21. KitKats and Movie Night

21

KitKats and Movie Nigh t

Emma

After spending the entire day cooling down at the spa, then in my room with the AC set on low, I feel a lot better. I haven’t seen Auston since this morning, and I’m dreading the moment he comes back to the room. I don’t know how to handle flirting. I’ve read about it, but experiencing it firsthand? That’s a totally different ballgame.

My phone chimes—a group chat notification.

Ali ce

Hey Emz, how are things going in Massachusetts?

Hayley

Bonjour, mon amie.

Emma

Hey guys! I’m good. It’s really hot over here, but I’m in the room now, chilling in the AC. Movie is going great. What’s up with you two?

Alice

We’re still in Paris.

Hayley

And still jet-lagged. Eleven p.m., and I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep anytime soon.

Alice

Same here.

Hayley

But it’s fun. I love it here. We went to Notre Dame and the Louvre today!

Alice

And they have some cute bookstores. We took p ics. We even found the French adaptation for Velvet Kisses .

Emma

I’m so glad you’re having fun. Mari texted me earlier; Mr. Darcy is all good too. Happy to be back in the bookstore.

Hayley

I bet he is.

Alice

What about your fake-dating situation? Any news?

I see where she’s going with this, and I will never, ever admit to that weird flirting thing from earlier.

Emma

Same old. Actually, haven’t really seen him much today, but I’m sure he’ll get back to the room soon.

Alice

THE room?

Alice

What do you mean?

Alice

Don’t you have your own room?

Alice

OMG!

Crap . I was so focused on avoiding the whole flirting thing, I forgot to omit that tiny detail.

Hayley

Emz, is this a one bed situation?

Alice keeps sending the excited emoji, and I know she won’t stop until I reply.

Emma

Yes.

Alice

Yess! My favorite trope.

Great. I’m doomed.

Hayley

How’s that going?

I shrug, even though they can’t see me.

Emma

It’s just sleeping. Nothing has changed.

Alice

Really? You’re sleeping next to a demi-god and nothing has changed?

Emma

Nope. Sorry to disappoint.

Hayley

It’s only been one night, though. How long are you staying there again?

Emma

Six days

Hayley

Plenty of time.

Alice

Exactly!

Hayley

I have to say, your life sounds pretty fun right now. Living it up while fake dating your high school crush, who also happens to be a famous actor, and now throwing One Bed into the mix? Not bad.

Emma

Says the girl who’s traveling around Paris with her hockey player boyfriend, who pursued her from day one. You win this one. Anyway, you should go to bed. It’s late, and I’m being called on set.

Yes, I’m lying to my friends, but I need out of this conversation, stat.

Alice

Of course. We don’t want to keep you from Auston ;)

Hayley

Have fuuun. Love you.

Instead of replying, I just turn the chat off. No need to entertain them any longer.

Auston and I had dinner with the rest of the crew in the hotel restaurant. No need to spend more one-on-one time with him than necessary. Can you bla me me? I’m in a very fragile state today.

Unfortunately, everyone else turns in early, and I’m once again alone with him in the room.

“We should watch a movie,” he says, leaning on the bathroom door.

I roll my eyes.

“Come on, it’ll be fun,” he says with a bright smile. Dang it. Something inside of me stirs, and I can’t bring myself to turn him down. This is bad—really bad. I hate it.

“Fine,” I grumble.

“You choose the movie. They have all the streaming services here. While you do that, I’ll go grab us some snacks,” he says. “We can’t do a movie night without snacks.”

I chuckle, snatching the remote and sinking into the two-seater couch in the living room section of the suite. There’s no way we’re watching this movie in bed. When I scroll through the catalog, I stop when I see Auston’s face. My lips twitch. Okay, maybe watching a movie could be fun.

I select the movie and press pause, glad that the title doesn’t show on the screen. Better if it’s a surprise.

A few minutes later, Auston returns with a small bag full of snacks.

I arch an eyebrow. “Did you rob the vending machine or something?”

“Hey, I worked all day. You can’t blame me for being hungry.”

I laugh as he sits down next to me. As he gets comfortable, he asks, “What movie did you choose?”

“I don’t know.” I shrug, feigning ignorance. “Just something that sounded interesting.”

I start the movie, and he plunges his hand into the snack bag, unwrapping a KitKat bar. My heart swells when I see it.

He breaks it in two and offers me half. “Just like old times,” he says.

I bite my bottom lip. “You remember?”

“Of course I do.”

We stare at each other for a few seconds, and he cocks his head to the side, probably wondering if I’m going to take the chocolate or not. I grab it from his hand and bite into it. It’s so good. So crunchy and sweet. Now I remember why I always loved them so much. “Wow. I haven’t had a KitKat in years.”

“Really? I get them all the time. Hands down my favorite snack.” He winks, and I reluctantly direct my attention to the screen. I can feel Auston’s body heat radiating beside me, which isn’t helping with the feverish state that has plagued me since this morning. S till, it’s a good kind of warmth, reassuring. Wait, no. I should really scoot over. I try to move away, but I’m already at the end of the couch. If I scoot any more, I’ll be on the floor.

The opening credits are done, and a guy is now walking, his back to the camera. Not just any guy, though. I’d recognize that hair and those broad shoulders anywhere.

“Oh, no no no!” Auston says, throwing the snacks on the table and fumbling for the remote. “We’re not watching that.”

“Why not? You wanted a movie. This fits the criteria,” I say as I eat the rest of my KitKat, a smirk on my lips.

“Emma, please. Turn it off.” He finally spots the remote on my armrest and tries to make a grab for it, but I’m faster. He’s now fighting me for the remote. Luckily, I have the upper hand. He’s in an awkward position, halfway hovering over me while simultaneously trying not to touch me. Suddenly, our faces are close, just a few inches separating us. His lips are nearly touching mine, his eyes holding me captive. That’s it, I need a distraction. Anything to keep me from kissing this man, here and now.

“Oh, look!” I shout. “There you are.” Of course the only thing capable of distracting me from Auston is Auston—in a white lab coat, no less. “Oh, I love that look! Very McDreamy,” I say, glancing at Real Auston, who’s now seated next to me again. But he’s covering his face with his hands.

“Please,” he begs.

On the screen, Doctor Auston leads a pretty girl into an empty exam room, and they start kissing. He shrugs his coat off, and—okay. That’s enough. I grab the remote and turn the TV off.

“Thank you,” he breathes, his hands falling.

“What was that all about?” His reaction was almost as bad as me on the beach earlier.

“I never, ever , ever watch my own movies.”

“Wow. That’s a lot of ‘ever.’ Why, though? Isn’t the whole point to see the final product?”

He shakes his head vehemently. “Absolutely not. That’s the director's job. I just act how I’m told to and call it a day.”

I shake my head. “But that’s crazy. Don’t you want to see how you did? And what about the premieres? Those are first screenings, right? You don’t have a choice there.”

He chuckles. “Like I said, never, ever . When I’m at a premiere, I usually hide in another room until the movie is over.”

My jaw drops. “No way.”

“Oh, yeah. When I was first starting out, I used to watch the episodes I was shooting, but I hated it so much. Every second was torture, so I decided to stop. It’s better for my sanity that way. And believe it or not, a lot of actors—if not most—don’t watch their own movies. We take a long time filming them. We live the movie for so long, by the end, we know them by heart anyway. Plus, as I said, it’s way too weird and painful.”

I cough out a small laugh. “Fine. I get it, I guess.”

“Can you please choose something else? I still want to watch a movie with you.”

A smile breaks onto my face, because right now, he looks so much like Teenage Auston, begging me to help him with his homework.

“I can. Avert your eyes, though. You might appear on the screen when I turn the TV back on.”

“Haha.”

I press the remote, and sure enough, there he is, about to take his coat off. I press “back” on the remote and continue to browse the romance movies. He seems to be in every single one, and I’m beginning to think I might have to watch some of them. I can always skip the kissing scenes. “Are you in every romantic movie ever made or what?”

He winces. “I know. It’s a problem. I should show this catalog to my mom the next time she comes with yet another romcom.”

“I didn’t mean it in a bad wa y,” I say, tilting my head. “Obviously, it’s my favorite genre. I do own a romance bookstore, after all.”

“I know.” He sighs. “And I like doing them. I just don’t love it anymore. I’ve been trying to land some more serious roles lately, but somehow, I always end up back here.”

“Can’t your mom do anything about it?”

He scoffs. “You just put your finger on the core of the problem. She pushes me to do these commercial movies because they bring money and fame. But after ten years of doing this, I feel like it’s time to try something else, you know?”

“Yeah, I get that. Romance can get a little repetitive after a while.”

He rubs his chin. “Tell me about it. But my mom always manages to convince me to do just one more. Every time, it’s a bigger project, or with a better payout, and I end up accepting because it’s a good business decision.”

“Right. But just because it’s good for business doesn’t mean it’s good for you.”

“Exactly! That’s what I keep telling her, but my mom is all business. That’s all she sees. And I can’t really blame her. She’s a rockstar at it. We went from lining up at the soup kitchen to living in million-dollar mansions within a few years, but I don’t know.”

My heart constricts. “Soup kitc hen?”

“Oh,” he says, looking away. “I sometimes forget how good I already was at pretending from a young age.” He clears his throat. “We were poor, really poor. Why do you think we never studied at my place? My house was smaller than this hotel suite, and I was ashamed of it. No one from school knew where I lived or how I lived. If they had, they’d have demoted me to unpopular in no time.”

I shake my head. “I wouldn’t have. It doesn’t change anything.”

“But you know how it is in high school, especially when you’re popular. So I hid my family’s situation, and I was already loving the “pretend” part. My mom was great at thrifting nice clothes. It was like putting on a costume every morning.”

“So, you were pretending the entire time?” I ask, needles piercing my heart.

“What? No!” He takes my hand, and I draw a quick breath. My body is consumed by flames, and everything aches and stirs like never before and it’s starting to making me heady. “I never pretended with you, Emma. That’s why I loved spending time with you. I could be myself with you. I was actually going to tell you about my situation, but—”

“You left. ”

He slips his hand away. “I left. I had to. It was our only shot at a normal life. That’s what my mom told me at the time.” His lips tilt into a weak smirk. “Well, look at my life now. I may not be poor anymore, but there’s nothing normal about it.”

“But you’re happy, right?” I ask, unable to help myself. I need to know.

“I am now,” he whispers, his gaze trapping me. He glances to my lips, then back to my eyes. And just like back at Michaela’s party, I feel it. This is the moment when he’s going to kiss me.

Clearing my throat, I focus on the screen again. I can’t let that happen. I’ve seen that movie before, and I don’t want to relive the ending. “Oh, how about this one?” I say.

After a moment, he sighs. “I’m in that one too.”

“Really?” I furrow my eyebrows. Usually, his face is plastered on the cover.

“Yup. I’m the ex. We don’t see me as much, though, so we could go for it if you really want to.”

“No.” I shake my head. “Let’s watch something you’re not in.”

I think it’s better for both of us. I need to keep my distance from Auston, and while I can’t scoot any further without falling on my butt, I can choose a different movie. Because having him both on the scree n and breathing next to me would not help my cause.