Swoon: A Brother's Best Friend Standalone

“Mind if I sit here?” a male voice asks, interrupting Amy midsentence. And when we turn to look, none other than the A-list star of our movie—Seth Rockford—the man whose name gets any project in Hollywood greenlit—is standing at the edge of our table.

“Hey, Seth. Yes, of course.” As Seth sits with his plate, I gesture to Amy. “This is Amy O’Brien, my good friend and personal assistant.”

Seth nods at Amy. “Hello.”

“I’m so excited to meet you, Mr. Rockford! I’m a huge fan!”

“Call me Seth. Thank you.” Seth shakes Amy’s trembling hand. “Love the hair. I’m a sucker for a pretty redhead.”

Oh, no, he didn’t.

“Ooh,” Amy coos, her cheeks blooming to match her hair. “Thank you. I dyed it recently. I’d been wanting to go red for a long time.”

“I would have thought it’s natural. You’ve got the perfect coloring for red hair. It brings out the gorgeous green of your eyes.”

Gorgeous green?

Pretty redhead?

Oh, fuck no.

Did the man not hear me say Amy is my “good friend”? Doesn’t he realize that’s code for “I’m sleeping with her”? I already knew Seth is a secret asshole, based on some stories people have whispered to me, but I’m definitely getting a firsthand glimpse of his assholery now. Is he not going to at least ask me if I’m fucking my assistant before hitting on her? Or does he think every young, fawning, obviously star-struck woman is his for the taking?

I clear my throat, loudly, reminding Seth I’m still sitting right here, motherfucker, and ask, “So, Seth, how are you feeling about the shoot thus far?”

Seth wrenches his eyes off Amy and ignores my question. “I need a small favor from you, Colin.”

“Oh.”

Amy pops up. “I’ll let you two talk shop!”

“You don’t need to go, sweetheart,” Seth says. “This little favor isn’t confidential.”

Sweetheart?

“No, no,” Amy says, turning beet-red. “I’ll leave you two actors to chat. Margaret asked me to help her with something when I had the chance, anyway. Bye now!” She flashes me a beaming smile that makes my heart skip a beat. And I know, without a doubt, Amy has no idea she was just hit on, in earnest, by the top-paid actor in Hollywood, but instead thinks it’s a thrilling thing for me that Seth has plopped himself down at our table to ask me for a favor.

“Text me if you need anything, boss!” Amy calls out as she turns to go. “Bye, Mr. Rockford—Seth!” And off she goes, practically tripping over her feet as she skitters away.

“She’s cute,” Seth says, watching Amy careen away.

“Yeah, I’ve known her for a long time. She’s very special to me.” He’s still watching Amy running away. I clear my throat. “So, what’s this favor, Seth?”

Seth peels his gaze off Amy’s departing frame and flashes me his best movie-star smile. “My fifteen-year-old son is a huge 22 Goats fan, and it’s his birthday next month.”

Here we go. Despite what I’d heard about Seth being an extremely “transactional” kind of person, I was pleasantly surprised at how welcoming he was to me at the table read the week before last. He was so warm and welcoming toward me, in fact, I thought perhaps the gossip I’d heard about him was sour grapes or exaggeration.

But now, in a flash, I know it was all true—that Seth was grooming me last week to pave the way for this request, whatever it’s going to be. Surely, a guy with an ego the size of Seth Rockford’s won’t be satisfied to get the usual VIP treatment—backstage passes and front row seats to a show. No, my gut tells me he’s going to ask for something much bigger than that.

“My son just started playing drums,” Seth continues. “I was hoping you’d come by my house in the next few weeks, before the production moves to Hawaii, and give him a private lesson.”

I cringe. It’s an even bigger ask than I was anticipating. Why do rich, powerful people always think they can have anything or anyone they want because of who they are? I’ve met quite a few people like Seth the last few years, and I’m constantly amazed at how incapable they are of forging genuine friendships—the kind I have with Dax and Fish and all of Dax’s siblings. With Logan, too. When Logan asked me for that favor for Amy a year ago, the first-ever favor he’d asked me for, he sounded sick to his stomach. Even after I’d said it was nothing, no problem at all, Logan apologized profusely.

But Seth Rockford? Ha! He expects me to come to his house to give a newbie drummer a private lesson, just because he asked. If the situation were reversed, if I had a son who was a fan of Seth Rockford movies, and my kid was enrolled in freshman drama class at school, would Seth happily come to my house and give my son acting lessons, as a favor to me? Of course, he wouldn’t! Because it’d be the height of narcissism for me to even ask one of the top-paid actors in the world to humble himself that way! But how could I possibly say no to the Seth Rockford, who’s not only the star of our movie, but also credited as a co-producer?