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Alex’s eyes lit up. “You guys should come!”
“Wouldn’t miss it.” Ben wrapped his arm around Riley and whispered in her ear. “I ordered you a ginger ale.”
Riley smiled breathlessly at her boyfriend. How is this happening? We’re sitting with MARK AND ALEX!
“I was just apologizing to your man, here.” Mark smiled, his eyes crinkling in the corners. “It’s my fault we lost touch, mate. I’m glad you reached out to Freddie.” He looked at Riley. “Freds is my best mate back in London.”
“Freddie’s a top bloke.” Ben swept his hair from his eyes. “I’ll never forget when you guys came to my play at the Old Red Lion Theatre. Tough gig. You were the only people in the audience, if you don’t count the bar staff.”
“I wanted to tag along that night. I was trying to get this one to notice me.” Alex looked lovingly at Mark. “We were all at the Castle pub earlier in the evening…”
Mark nodded. “That’s where Alex and I met.”
“Well, met properly,” Alex said with a smile.
“May 30th, 2015, a night I’ll never forget—but not for Benny’s acting.” Mark dodged back as Ben swatted at him across the table.
Benny?! Riley stifled a laugh.
“Ahh, The Castle. I love Islington. I love that pub,” said Ben. “Riles, when we’re in London, I’ll take you there.”
When we’re in London…? Riley’s heart fluttered into a frenzy.
“We’ll get the whole gang out: Lucy, Harry, Simon, Tom, and Naomi!” Alex nodded enthusiastically.
“Well, if the rest of them are as great as Freddie…” Ben smiled. “He gave me Keegs’ new number yesterday. I rang Mark to catch up, and voila—the bastard’s right HERE.”
The server stopped at the table with the ginger ale, and Riley noticed how Mark pulled down his cap and ducked his head. Once she dashed off, his chin lifted and he rejoined the conversation.
“Yeah, I’ve barely been home this year. I don’t know if I’m coming or going. I lost my phone and had to change my number because some fans got hold of it. And I lost most of my contacts. I’m not great with technology.”
“You’ve always been shite at replying to texts.” Ben stroked Riley’s shoulder.
“But I’ll have you know, Fagan, I rang Spencer months back, trying to get in touch.”
“Oh…” Ben shifted in his seat. “Erm, she’s…”
She? A girl named Spencer?
Mark laughed. “What did you do? She refused to give me your number.”
“I just owed her some rent…” He winced, turning to Riley. “Spencer’s my old flatmate—we met at uni.”
“Oh.” She sipped her drink. Ben’s never mentioned her.
“And the owner of an awful hairless cat.” Mark scrunched up his face.
“Cat?” Ben sneered. “More like a rat. He used to nip my feet.”
“Yeah, not cute, not like Pizza Rat.” Mark picked at the label on his beer. “We actually saw him last week—for real!”
“I love Pizza Rat. He’s so cute—in a grubby New York way!” Riley turned to Ben, who looked both confused and creeped out. “There’s this video of a rat dragging a dirty slice of pizza along the subway tracks.” She laughed. “I’ll show you later.”
“My first celebrity spotting in New York.” Mark chuckled. “Yeah, I like it here. We did Central Park on my first day, went up the Empire State Building, walked the High Line, and visited Coney Island—I almost got Lex on a roller coaster, but she chickened out.”
Alex frowned. “Ugh, I hate them.”
“I don’t blame you,” said Riley.
