Behind The Limelight 05: Bodies Talk

Dinner was awkward, to say the least.

The food, though, was outstanding. But obviously, Ashton wasn’t going to admit that or say anything about it to Ryker. He didn’t want the other man’s ego getting more inflated than it already was.

Ashton’s empty plate spoke for itself, though. They ate mostly in silence, the only time one of them spoke was when Ryker asked Ashton to pass him the salt.

Once they were done eating, Ashton was shocked once again when Ryker washed the plates himself. He couldn’t even fathom doing that, but out of basic courtesy he offered to dry them.

“How about a movie now?” Ryker asked. “Or do you want to play some Fifa?”

“Movie. I haven’t played in a long time,” Ashton answered.

“Really?” Ryker’s brows rose up in surprise. “You used to love video games.”

“Then I grew up and got busy,” Ashton replied with a shrug.

“Right,” Ryker muttered. “Alright, a movie it is. What are you in the mood for?”

“Anything works.”

“You’ll have to be a bit more specific here, Ash,” Ryker retorted. Ashton thought about it for a second, before speaking up again.

“Anything that doesn’t star either of us,” Ashton said.

Ryker let out a soft chuckle, making Ashton feel weird in his stomach. No matter how much Ryker’s appearance had changed over the years, his smile was still the same. He still got the crinkles by his eyes when he grinned, and his laugh was still enough to light up the room.

“What about something animated? Lion King? Up? Or-“

“Ratatouille.”

“Ratatouille.” Both of them said simultaneously.

Ryker’s face immediately lit up with a bright smile as he stared at Ashton, whereas the corner of Ashton’s lips moved downwards. When Ryker noticed Ashton’s frown, he mirrored the expression. It seemed like he was confused by Ashton’s reaction.

“This is stupid,” Ashton spoke, looking away from the fellow actor. “Eating dinner together or watching a movie isn’t going to do jackshit about the years of bad blood between us. It’s all so stupid. We hate each other and nothing is going to change that.”

“Right,” Ryker muttered. He pressed his lips in a thin line as he looked down at the floor.

“We don’t need to do this,” Ashton said. “Let’s just, I don’t know, shake hands and call a truce till we’re done with this movie. After that we never have to pretend to like each other ever again. We can go back to how things were.”

“It’s going to be hard pretending that I like you,” Ryker’s tone was curt. Devoid of any emotion.

“Same,” Ashton shrugged, not noticing the edge in Ryker’s voice. “But we have no choice but to give it our best shot. We’re actors. We can act like we can tolerate each other for a few months.”

“If only they had an Oscar for that category,” Ryker replied. Ashton let out a bitter laugh as he nodded.

“Yeah, let’s not talk about awards already,” Ashton mumbled. It was Ryker’s turn to chuckle dryly.

“What do we-“

“I’m going to head home,” Ashton cut him off. “It was, uh, good food, I mean but, yeah, let’s not do this again.”

“Got it.” Ryker bit the inside of his cheek, his hands were in his pockets as he paused for a moment before speaking up again. “I believe you can see yourself out, then?”

“Yeah,” Ashton muttered. He nodded once again, he glanced at Ryker for a brief moment, but the dark haired man wasn’t looking back at him.

It was hard to tell by his face, but Ashton had known Ryker for a very long time. He could almost never read him, he had never been very good at that. But Ryker did have some tells. The way that he kept tapping his fingers on his thigh, and how he was looking at the wall like it was the most interesting thing ever- Ashton knew that Ryker was angry.

He rarely ever showed it when he was pissed, his face was as blank as an empty canvas, but his body language spoke for him. Ashton couldn’t help but wonder why, though.

Ryker hated him just as much as Ashton did. He should have been jumping with joy about the fact that they had decided there was no point in spending time together to try and get along. It was the dumbest idea ever, and Ryker should have been glad that they weren’t going to be in each other’s vicinity more than was absolutely necessary.

“I’ll see you at the shoot or something,” Ashton spoke again. Ryker didn’t say anything in return. He didn’t even nod or shrug or give any indication that he had heard what Ashton said. Ashton let out a sign, but it wasn’t any of his business to inspect further.

He looked at Ryker for one last time before turning around and walking away, unbeknownst to the fact that Ryker’s eyes were watching his retreating figure.

Ashton had to wait outside for a couple of minutes for his driver to bring the car around, who certainly wasn’t expecting the actor to be back so soon. Once in the backseat, Ashton finally checked his phone. The only messages he had were from Malcolm, and they were all asking for updates about what was going on and if he and Ryker had strangled each other yet.

To: Malcolm | From: Ashton

Everything went fine. Stop worrying.

Ashton switched his phone off after that, he knew that Malcolm would call him as soon as he reads that the two actors are done with their little playdate. Ashton wasn’t in the mood to tell Malcolm every little detail like he would definitely ask for, so he decided to avoid it for as long as possible. At the very least he could enjoy a peaceful car ride back home.

~~~

It was exactly one week since their dinner, until Ashton had to mentally prepare himself for seeing Ryker again.

Tabitha, their female lead, was throwing a party for the cast and some of her friends as a way to get to know everyone more before the shoot starts. Ashton enjoyed parties. Not so much the last couple of years as his career started sinking, but he would be lying if he said he wasn’t more than ready to have a few drinks and socialize.

The only downside was that Ryker was probably going to be there. He wasn’t sure, since he knew Ryker wasn’t a huge fan of parties and events and he usually never attended them. Even if he did, then it was mostly for just some time so that he could politely show his face, make a little small talk, and then come up with a lame excuse to leave early.

That knowledge gave Ashton at least some relief, knowing that Ryker would probably not even bother to drop by.

However, as it turned out, Ashton was wrong.

He had been at the party for about an hour, and he was actually having a good time after a long time as he spoke to some actress he had worked with a few years ago for a commercial. His attention was immediately drawn to the dark haired man as he soon as he entered the room, dressed neatly in all black, contrasting the light blue floral shirt that Ashton was wearing.

Ashton looked away, focusing on Eve as he continued their conversation. But he was distracted, he couldn’t help but not be. Ryker was in the same room as him again, but both of them were pretending as if they weren’t aware of each other’s existence.

“Oh my God, do you remember the after party, though? The image of you dancing shirtless on the pool table is, like, engrained in my head,” Eve recalled with a laugh.

“I was really, really drunk,” Ashton replied. “I would have you know that I normally do not dance half naked on tables.”

“Maybe you should,” Eve said with a smile. “I’m pretty sure every person in this room would pay to watch that.”

“I’m not too sure about that,” Ashton retorted with a light shrug.

“Well,” Eve kept a hand on Ashton’s arm, gently tracing his skin with her finger, “I don’t know about others but I definitely would not mind it.”

Ashton was caught off guard for a second as their friendly conversation turned flirty in an instant. He raised his brows at the woman, who passed him a sly smile as if she wasn’t going to shy away from what she had just implied.

“Is that so?” Ashton took a step towards her, standing even closer now as he looked down at her with a teasing smirk.

“Yeah,” Eve answered. “I think I would like it even more if I was your only audience.”

“I’m sure we can arrange that,” Ashton’s voice was now low.

Ashton loved a confident woman. Women that knew what they wanted and weren’t afraid to say it. On top of that, Eve was gorgeous. Ashton wasn’t always this forward, but the alcohol in his system was definitely helping.

“I would love that,” Eve played with the hem of Ashton’s shirt as she spoke, her tone as sultry as her body language. “It’s getting a little late, isn’t it? What do you say we get out of here now?”

“That sounds…” Ashton trailed off. He couldn’t push away the feeling that somebody was watching him. He glanced to the side, and his suspicions were correct as he noticed familiar dark eyes on him.

Ryker was standing in a corner, a beer bottle in his hand that he was gripping so tight that his knuckles were turning white. He was glaring at Ashton, and he looked pissed. Very pissed.

Ashton looked back at Eve, gulping slightly. Did Ryker know Eve? Did they have a thing together? Was he jealous that that Eve was flirting with Ashton, and not him?

All these questions were floating in Ashton’s mind, and he couldn’t help the discomfort that followed.

But there was no way in hell that he was going to let Ryker ruin a good night for him. If he wanted Eve, then he should’ve gotten there earlier.

“That sounds fantastic. I’ll call my driver.”

***