Page 93 of Nothing Like the Movies

“So this is where it started, huh?” Clark asked, throwing the baseball to me while Lilith filmed.

“Wow, Clark, such hard-hitting questions,” Sarah quippedfrom where she was sitting on the railing of the deck, watching.

Yeah, she is definitely Team Wes and being a little brat, I thought as I squeezed the ball in my glove.

“Listen, Tiny Bennett, when I want your feedback, I will ask for it,” he said, grinning like he’d been waiting all morning for her to mess with him.

We were playing catch in the backyard, and it was totally cheesy, but I was always more comfortable when the ball was in my hand, so I was okay with it. I threw him the ball, and as he caught it he asked, “Is this where your dad taught you to throw a baseball?”

“Another one,” Sarah muttered.

“I guess it is,” I replied, very aware of Liz as she recorded us with a smaller camera. “We used to spend hours back here when I was in Little League.”

“Did your sister shag balls to help?” Clark asked, throwing. “Or just deliver smart-ass comments like some kind of stock side character from a Disney show?”

“Wow,” Sarah yelled, laughing. “Did you just call me a Disney character?”

“All Zuri, no Jessie,” he said, which was a reference I didn’t even get.

But apparently my sister did, because she pointed at him and said, “Zuri was a little badass, so thank you.”

He glanced over at her, shaking his head. “Can you zip it so I can ask a few questions?”

“I’ll zip it,” she said. “But I’m not sure youcanactually ask any decent questions.”

“Sarah isn’t good at quiet,” my mom said. “Her fourth-grade teacher moved her desk into the hallway because she wouldn’t shut up.”

“So on-brand for our Zuri,” Clark said, grinning. Then he asked me, “So Liz was next door when you were playing catch back here with your dad? That’s so funny to me.”

“Those two used to hate each other,” my mom said, sounding happy as she leaned against the fence and explained, “Liz was this quiet little thing who was easily ruffled, and Wessy’s favorite thing in the world was to ruffle anyone and everyone.”

I glanced at Liz, who met my gaze for a second before quickly looking down at her camera. She’d pretty much pretended I didn’t exist since they showed up on my doorstep, keeping her eyes on everythingbutme. Tension hung between us, the color of her cheeks telling me she remembered every little thing that had transpired mere hours before, and I couldn’t stop staring at her lips.

So close.

“She used to getsoirritated when errant throws interrupted her playtime,” I said calmly, like I wasn’t totally struggling to focus on conversation while being hyperaware of Liz’s every movement.

“No, I got irritated when my obnoxious neighbor jumped the fence and harassed me.” She was filming, her attention on the camera, but her tiny smile wasminewhen she added, “He might seem nice now, but Bennett was a menace.”

Fucking yes, tease me, Buxbaum.

“Okay, so I think I’ve got everything I wanted from the house,” Lilith said to Liz, lowering her camera. “The living room, Wes’sbedroom, and the backyard where he learned to play catch. Can you think of anything else we should get here?”

It was obvious Lilith valued Liz’s opinion, and I could tell by the brightness in her eyes that it made Liz happy.

“Um, I think we’re good,” she said, lowering the camera.

“Excellent.” Lilith looked satisfied with that and went back inside, with Sarah and my mom following, so I seized the moment before it was gone.

“Can I talk to you for a quick second, Liz?” I blurted, not exactly sure what I was going to say, to be honest, but needing to clear the air. “It’s about someone we went to high school with.”

Her eyebrows furrowed together. “Who?”

Who?“Uh.” I glanced toward Clark, who didn’t seem to be listening, and said, “Dean Forester.”

Yeah, that only made those eyebrows scrunch together even harder. “Dean Forester?”

I don’t know if Clark heard or not, but he walked over to the patio and started packing up his equipment, his back to us.

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