The door to the dressing room slammed open, banging against the wall.

"So, you're the son of a bitch that's gonna come between us!"

Ritchie looked up to see a tall, thick-chested blond heading toward him with a frown. He froze for a moment, his mind running rapidly over ex-girlfriends, not that there had been that many. Then he realized who the guy was, a moment before the slender, dark-haired woman popped through the door, rolling her eyes as she took in the scenario.

"Oh my God! Please ignore him; sometimes he has problems with reality."

He stood up as Antoinette "Please, for the love of God, call me Toni" Dubon made her way over, moving between them and offering her hand with the same smile he'd found so captivating when he first met her that morning. He'd tested for the role with her reading opposite him, and it was easy to play lovestruck with her on the other side of the words.

"Ritchie, right?" When he nodded she continued. "It's nice to see you again. And this big lug with me is Trey Whitman."

"Otherwise known as Carter Haywood, the guy whose wife you're going to be banging." There was a low drawl in his voice that reminded Ritchie of every cowboy movie he'd ever seen. As a matter of fact, so did Trey himself. Large-framed, tanned, and with a wide-open grin, he looked like he should be riding the range with Randolph Scott or something, not pounding the boards in New York City. Toni backhanded Trey in the stomach, drawing an 'oof' from him and a grin from Ritchie.

Ritchie held up his hands in a conciliatory gesture. "But only on the show."

Trey nodded, grinning as well as his large hand engulfed Ritchie's. "Damn straight!"

That first meeting set the tone of their relationship. Toni and Trey took him under their weird, funny wings. They'd both been on the show for years, Toni since she was ten and Trey since he was seventeen. They'd also both left and come back several times, so they knew the ins and outs. Who to suck up to--the catering crew, make up and the writers; who to ignore--the bitchy diva that had been on the show since it started forty years ago; and who to watch his back around--the gossipy, cutthroat leading man. Ritchie appreciated not having to feel his way blindly along. He also appreciated making new friends so quickly. His college friends were scattered far and wide, making their way in the big bad world, and his New York friends had really been Sasha's, as he'd found out when they broke up.

Over the next few months, the three of them became pretty much inseparable. They worked their schedules to have lunch together whenever they could, met after work, and spent most weekends hanging out. On their show, Trey's character was mature and level-headed, and Toni's character was a wild child, always coming up with crazy ideas and getting into trouble. In real life, Ritchie found it was just the opposite. It was always Trey with a new scheme or joke, the twinkle in his eyes inviting you to play along, and Toni with the voice of reason and caution. As scripted, however, he was somewhere in between, and somehow it worked for them. Ritchie hadn't fallen into such a quick, easy friendship since he was a kid.