Page 13 of How to Kiss a Movie Star
“There’s more,” Lucy says as she protectively crowds around her food. “No stealing.”
When I’m back at the table, plate heaped with a second serving of pasta, my sisters are both eating, but their eyes are still wide, like they’re processing something unbelievable.
I don’t get it. So the man is famous. It’s his job just like biology is my job or the law is Summer’s job. Why should we treat him any differently than we treat anyone else?
“I don’t think you’re understanding what we want, Audrey,” Lucy says, her fork hovering in the air. “We need a play-by-play. Every single thing he said. Every single thing you said. All of it.”
They can’t actually be serious, but their expressions are sincere and earnest. I breathe out a sigh. “This is ridiculous.”
“I fed you dinner,” Lucy argues. “Indulge us.”
“Fine, but it isn’t a very exciting story.”
I walk my sisters through a quick rundown of my interactions with Flint, even backing up enough to include our run-in at the Feed ’n Seed this morning.
The only thing I edit out is Flint’s attempts to make me smile. It’s probably silly, but in the back of my mind, I somehow know that if I imply a movie star was flirting withme,my sisters won’t believe it. I might be as socially adept as an alligator snapping turtle, but I do have some pride. I’d rather not feel the sting of their disbelief or hear them laugh at such a ludicrous idea.
“And that was pretty much it,” I finish. “We shook hands. He wished me luck. He said goodbye.”
“You touched him,”Summer says dreamily. “You touched Flint Hawthorne.”
“Who cares?” I say, even if the thought does make my gut clench the slightest bit. “It doesn’t change the fact that now heknowsI’ve been on his property, and he’ll be looking for me if I go back.” I slump back into my chair. “It would be a win for me workwise if I could find evidence of these squirrels. And right now, I need a win.”
Summer frowns. “Have you still not heard from the foundation people about your grant?”
I shrug. “It’s still under review, but my gut says they’re going a different direction.”
Even though I’m technically an employee of Carolina Southern University, my research is funded by grants—not the university itself. The universitydidown the forest—it was left to the school when some fancy alumni person died—but they weren’t able to get an official state designation as a research forest, so after three years of trying, they sold it.
To Flint Hawthorne, apparently.
I’m not deluded enough to think that discovering white squirrels in Polk County would save my grant. But it would give me the chance to validate the research I completed for my PhD. And itmightmake it easier to find new funding, if (when?) it comes to that.
“You’ll figure something out,” Lucy says. “Even if you lose your funding, you can still teach.”
“For a while. But a PhD with no research is like a doctor with no patients. The university won’t tolerate it for long.”
I think of the grad students I’ve worked with over the past few years. And the friends I’ve made at the forest service research lab. Carolina Southern has been leasing access to the lab so I have a home base formyresearch, and the forest rangers who work there have become good friends. It was one of them who first tipped me off about white squirrels in Polk County in the first place.
If I lose my funding, I’ll lose them too.
A silence settles across the table, but I can tell by my sisters’ starry-eyed expressions that they’re still thinking about Flint and not my potential job woes.
“I still can’t believe you actually touched him,” Lucy says with a sigh. “I would have been a complete wreck.”
“I would have cried,” Summer says. “Big, fat, genuine tears. Either that, or I would have wet my pants.”
I push my empty plate away and let out a tiny laugh. “It wasn’t that big a deal. He seemed pretty normal, honestly.”
“Ha! Normal,” Summer says. “That’s funny.”
“I wish you’d been wearing something different,” Lucy says, sitting up a little taller in her chair. Apparently, we’re going to talk about Flint and only Flint for the rest of eternity. “Or at least had on a little bit of makeup.”
I tense the slightest bit but quickly shake it off, giving my shoulders an easy roll. “Why? What would it have mattered? I wasn’t there for him. I was there for the squirrels.”
“Still. Stranger things have happened,” Lucy says. “He’s young, single…”
This makes Summer giggle. “Can you imagine? Flint Hawthorne asking outAudrey?”
