I DROVE US TO THE RESTAURANT. Another interviewer might have been able to use the extra time in a small space to her advantage, but being a generally nervous driver and having a huge movie star and his new puppy in my passenger seat kept me focused on the road. Instead, it gave Gabe the opportunity to pepper me with questions, which he did almost nonstop. As if I was the subject and he was the interviewer.

“You’re from L.A., right? Like, Hollywood Hollywood? Wow. It must have been cool growing up here.”

“I guess?” I hated that I couldn’t stop responding in a questioning tone. “I mean, it felt normal to me when it was happening.”

“Crazy.” He drummed his fingers across the top of the glove compartment.

There was a slight manic quality to him that seemed more noticeable in the car—like he was literally overflowing with excess energy.

“And you’ve lived here your whole life, right?”

I nodded, white-knuckling my way down the narrow Doñas, praying that we didn’t encounter another car needing to go the opposite way.

He rolled down the window, which seemed to temper his eagerness but did little to help calm me. Now all I could think about was the possibility that his dog, who was now standing on his lap, paws on the armrest, nose twitching in the breeze, might leap out of my moving car and then I’d be the person who killed Gabe Parker’s puppy.

“It’s nice here in the winter,” he said. “I’m usually in Montana with my family around this time, or filming somewhere else. But you probably get bored of all the sunshine, right? I always miss seasons when I’m here. Fall. Spring. Do you miss seasons?”

“Sort of,” I said. “I’m used to it, I guess.”

He nodded, his whole upper body rocking forward with him.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, that makes sense,” he said. “Have you ever been to Montana?”

“No,” I said. “But I’ve heard it’s beautiful.”

“Beautiful? Naw. It’s stunning. Unlike anywhere else,” he said. “We’ll have to get you out there sometime.”

I nodded, as if that was something that might actually happen.

The pub was nice, with brick-lined walls and naked lightbulbs jutting out above each booth. Gabe led me past the bar and out to the back, where there was a table waiting for us and a little bowl of water for the puppy.

“You must love it here,” he said.

I looked around. “I’ve never been here before,” I said.

“Not here.” He tapped the table. “Here.” He gestured broadly. “L.A. You must love it if you came back after college.”

“I do,” I said.

“It’s not what I expected,” he said.

I stiffened.