Page 3 of Best Friends for Never

I take a deep breath and blow it out slowly, shaking my hands out to ease the tension rolling through me.

I sneak a peek over at David. He’s watching me intently, commanding me with shrewd eyes not to screw this up.

Come on, Noel. You’ve got this. Do what Bridget said. Pull from experience. Make this better. You deserve it. She deserves it. The crew deserves it. Hell, audiences deserve it. You can do this.

The director clears his throat, indicating he wants me to get a move on.

Another inhale. Another exhale.

Then I step toward my costar, who has fully transformed into Josette—the woman I’ve been wrongfully lusting over for years—and I slip back into my character’s shoes.

“You left me, Josette. I was ready. I was there. I was waiting. Ihavewaited. For ten years now, yet you never showed. And even now that you’re here, you’re not really here withme. You’re miles away.”

“He’s my husband, Riley,” Bridget says, perfectly playing off my improv.

“You think I don’t know that?” I toss my hands into the air. “You think I’m not painfully aware of that every day? I’m so damn aware of that it’s sickening. He’s your husband, and he’s my brother. You don’t think that eats at me constantly?”

“Then how can you ask me to choose? How can you stand here and ask me to be with you over the man I took a vow with?”

“Because I loved you first, Josette!Iloved youfirst.” I grab at my chest to emphasize my heartache, stepping into her so close she has to tip her head back to meet my eyes. “I loved you first,” I repeat, quieter this time. “And it’s not fair. It’s not fair that he gets you when you were never his to have. From the first moment I saw you, I knew you were mine and I was yours.” I run my knuckles over her cheek, and she presses into my touch as if we’ve rehearsed this before.

“Just because life threw us a few curveballs, it doesn’t mean that can’t still be true. We can still be together. You can still choose me.”

“I ...” She shakes her head. “It’s not that simple, Riley.”

“Itisthat simple. And you want to know why?”

“Why?” she whispers, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.

“Because you’re mine. You’ve always been mine. You always will be mine. You know it as well as I do. Even if you walk away today, even if you go back to him, you’ll still belong to me, and I’ll still belong to you. So why not spare us more heartache, huh?” I smile softly, ensuring it doesn’t reach my eyes to play up the sadness in the scene. “Why not give in and do what you want, not whattheywant you to do? Whynotchoose me, Josette?”

She swallows thickly, a single tear slipping down her cheek, something that isn’t in the script either. “I ... Riley ...”

I rest my forehead against hers. “Please.Please.”

“I need time.”

“Time?” I laugh wryly. “You’ve had ten years, Josette. It’s now or never.”

“Please ...” She splays her hands against my chest, then fists my shirt like she’s desperate to hold on to me. “Just one night, Riley. Just one. That’s all I need. Besides, you waited ten years. What’s another twelve hours?”

She laughs softly, and I shake my head.

“Twelve hours? That’s going to feel like days.” I press my lips to her forehead, then step away. “One night. If you don’t come find me, I’ll know, and I promise I’ll disappear from your life for good.”

She lets out a choked sob. “Don’t say that.”

“I have to say that, baby. I can’t keep having half of you.”

“Riley, please. I—”

I hold up my hand to stop her. “No. I’ve made my choice. Now you make yours.”

She sniffles, nodding as she wipes at her cheeks. “Okay.”

I take a few steps, then stop and turn back to her. “One night, Josette,” I remind her.

She lets out another soft cry as she wraps her arms around her waist. “One night,” she echoes, and I leave, walking past the camera and out of the shot.

---