Chasin' Eight (Rough Riders #11)(39)

Cash ambled over. “I see that.” He offered his hand so Ryder had to relinquish Chase’s. “Good to see you, McKay.”

“Good to be here, Cash. I appreciate you fitting me in to your busy summer schedule.”

“Women say shit like that to you?”

Ava huffed out a sigh. “All the time. Which is why I love the camaraderie on movie sets. But that disappears after the film wraps. I doubt I’ll remain in touch with any of the actors from Miller’s Ridge, because it was just a job. That’s the other thing. Shooting a weekly TV show is grueling. When we’re wrapped up for the week, I usually fall comatose in my bed because I haven’t been home and the last thing I want to do is to go out.”

“But you do, right?”

“There are events I’m obligated to attend. Those aren’t so bad. It’s the industry after-parties that make me question people’s honesty and their friendly intentions. Like, are they going to a club with me because they like me and want to spend time with me? Or are they going because they know I’ve got money and expect to party on my dime? Or are they hanging out with me hoping to wind up in one of the trade rags? I mean, my celebrity isn’t worth a whole lot, but it’s worth something.”

“And that makes you question your worth?” he asked gently.
“Yeah.” A pause and then she laughed softly. “I know I sound horribly neurotic. Or ungrateful for the advantages I have simply because of my birthright. I’m not that callous or jaded. It makes it hard to blindly trust people. I end up spending a lot of time alone, sort of trapped by my own mediocre success.” Her fingers traced the ridge of his collarbone. “My so-called issues pale in comparison to what most people have to deal with in their lives, and I feel like a big whiny spoiled baby even talking about it. But I don’t talk about it because I’ve got no one to talk to.”

“I’m glad you’re talkin’ to me.”

“So my blathering doesn’t make you rethink being my friend?”

Not in the way you’re thinking. “Nope. I’m glad we’re friends, Ava.”

“Same here. I’m relieved to have a break from all that crap for a while.”

“How long is a while?”

“I start shooting a movie in Mexico in August. I’m on standby for readings, costumes, all that stuff.”

Chase frowned. “What’s that mean?”

“If they call me, I have to go back to LA immediately.”

“So between me waiting for a callback from the PBR, and you waiting for a callback from a movie studio, either of us could hafta leave at any time?”

“Sounds like it. So we’d better make the most of our time together.”

The old Chase would’ve suggested they spend all that time between the sheets. The new, improved Chase…kept his mouth shut.
“What are your friends like in the PBR?” Ava asked.
“Well, I wouldn’t call them all friends. The majority are good guys, for the most part. Then there are the ones who act one way in the spotlight and after the cameras are gone, act totally different. They talk a good game about their religious beliefs and the cowboy way, and then they’re out at the honky-tonks after every performance trying to rack up as many sin points as possible.”

“Does it bother you?”

“Only if their bad behavior gets them more airtime than me.”

Ava lightly punched him in the stomach. “I’m serious.”

“I am too. I think who we are in public, to some extent, should be the real us, or at least the polished version of ourselves the PR people want us to project. But I also think the most private part of who we are shouldn’t be out there. We should save that part so we have something special about ourselves to share with the people who matter most to us.”