yawn-substitute?”
“It sounded like it. Yeah.”
“Are you lying? Did you even hear it?”
“I did,” Luc said, laughing again. “And here’s the thing, when you’re in the learning phase for this exercise—”
“Which lasts what?” she asked. “Ten years or twenty?”
“Not even close.”
He was laughing again, and she realized that she loved making him laugh. And that it wasn’t just Dave who was lucky. She was, too. Not everyone in the world adored their best friend’s boyfriend. And she’d come so damn close to totally ruining it with Luc, starting off the way she had.
“Maybe a coupla weeks,” Luc continued. “But you gotta do it. Every night. Assume the position.”
“Hands behind my head and eyes to three o’clock,” she said. “Roger that. But you know I’m googling it tomorrow. If this is just something you made up to punk me—”
“It’s not, I swear,” Luc said, laughing again. “Go to YouTube. I bet there’re hundreds of videos. Vagal nerve reset. I mean, there’re other ways, too. Gargling is good. Humming. Even singing. But when I’m focusing on falling asleep, this one wins.” He paused. “You want more?”
“There’s more?”
“There’s always more,” he answered cheerfully. “This one’s another eye movement thing, and it’s called 9 Gamut. Or... I could just shut up...?”
“Absolutely not,” Casey said. “Lay it on me, Rosetti.”
He laughed again—which made her smile. Just think, she could’ve been in bed with a man who always made her feel like shit—even during the hot sex. These days the self-loathing no longer waited until the orgasm was over. Nah, instead, she’d bunked down with the breathtakingly handsome Navy SEAL, hellbent on staying on his own side of the bed and teaching her relaxation techniques.
It was a vast improvement.
Chapter Eleven
Thursday
The day passed swiftly. Casey had very little downtime—but she’d told Rio that was by choice. They moved from one event to another and another, including one of her famous live-streams with a small group of ardent fans. It was cool to watch her do it—she was effortlessly warm and natural when the camera was on. But it took up a lot of time. She’d had only short pitstops and brief breaks for lunch and dinner.
This evening panel with Todd and Chris, another actor from the show, was the final event of the conference. Although it had gone long, as usual, it was finally wrapping up.
Rio stood in his position against the wall at the front of the room, scanning the packed house for trouble. Not that he expected it. On the contrary. This was an exceedingly respectful crowd—even more so since he’d deputized that large group last night.
Nah, the trouble wasn’t coming from anyone here. But it was coming. That much was clear.
About an hour ago, while up on the stage, Casey had received a message on her phone—probably a text. She hadn’t reacted much more than drawing in a sharp breath. But then she’d taken the phone off of the table in front of her, slipping it into the back pocket of her jeans, no doubt so that it wouldn’t continue to be a distraction.
And she delivered, with her co-stars, a thoroughly entertaining and laughter-filled discussion. But the muscles in her jaw were definitely getting tighter and tighter as the clock ticked.
