And he opted out.
Her pen stills on the page. A slight tremor runs through her fingers, but she hides it by smoothing the paper flat, nodding like she’s fine. Like she hasn’t just had the air knocked clean out of her.
“Right,” she says again, quieter this time. “Of course. Can’t mess with the routine.”
Glen keeps talking about setup times, but the words slide past her. All she can hear is the roaring in her ears. All she can feel is the dull, hollow ache in her chest.
She swallows hard, forces her spine straight. “Let’s head down to meet the AV team,” she says finally, her voice calm and clipped in a way that fools even her. “They should be here any minute.”
She gathers her laptop and notes. She has a job to do, even if she feels like she’s quietly unraveling at the seams.
CHAPTER 22
NAOMI
The final lighting rig clicks off, and the sudden quiet makes Naomi realize how exhausted she is after the long shoot.
She crosses her arms, watching Duchovny peel off his goalie mask and undo his massive leg pads.
“Nice work today,” she says automatically, laptop tucked to her chest.
He grins like he just made a glove save in overtime. “Thanks! Hope it looked okay.”
“It looked great.”
It didn’t.
Duchovny had been…fine. Bland as cardboard. Stiff as a tax auditor at a rave. Every frame screamed rookie who recently got media training. The lines she’d written—the ones meant for Tall’s gritty intensity, the ones she’d imagined in his gravelly voice—had fallen flat, all the punch gone.
Naomi’s smiling, nodding, pretending not to feel the sting of disappointment she’s been swallowing since Glen told her this morning that Tall opted out. She’d worked her ass off today—coaxing,praising, troubleshooting. Now that it’s over, it feels like an ending without a payoff.
“Naomi!”
Jesse and Carter are lingering next to a stack of equipment cases, out of their gear, laughing about something. Both of them were excellent in front of the camera—exuding an easy charm she wishes she could bottle and sell to the rest of the roster.
“Tell me we nailed that,” Carter says, grinning.
“You nailed that,” she admits. “Both of you.”
“Hell yeah,” Jesse says, giving Carter a fist bump. “You coming to Huck’s with us?”
She blinks. “Huck’s?”
“Yeah, we’re grabbing food. Maybe a couple drinks,” Carter says. “It’s early. You should come.”
It’s not early. It’s almost eight.
Technically, she could go. The flight times back to Toronto were trash, so she’d gotten Mila to approve the expense of one more night at the hotel. Friends in high places and all that.
Her chest tightens. “I don’t know,” she says, fussing with the sleeve of her sweater. “Long day.”
Carter waggles his brows. “I’ll get Tall to come. That’ll change your mind.”
Her head snaps up before she can stop it. “Tall’s still here?”
Carter looks at her like she’s asked whether ice is cold. “Yeah. Didn’t you know? He’s rehabbing a sore knee.”
Naomi’s pulse stutters. “He’s here—like,herehere?”
