A Little Dinged Up (gxg)

Chapter 3

"It's fine. I just have no idea where he's getting this juice, it makes no sense! And why are they only asking me? I have turned them down every week for half a damned year!" I complained. "It might be the nice thing to do it, but if we do one, the questions will only get worse!"

"Lylah!" I turned when I heard my name called and saw Ava running across the lobby towards us. We were very similar in build, which is why I was her stunt double, with the biggest difference being her jet black hair that kept me in a wig during all the stunt work. "You made it!" She immediately pulled me into a quick hug before releasing me and looking at a steaming Trish. "Hey! And you must be Trish! You're just as beautiful as Lylah described!"

Trish smiled quickly at Ava, a little mollified. That was always one of her worries, that one of these hot Hollywood starlets would steal me from her while I was on set with them. She really didn't need to worry, she had no idea how much I loved her, nor how much her mere presence helped me with my mental health. She was like my own antidepressant, and nobody could replace her.

"Hey Ava, great to see you!" I answered quickly, pulling Trish into my side to make sure she knew I wasn't hiding her from anyone. "And yes, this is my gorgeous girl, Trish."

"Nice to meet you, Ava!" Trish said politely while shaking her hand. "Where is your date tonight?"

"Oh no, I'm flying solo. There are already too many rumors about who is doing who in Hollywood, so I'm keeping a low profile," Ava groaned in annoyance.

"Yeah, the last thing you need is your love life all over TMZ!" I grimaced at the thought. That was one advantage I had with Trish, we had been dating so long that nobody needed to report anything on us, not that we were that big in Hollywood, so we remained undisturbed when we went outside. Well, from the press. Sometimes we'd have a fan from one of our channels that would want a picture or an autograph, but that was rare enough that we didn't mind too much.

"Will you guys sit with me? Please? The rest of the cast is in a bit of a clique, and I'd love to sit near friendly people!" she begged. How the hell could I turn that down? She really was sweet.

"Sure, we can do that. You're the only one I even know from the cast, so it will be nice to have a friendly face."

Trish didn't seem to like the idea too much, but I made sure to have her sit between Ava and I so that she wouldn't think I was chatting her up or anything. That helped quite a bit, because they hit it off quite well. Like I said, Ava was a sweet young woman, and I had a feeling they'd get along. By the time the movie had started, they were both almost in tears of laughter at the stories they were telling each other, and I hoped that Trish would be good friends with her too.

I kept taking glances at Trish throughout the movie, and I could tell she was trying to keep a straight face during parts of it. I hadn't seen the full movie yet, and I wasn't disappointed at my original assessment. Ava had acted her ass off, but you could tell several of the other members of the cast had mailed it in for a paycheck. But she lit up the screen every time she was on it.

Several times I slowly eased my hand over and ran my fingers up the slit in Trish's dress, only to have it slapped away. Was she angry, or did she not want me to tease her with Ava right there? I finally gave up after the fourth time, maybe the limo would be a better bet.

"Are you going to the after party?" Ava asked us once the movie was finally done. I was so glad I didn't have a financial interest in that piece of garbage!

"Yep. We'll be there!" I assured her, linking my arm with Trish's.

"Wouldn't miss it!" Trish agreed.

"Great! I'll see you there! I need to go make the rounds before I go, so I might be a little late." Ava quickly walked off, leaving the pair of us alone in our aisle, and we started heading out towards our limo.

"She seemed nice," Trish commented in a monotone.

"I told you she was, I had a feeling you'd get along." I didn't like that tone of voice at all.

"Is she prettier than I am?"

I grabbed Trish by the arm, pulling her over into a hallway leading down to the theater offices and placed my hands on her cheeks. "Trish, what the hell? Have I ever given you any indication that I was into anyone else? I have been up front with you from the beginning, and you're the woman I love. Why are you suddenly jealous of a girl like that? I even made sure not to sit next to her so you could see that she is just a friendly person. There is nobody on this planet that I'd rather be with than you, okay?"

She nodded quickly, sniffling a little as she cried a little. "I'm sorry Ly, I really just don't get why you're with me I guess."

"I'm with you because you're my other half. We have both been through so much shit, and yet we're still there for each other. You help me with my nightmares, you bring me coffee, you make me smile and laugh, you're the most beautiful woman I've ever met and the things you do to me in bed are probably illegal in some states!" I assured her. How could she not know this? I tell her all the time how much she means to me, so why is she suddenly doubting me?

"I know, I know. I just... I guess I'm just stupid," she finally mumbled.

I kissed her softly, nipping her lower lip before I pulled away. "Don't say that Trish baby. You're the only one of us that made it through high school, you're the smart one! Don't lose faith in us, okay? You know you're my girl, and if you need a ring on your finger to prove it then you know you'll get it. Okay?" Hell, Nat already knew I'd been ring shopping, since she was the one that got the right size for me. Even if I hadn't found the perfect one yet, it was going to happen, this wasn't anything new. Trish was my girl, and I knew we'd be married soon.

"Yeah, okay. I'm sorry, Ly. Let's just get the night over with." She sounded defeated, as though this just wasn't registering with her, and I didn't know what to do. If anything, the ring remark seemed to have made things worse. Maybe after the party we'd be able to talk, but right now, she was just thinking too hard, and I hated that we had to go at all.