Page 410 of How to Kiss a Hawthorne Brother
Lennox:This is important. Especially because you’re famous. Having a partner who has a strong sense of self matters. What else?
Flint:She’s gorgeous. Like, knock the breath out of me beautiful. She’s the person I want to tell whenever anything good happens, but I also want to talk to her when something really sucks. I just…want her to be my person.
Brody:Sigh. <3
Perry:<3 <3 <3
Lennox:I’m literally crying right now!
Flint:Stop with the exclamation points and heart emojis or I’m making you give the phones back to your husbands.
Perry:Flint, you don’t really need our help. Do you know why you’re a good actor? You have high emotional intelligence. You get how people feel, and you translate that into how you act.
Brody:Ohhh, that’s so true, Lila.
Lennox:Which means you know her, Flint. You know what she needs.
Brody:But also, maybe hire some female security. If you’re going to have security people around all the time, might be nice if she has someone who can also be her friend.
Flint:Thanks, y’all.
Perry:We really like her, Flint. Good luck. Let us know if you need us again. <3
Brody:You can do it! Win her heart! <3
Lennox:<3 <3 <3
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Perry:Oh wow. That’s a lot of heart emojis.
Chapter Thirty
Audrey
Lucy wakes me upthe following morning by climbing into my bed.
“What is happening?” I mumble sleepily, squinting against the Saturday morning sunshine pouring through my window.
“Look at this,” she says, snuggling in beside me and holding up her phone. “Someone stopped Flint on his way out of a restaurant the other night, and he actually answered a question about the whole fake dating thing.”
“Wait, he talked about it?”
“I mean, he didn’t say much, but yeah. Here. Watch.” She cues up the video and holds her phone in the air above us so we can both watch. It begins with a commentator providing a summary of the allegations in the original story, then cuts to a clip of Flint’s response during the panel at UCLA, and then, finally, a clip of Flint on the sidewalk outside a restaurant.
“I have nothing but positive feelings for all my co-stars fromTurning Tides.Claire and I ended our relationship amicably, and we’ve remained friends. As for my current relationship, I can assure you, everything I’m feeling is very real.”
Lucy drops the phone and turns her head to look at me. “So smart, right? He didn’t lie by refuting the story, but he also made it seem like it was all just total baloney. And he totally did it on the spot!”
I take a deep breath, still trying to wake up, and stretch my arms over my head. “Smart, yes. But it probablywasn’ton the spot. My guess is his publicist planted that reporter on purpose and coached Flint on how to respond.”
“Really? They do that?”
“Of course they do. When we flew into LAX, why do you think there were so many people there to see us arrive? Flint’s publicist leaked our travel plans on purpose. We needed to be seen together, so he made sure we were seen.”
