Page 94 of As They Are
Neve Bullock:NO
Alicia Parrish:Is he cute in real life too?
“I’m so excited!”Mollie said. “We get to watch the new series while the star of the show watches it with us!”
She had ice cream in her hand. Cain followed behind her with popcorn. Eric grabbed a massive handful and Cain sighed when pieces went everywhere.
“How are you feeling?” Mollie asked, sitting next to me.
“Nervous,” I said. “I know they went a new direction with adding Henry, but it feels too good to be true.”
“I get it,” she said. “But they did such a good job on the first season. I bet this one will be even better.”
I hadn’t seen the first season. By the time I wasn’t filming it, I had no desire to see Jude and me flirt.
I’d never considered seeing myself on TV, not even when I was a kid dreaming. I never thought I was the kind of woman for that. Some days, I still didn’t.
Pulling out my phone, I checked it again, hoping Henry had changed his mind. He was a balm on my frayed nerves, and I knew he would know the perfect thing to say to put my worries to bed. I didn’t want to make him feel bad for taking time for himself, because he more than deserved it.
I just foolishly wished he didn’t shut me out from it.
We’d been spending a lot of time together, but I had a feeling that there was something I was missing. Usually, I didn’t think this hard about people I hung out with, but I wanted to know everything about the man who’d helped me. All that was in my mind was the put-together version of him he showed me.
And I wanted more.
The bar had done nothing for my crush, especially when he’d pulled me close during our dance. I’d been serious when I told him I was fine skipping the dance floor, but now I regretted not staying longer. There was something about him that made me unable to look away, even though I should for my own sake. Hewas good at keeping up boundaries and making sure we didn’t spend too much time together and get confused.
Still, it stung.
“All right, we’re ready.” Mollie turned on the TV and did a little dance before passing the ice cream to Cain. “It’s a shame Henry couldn’t come.”
It was. “Yeah, but he’s literally saving my ass here. He deserves a day off.”
“Is that disappointment I detect?” Mollie asked with an eyebrow raised.
I shrugged as the show started.
The first episode opened with my interview with the camera, in which I talked about how things had changed between Jude and me. The tension was obvious on my face when Jude called us friends, and I was surprised Madison had left that in there.
Then, a drone shot of the library took up the screen, and my voice told the story of how I’d found it.
I left out the part where Henry and I had snuck in, but everything else was true. I felt like it was a forgotten centerpiece of a community. The town was tight-knit but needed a little love. How it had inspired me.
All in all, it was a good beginning. Madison easily could have put me in a bad light after the stunt I pulled.
Then, Jude came on the screen. He told the story of us. How we didn’t work out. And he sounded ... disappointed?
In all of the time I’d worked with him, he’d never given me the time of day. There was no indication he’d missed me at all.
Was he acting again?
“That’s odd,” I said. “I didn’t know they were gonna go for that angle.”
“They could just be wrapping up loose ends,” Cain said.
“They better be,” Mollie said as she grabbed the ice cream from him.
The episode moved to the tour of the library, then to me kissing Henry. My cheeks grew hot the second I saw us, because that looked ...real. And my best friend was watching it while she covered Eric’s eyes.
