Page 12 of How to Kiss a Movie Star
I take a long swig of water. “Honestly, what’s the big deal with him?”
“Oh my gosh,” Summer says. She lowers her face into her hands. “You met Flint Hawthorne, and you don’t even care.”
Lucy scoffs. “Of course she doesn’t care. This is Audrey. What else would you expect?”
“I mean, sure,” Summer concedes. “Maybe I wouldn’t expect her to win a game of ‘Who’s Who on the Red Carpet,’ but we’re talking aboutFlint Hawthorne.He’s this generation’s Tom Cruise.”
“I do know Tom Cruise,” I say unhelpfully. Just don’t ask me to name any of his movies. Something with planes and missions, maybe? Oh! And the one where he was a sports agent. I watched that one on an airplane once. “But you still haven’t answered my question,” I say to my sisters. “How did you guys know some random actor was moving to Silver Creek?”
“He’s from here,” they say in unison.
“He’s aHawthorne,” Lucy adds, emphasizing his last name. “Like, a Stonebrook Farm Hawthorne.”
I recognize the Stonebrook Farm name—it’s a commercial farm on the other side of town. But the last name doesn’t mean much.
“He was a few years ahead of us in school,” Summer says, “so we never met him. But he’s like, the darling child of Silver Creek.”
“He’s younger than you though,” Lucy clarifies. “I bet you went to school with one of his older brothers.”
“You’re forgetting I didn’t go to high school in Silver Creek,” I say. “And I don’t remember anyone from middle or elementary school.”
Summer waves her hands in front of us like this whole conversation is suddenly bugging her. Neither of my sisters has taken a single bite of their food. “We’re missing the point,” she says. “The most important thing here is that Flint Hawthorne ishere, and you just met him. You need to tell us everything.” She leans forward, her posture mirroring Lucy’s. “What was he like?”
“What was he wearing?” Lucy adds.
“What did he say?”
“Did he smile? He’s famous for his smile.”
“Is he as gorgeous in person as he is in movies?”
My sisters are identical twins, but I can always tell them apart even without using the cheater butterfly tattoo Lucy has on the back of her neck just below her hairline. From their mannerisms to the way they style their hair, even just the way they carry themselves.
But every once in a while, there will be a moment like this one where they look so completely identical that if you took a freeze frame and only showed me their faces, I wouldn’t be able to tell who is who.
I take a deliberate bite of food, chewing slowly, then take a long swig of water.
They watch and wait, their eyes tracking my every move. “Seeing as how I’ve never seen him in a movie,” I finally say, “I’m not sure I could possibly judge.”
“But hewasgorgeous.” Lucy says this like it’s a statement, not a question.
I shrug. “I really liked his house. The outside, at least.”
“She’s face to face with Flint Hawthorne, and she notices the house,” Summer says dryly.
“Come on, Audrey,” Lucy says. “Try? For us? There has to be something you can tell us.”
I pause, my fork hovering over my plate. All things considered, the man I met this afternoonwasobjectively handsome. Fit. Nice jawline. Nice hair. Blue eyes that I can conjure in my mind with very little effort. A smile nice enough to trigger a dopamine spike.
I put my fork down as a flush rushes through my body, warming my skin as I remember the way he looked at me when he asked me my name.
Lucy gasps. “Oh my gosh.” She reaches over and grabs Summer’s arm. “She’s blushing. Audrey never blushes. What happened? What aren’t you telling us?”
I roll my eyes. “Nothinghappened.” I grab my fork and shove a giant bite of pasta into my mouth. “Yes, he’s handsome,” I say. “I noticed. Is that what you want me to tell you? He was wearing a T-shirt. Jeans. His hands were dirty like he’d been working in the yard. But he’d be more handsome if he would let me onto his property.”
“He was working in his yard?” Lucy asks, her voice small and dreamlike. “That’s so sexy.”
I scoff and stand up from the table. “Is there more? If there isn’t, you guys better start eating or I’m going to steal your plates.”
