Page 69 of First Impressions of You

“What for?”

“Reminding me that I don’t suck at what I do?” he jokes.

“Winter.” I roll my eyes at him, but then I notice a shadow of vulnerability in his eyes and realize he’s not joking at all. “You’re really good at what you do. Are you kidding me? You’re the best actor I’ve ever worked with.” I raise a hand stopping him before he can say anything. “Don’t you dare say I don’t have much experience to begin with. I’ve done a lot of auditions. I’ve shot many student films.”

He laughs. “I wasn’t going to say anything,” he argues, his hands coming up, palms out.

“Yeah, sure.”

“No, but really.” He becomes serious again. “I don’t know if I wanna keep acting. In fact, if you had asked me a couple of months ago, I’d say for sure that I didn’t. But I do want to make movies. I want to write and direct. Put my work out there. You… you made me remember why I want that.”

There’s so much to unpack in what he said, I don’t know where to start.

“What changed from a couple of months ago?”

“You,” he says simply as if that answer didn’t tip my world upside down. “You made me fall in love with acting again.”

“Can I ask you something?”

He nods, eyes cast down, following the movement of his hand, that has left mine and is now slowly caressing my thigh. Up and down. Up and down.

Focus. I need to concentrate to get the question out.

“Why are doing this play? You could be doing any project you wanted. Why the park?”

He looks a little embarrassed now, shaking his head from side to side.

“I made a deal with Emily.” When he looks up, I can see a gleam of joy in his eyes. “She knows the director I wanted to bring in for the movie. I asked her to introduce me to him, but Em’s a tough negotiator. She’d just gotten hired for this play, and she wanted to make her name at Movieland and make sure she’d have a full house all the time, so she offered me the introduction in exchange for me doing the play.”

“Oh,” I yelp, a scene flashing back in my mind. “The day of the audition, I overheard a conversation you had with her—”

He lifts his eyebrows.

“Not proud of that, but I did hear you boasting about how you’d fill up the seats.”

“Well,” he says, extending the syllable with a cocky smile spread on his face, “I wasn’t lying.”

“Oh my God,” I cry. “You’re so full of yourself.” He laughs, and I think this moment right here will be one of my favorite memories of LA when I have to go back to Brazil.

The thought of going back to Brazil suddenly comes crashing down on me with so much power I have a hard time filling my lungs with oxygen. I try to breathe in, but every breath feels empty.

I don’t see Winter getting closer, before I can register it, his hands are cupping my face, his eyes searching mine.

“What happened?” His voice is frightened, his eyes apprehensive.

In just a few months, I might leave. There’s a very good chance that this upcoming Christmas will be my last one in the United States. I have three months left on my visa, and no prospects of getting a sponsorship. Movieland hasn’t so much as mentioned the possibility of sponsoring my work visa, and every day that passes, I feel like the chances get slimmer and slimmer.

The words I said to Julia a couple of months ago come back to me in a flash.

Take these months you have here and have every experience you’ve ever wanted to. Be free. Live your life to the fullest.

I close the short distance between us and seal my lips on his.

Chapter 20

Winter is cautious at first. His lips are gentle against mine, savoring me with calm and patience. But I’m neither calm nor patience. I need more. And I need it fast. I feel like a ticking bomb running out of time.

Opening my lips, I invite him in, and he doesn’t hesitate. He explores my mouth thoroughly, a primal groan escaping his lips when my tongue meets his in a wild dance between us.

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