I closed my eyes for a second and swallowed tightly, unable to move, barely able to breathe. The tension thickened until it was too much to bear. His fingertips continued their journey across my shoulder and down my upper arm. I took a step away, creating distance between us. Every molecule in my body fizzled, loosened, making me feel more like liquid than flesh.

“I made dinner for everyone,” I managed, still facing away from him, my hand on the door handle. “Can you, um, dish it out while I go get dressed?”

“Sure, yeah. No problem,” he answered, his voice cracking a little.

I opened the door and hurried to my room. As soon as I entered the hallway I could breathe again. What the hell was I thinking just standing there like that? Letting him touch me?

But what if Karla was right? Maybe this was where I was supposed to be. Maybe letting Trev touch me was the right thing to do. When his hands were on me it certainly didn’t feel wrong.

But then, that had always been the way, hadn’t it? When he was near I felt happy and content, but when he was gone I felt down, lower than ever. Abandoned.

I dressed quickly in a loose summer dress and tied my wet hair up in a bun. When I entered the kitchen everybody was gathered around the table eating. There were two crewmembers filming, which I didn’t totally get because the group wasn’t doing anything all that interesting right then.

“Can you put this on?” one of them asked quietly. He handed me the same microphone from earlier. Were they seriously going to film us talking while we ate dinner? I didn’t think we’d be coming out with any entertaining nuggets given how exhausted everyone was, but I shrugged and put it on anyway.

“Here, I saved you a plate,” said Trev, gesturing to the seat next to him. “It tastes great.”

“You’re a fantastic cook,” James added in agreement.

“Yeah, this is delish,” said Leanne.

“I wouldn’t go that far,” I replied with a smile. “But thanks. How did it go with Isaac?”

Trev arched a brow and shared a look with Callum. “It went well. Too well. We’ll be lucky if that kid doesn’t put us out of a job some day.”

“Really?” I exclaimed, pleasantly surprised. It had been a complete shot in the dark when I lied and told Trev he was good.

“Little shit’s got some skills,” said Callum. “Even I can admit it.”

“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.