Page 111 of How to Kiss a Movie Star
I have so much I want to tell her.
But I can’t say anything until I’m holding her.
I hurry forward, catching her when she launches herself into my arms. I spin her around, hugging her close, then slowly lower her to the ground, her body flush against mine.
Her hands lift to my face, and she pushes up on her toes to kiss me, stopping just before her lips meet mine. “You haven’t said anything yet, Flint.”
“I love you,” I whisper. “I love you so much.”
She smiles, her nose brushing against mine. “I love you, too.”
When our lips finally touch, it feels like our first kiss all over again. All the fire, all the passion and excitement, but there’s something else now too.
Now, there’s a promise threaded through each touch, each caress of her skin against mine. I pull back, my hands lifting to her face. “Hey, I need to tell you something.”
Her eyes flutter open. “Okay.”
“Come inside and sit.”
Her eyebrows lift, and she bites her lip.
“It’s good. I swear it’s good,” I say. “Just come on.”
I leave her on the couch and run to my office where I grab the list I printed off for her earlier. I take it back to the living room and sit down beside her.
“This is for you.”
She takes the single sheet of paper, her brow furrowing as she looks it over.
“It took a little bit of leg work. And quite a few phone calls. Mark and Deidre helped with that—they have a lot of connections. But all these organizations have grant money that’s currently available,andthey’re interested in seeing your proposal.”
Audrey looks up. “You did this?”
“I mean, Mark did a lot of it. And nobody guaranteed anything. But there’s a lot of money in California. And a lot of environmentalists who are concerned about development and how it impacts—”
She cuts off my words with a kiss, her fingers tangling in my hair. I could keep doing this all night, but I’m not finished yet. There’s something else I still need to show her. I pull away, but she holds me close, her hands moving to the sides of my face. “I can’t believe you did this,” she says. “Flint. This is amazing.”
“Like I said, there are no guarantees.”
“I know,” she says quickly. “I know. But it’s a place to start.”
I jump off the couch, not even trying to curb my enthusiasm. IwantAudrey to know how excited I am about this. Aboutus.“Okay, I have one more thing to show you.”
She laughs. “What has gotten into you?”
This time, I head to my bedroom and grab the Feed ’n Seed bag from the top of my dresser. I carry it back to the living room and set it on the back of the chair, then pull out the camouflage sweatshirt I picked up on my way home. “I got this today. And I hat, too.” I pull out a baseball cap trimmed with leaves, just like the one she was wearing when I found her hidden on the trail. “I figured, this way, if you ever want to go out to observe the squirrels or birds or whatever, I can come too.”
She studies me for a long moment, her eyes shining. “Flint,” she finally says. “This is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me.”
I lick my lips and hurry back to the couch, reaching for her hands. “Audrey, I know my life is big and stressful and frequently stupid. But I fell in love with a biologist, and I don’t ever want you tostopbeing a biologist. I see you, all right? Your life won’t get swallowed by mine because I won’t let it. It’s too important to me. You’re too important to me.”
She smiles through her tears, then kisses me for a very long time.
Later, when we’re stretched out on the couch, Audrey snuggled against me, she lifts her head, propping her chin on my chest. “You know, it’s okay ifsomeof my life gets swallowed by yours.”
“Yeah? Like what?”
“I mean, if we get to the point where we’re choosing houses, I definitely choose this one.”
