29. Sierra
29
SIERRA
It felt strange, sitting in the backseat of a limousine next to a hot-as-hell man in a tuxedo. In the dark, it was tempting to pretend that it was Carter, Tristan, or Drew sitting next to me.
But it wasn’t—it was Aiden Hunt.
Aiden and I hadn’t had much contact on the press tour. He needed to be everywhere at once, the face of the movie, and I was rarely given any official tasks, which was fine with me. More time to sit in my hotel room and brood—something I’d become an expert at.
In spite of the fact that they barely acknowledged me these days, the studio had decided to stick to the original plan of having me and Aiden walk the red carpet together at the premiere tonight. I didn’t quite understand the logic of it, but I knew my part was to look good hanging off of Aiden’s arm—and to direct all the attention back to him.
Maybe the studio had done it at Aiden’s insistence? He couldn’t walk into the theater with the woman he loved, so maybe he decided it was best to come with a costar? After all, I wasn’t someone Ronnie could possibly be jealous of. No, pretty much all of my friends considered me a sad, pathetic individual these days.
But I’d make an effort tonight, and I could even admit that I was looking forward to seeing them. The studio could’ve canceled Kylie and Alyssa’s invitations, but they didn’t. Maybe Aiden had had something to do with that. Of course, each of my friends had only been allowed to bring one date. I hated the fact that they’d had to choose just one of their men to bring along, but that was how it worked in the real world. Ronnie would be here tonight too, of course, along with her other guys. Though the studio officially turned a blind eye to their unconventional relationship, they had to know the gist. Plus, Aiden had a lot of pull.
“Drink?” Aiden opened the mini bar built into the side of the limo and listed off the options.
“I’m fine, thanks.”
He opened a beer bottle and took a long swig. “Then how about some in-flight entertainment?”
I frowned, trying to work that out. Aiden and I would arrive last, so we were out here waiting while all the other guests, the ones not usually shown on TV, pulled up and exited their limos.
Aiden pulled out his phone. “I thought we could watch the proceedings. Ronnie’s got a killer dress.”
I patted his arm. “I’m sorry she can’t be your date tonight.”
“Me too.”
He fiddled with his phone until a live feed came up on the screen. As we watched, the director and his wife stepped out of a limo and walked past a row of paparazzi to enter the theater.
It was definitely more interesting than just sitting here ruminating. I saw a few faces I recognized from the crew members I’d befriended, but most of them didn’t rank high enough to get an invite to something like this. The only reason Ronnie and a few of her stuntman friends were coming was because of their connection to Aiden.
The next person to climb out of a limo made me shudder. It was Walter Henderson, the creep of an assistant director I’d met on the set. He was next to a tall woman who must’ve been his wife. I felt sorry for her. There was no way her husband was faithful to her, not with the way he tried to pressure actresses into having sex with him.
I felt better once he was out of sight, but I wished he weren’t going to be there tonight at all.
“I think Ronnie’s in the car after this one.”
“Who’s she with? Tanner?” Tanner was Aiden’s identical twin and stunt double.
“No,” he said bitterly. “Because then the press can claim she’s with me and it’ll defeat the whole purpose.”
“Who’s that?” I asked as a familiar-looking woman walked past the reporter.
“The casting director.”
“Oh, yeah.” It was a little hard to make out people’s features on the small screen of Aiden’s phone.
“Ronnie’s next.”
“And Alyssa and Kylie and their guys are all in the same limo, right?”
“Yep. That’s their car, there.”
I leaned forward, peering at the little screen, eager to see what my friends were wearing. A chauffeur opened the door and a tall man in a black suit got out, turning back to assist Ronnie.
She looked stunning. She had on a very daring fire-engine red dress with a plunging neckline that looked incredible on her. She should be the leading lady, not me. The skirt of the dress was full, and both she and her date were having some trouble getting it all free of the car.
Then finally, she and her massive skirt were clear. She took her date’s arm and smiled at him as he straightened up.
My jaw dropped, but no sound came out of my throat.
“They look good together, don’t they?” Aiden said, nudging me good-naturedly.
But I still couldn’t speak. Because the tall man escorting Ronnie into the theater was Carter.
Then Alyssa climbed out, moving carefully since she’d broken her leg not that long ago. Her date was Drew.
Lastly, Kylie hopped out and beamed when she took the arm of her date. It was Tristan.
What the hell was going on?