Page 11 of First Impressions of You

Except today, of course.

Olivia and I are getting out of the elevator at the administrative building we all simply call 441, when I run right into Cameron on our way to the team wardrobe.

“I’m so sorry,” he apologizes, holding my arm to keep my balance. His eyes find mine and his smile widens. “Luiza!”

“Cameron! Hi!”

“Just Cam,” he reminds me.

“Right, sorry.” Next to me, Olivia clears her throat. I give her an annoyed look. “This is Olivia,” I tell him. “My sister.”

“Another one?” he asks teasingly.

“We come in packs,” Olivia jokes. Cam laughs at that, but his eyes roam around, looking for someone else.

“And Julia?” His voice is so soft when he asks about my other sister, I can’t help but smile.

“She doesn’t work here.” His lips turn downward. “She was just meeting me for lunch the other day,” I explain.

The fact that he doesn’t hide his disappointment earns him some points with me. Julia’s someone who wears her heart on her sleeve, and she deserves to find someone who’s like that too. Especially when she hasn’t had much experience in this department, which has made me very protective of her. She’s my absolute favorite person in the world, and I want to keep anyone from ever hurting her.

“I was hoping to see her around,” he confesses, earning a full-on smile from me. I didn’t know I could like him more than I already did, but Cam is quickly rising in my ranking of favorite people.

It’s like watching a teenager discovering love right in front of my eyes.

“You know what?” I make a very out-of-character decision. “How about I give you her phone number?”

That earns me a surprised look from Olivia, who’s been watching the exchange with nothing but boredom in her eyes ever since she realized Cam wasn’t someone she could flirt with.

“Would she be okay with that?” Cam asks, even though he’s clearly excited with the prospect. I mentally give him a few extra points.

“Of course. Here, give me your phone.” I put my sister’s number in and return the phone to him.

“You know what?” He points his phone to me. “I really like you, Luiza.” We share a smile.

“I like you too, Cameron.” All I can do is hope he doesn’t do anything to Julia that will change that.

“Cam,” he corrects me.

“Cam,” I repeat at the same time someone else calls him. A smoky voice I unfortunately already know very well.

The wardrobe on the third floor of the 441 building has always been a bit of a sanctuary for me. Whenever I don’t feel like spending my break socializing in the break room, I come here. In front of the elevator, there’s a little lounge area, right between the locker rooms, with a sofa and two armchairs that are perfect to spend some time doing nothing but resting.

Even though there’s high traffic of team members coming and going, it’s weirdly peaceful. No one stops by to talk your ear off. No one sits too close to you. No one brings smelly food.

It’s my secret spot. My safe haven.

It’s not a place I like Winter invading.

“Davis.” Cam turns to his friend with a smile Winter doesn’t deserve. I mentally take out some points from Cam just by association.

A loud clank draws my attention to the floor. Olivia crunches down to grab the phone she’s just dropped. I take that excuse to turn my focus away from the two actors.

“You good?” I ask Olivia in a whisper when I noticed her weird expression.

“Holy fuck, is that Winter Davis?” Olivia’s voice booms in the empty lounge. She has never understood the concept of whispering.

Winter looks our way, our eyes locking for a second too long before he moves on to my sister. If I thought his eyes were icy when he looked at me, they were nothing in comparison to the way he looks at her. He’s shooting daggers her way, and although most of the times I want to do the same to her, I’m not about to let him treat my little sister like this. I don’t care that he’s annoyed that she knows who he is.

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