Page 378 of How to Kiss a Hawthorne Brother
The only reason I caved and let Olivia add it to the stack of clothes I was already embarrassed to be buying was because it’s vegan leather. I’m not anti-leather. But I maybeamanti-leather-that-costs-two-thousand dollars. This was a fraction of that amount, but it still feels soft and luxurious and, bonus, it’s pretty practical. Big enough to hold a book and my water bottle and my iPad, should I have any need to work or do research while I’m gone.
Summer grabs my suitcase, which is also new (don’t judge—I know it’s ridiculous), and I grab my carry-on, following her to the living room. By the time we open the front door, Flint is already on the porch.
Summer lets out a little gasp when he smiles at her. “Summer?” he clearly guesses—there’s no way he can tell my sisters apart—and Summer grins.
“Excellent guess,” she says.
“I figured I had a fifty/fifty chance,” he says easily. He turns to look at me. “Hey,” he says easily. “You look good.”
“Thanks. Are Nate and Joni not coming?”
“They’re already at the airport. There was some sort of trouble with our connecting flight, and Joni thought she’d have an easier time working out the details in person.”
“Oh. We’re flying commercial?” The question sounds so completely pretentious, it almost makes me wince, but we definitely didn’t fly commercial on our way to New York, so I’d expected it would be the same this time, too. “Not that I mind,” I quickly say. “Of course I don’t mind. Seeing as how I’ve flown on a private jet exactly one time, I don’t exactly have grounds to simplyexpectit. Who even does that? Just assumes they get to travel on a private jet—annndI’m rambling,” I say. “I’ll shut up now.”
Flint reaches for the biggest suitcase.
“Be careful, that one’s heav…” Summer’s words trail off as Flint lifts the suitcase like I packed it with feathers and slides it into the back of his truck. “Or not so heavy,” she says under her breath.
“I almost always fly commercial.” He comes back for my carry-on bag. “All those CO2 emissions for one guy feels a little excessive.”
Summer grabs my arm and gasps. “Audrey! He speaks your language.”
I shrug out of her grip and shoot her a look that saysshut up right now or I’m evicting you out of my basement,but only because that’s an easy distraction from the fact that FlintHawthorne actually cares about CO2 emissions, and that’s doing crazy things to my heart.
“The private jet was a luxury just for you,” he says, and Summer sighs. “Now he’s speakingmylanguage.”
I grab the last of the suitcases and follow Flint. “Tell Lucy I said goodbye?” I say over my shoulder, ignoring her last comment. “I’ll text you both and let you know I’ve arrived safely.”
Summer shrugs. “Sure. But don’t worry. If we don’t get a text, we’ll just turn on TMZ and wait for you to show up.”
“TM-what?”
“It’s a gossip—you know what? Never mind. Just text us,” Summer says.
I’m buckled into the passenger seat, my bag at my feet, before Flint and I speak again. He looks over at me, and I reach over and press a hand to his cheek. “It’s really growing in.”
His facial hair has been a hot topic lately. He hasn’t shaved all week, his attempt to disguise his face for our trek through the airport. At first, I didn’t understand. The whole point of our trip is for us to beseen.But Flint assured me we’ll be seen regardless of facial hair. “Lots of people will recognize me no matter what,” he told me. “But we still have to make it through security and walk through the airport without getting mobbed. It’s all about balance.”
“It’s itchy,” Flint says. “I’m shaving the second we get to LA.”
“I really like it,” I say. “I think it makes you look mysterious.”
His lips lift into an easy grin. “My brothers say it makes me look like I’m trying too hard.”
“They do not.”
He shrugs as he backs out of my driveway. “They like to keep me humble.”
“They’re crazy. It looks really good on you,” I say, because it really does. He’s got a good jawline, so he’s ridiculouslyhandsome either way, but as a woman who loves the outdoors, this slightly more rugged look on Flint is really doing it for me.
“Yeah?” He looks genuinely pleased by this, which surprises me but still makes me smile.
Before this summer, I’d never given a thought to what it might be like to be a celebrity, but after meeting Flint, finding out about his fame, his money, the never-ending attention that’s thrown his way, I somehow assumed he must never feel insecure or lack confidence. With so much evidence of his success constantly surrounding him, how could he? These tiny moments, when he seems less superstar and more human, are nice to see.
Which is funny, really. When we first met, and my sisters completely freaked out, I was the one who insisted that he’s just a man. I don’t love how little it took to make me forget. One private plane ride to New York City, and I started seeing amovie startoo.
An uncomfortable feeling niggles at the back of my mind.
