Page 61 of How to Kiss a Movie Star
Flint:Noted. I hope you’ll enjoy this one anyway.
Flint:Have a good day, Audrey.
Flint:I’ll be thinking about you.
I lean back into the seat, keenly aware of the way my heart is fluttering. I don’t have a lot of experience with this sort of thing, but Flint’s texts feel…I don’t know. Likemore.Not quite flirting exactly, but like more than he would say to a casual acquaintance. But maybe I’m wrong. Maybe Flint is this thoughtful and solicitous with everyone he texts.
I take a couple of screenshots of our last few texts and send them to my sisters.
Audrey:Give me your thoughts.
Summer:Ummm, he’s totally into you.
Lucy:Yep. Agreed.
Audrey:But is he really? How am I supposed to know what’s real when our relationship is fake?
Lucy:I mean, you’ll only be faking it in public, right? Why would his text messages be fake?
Summer:I agree with Lucy. I think he’s into you for real. But you still have to talk to him. You need rules, woman.
My sisters can’t be right.
I’ve lost sleep over the idea of being afakemovie star girlfriend.
I wouldn’t know the first thing about being a real one.
Still, as I look at the basket sitting next to me and pull out a bag of chocolate-covered almonds, I let myself indulge in a frivolous, ridiculous thought:A girl could definitely get used to this.
Oh my.If I thought limo service directly from my front porch was nice, I don’t even knowwhatto think now.
Because we’re at the Asheville airport. On the tarmac. Beside a private jet.
No lines. No ticketing agents. No security checkpoint. Just me, Charlie, and a set of stairs leading onto an actual airplane that is only here for me.
“This is not for real,” I say out loud.
But then Olivia, Flint’s younger sister, appears at the top of the stairs. “Audrey! You’re here!”
Another woman appears beside her. Kate, I think? She’s married to one of Flint’s brothers, but I can’t remember which one. She smiles wide and waves.
I look at Charlie, and he nods, as if he understands he needs to give me a nudge. “This is where I leave you,” he says. “I hope you have a lovely trip.”
Trip?Where on earth am I going? And for what?
“Come on!” Kate calls. “We’ve got places to go, baby!”
Olivia meets me halfway up the stairs and pulls me into a big hug. “How are you? Were you so surprised? Are you so excited?”
“Um, should I be excited?” I manage to say. “I still have no idea what we’re doing.”
“Oh, girl, you should absolutely be excited.” She wraps an arm around me and pulls me onto the plane. Which isnotlike a plane. It’s more like an upscale living room. Leather seats that swivel to face any direction. Sleek wood trim. An actual couch stretching along one side of the plane. Opposite the couch, there’s a table holding a full spread of breakfast foods. Muffins, juice, quiche, five different kinds of fruit.
I look at Olivia. “Is this all for us?”
She nods. “Are you hungry? We’ve been waiting for you, but Tatum over there might eat her arm if we don’t dig in soon.”
“It’s the breastfeeding,” Tatum says. “I’m literally starving all the time.”
