Page 22 of Kiss and Tell
I go looking for her but come up empty. She must be in her room since I can’t find her anywhere else.
“Oh Banner, you want to come with us. Me and the boys are going into town to find out if there’s a good place to dance and get a drink around here. You and Wisteria want to come with us?”
“Uh, not tonight, Rachel. I think me and Winnie are going to stay in tonight, maybe use the movie theater.”
She gives me a lopsided grin, “You and her are so sweet together. I love how you call her Winnie. And how she looks at you.”
My hearing perks up. “How she looks at me?” She nods. “How does she look at me?”
“Like you might be her own personal hero. Like she’s just seen her happily ever after come to life.” She giggles and steps closer but not close enough I feel crowded. “Like you might not be real.”
I look at her with a questioning stare but before I can ask, she is telling me. “Like you might be too good to be true and she’s desperately hoping some of what she’s seeing from you isn’t just for the movie.”
“She’s worried about,” I wave my hands around, “this being all an act I’m putting on.”
“I don’t think… well, it just seems that our Wisteria is very… young and sweet. I don’t think she realizes why you are kissing her, or that you stare at her so long because you can’t take your eyes off her, or that you might be just as nervous as she is about this all being make-believe.”
We hear a soft gasp from the steps and look up to spot a blur of white rushing up the stairs. I know it’s Wisteria. Rachel steps back and I realize just how close we have come since she was telling me she can also tell how innocent Wisteria is. It might look like we were…
“Oh shit.”
“If I was a smart man, I would be letting her know. Things like this have a way of growing bigger the longer they’re left to fester. And I wouldn’t let what we do for a living, get in the way of my happiness.”
“Really? Because just in case you were wondering, there’s a man that happens to be looking at you the same way I am looking at Winnie…and it isn’t Cord.”
With that parting shot, I take the steps two at a time to our floor. I don’t even look back to see the look on Rachel’s face. I grab the door ready to show Wisteria that I am sincere, but the door is locked.
“Wisteria, open the door.”
“No!”
I should have known that was how that was going to go. I try again, “Wisteria, please, we need to talk.”
“I don’t have anything outside of the movie to say to you.”
“Wisteria…” I’m getting nowhere this way. Instead, I back away and rethink what will work. I slowly walk away… for now. I could stand here and beat my head against the wall, yell and scream and act like an ass, but that won’t do me any good. No. I have things I need to do, things that I need to work into place before I go through with the plan bubbling up inside my head.
I step away from the door and spin around. Anyone who knows me understands I am a very patient man. And I can be very persistent. I’m not going to let this go. I’m not going to let my little starlet get away without a fight. Without at least making her understand how I feel about her and this thing that seems to be growing between us.
If my little starlet wants a hero, I plan to give her one. I’ll play the knight in shining armor and sweep her off her feet, but she better be prepared because this hero isn’t the one she’s going to be expecting. This is me. All real, all raw, all for her. My armor might be a little tarnished and dented by the shit I’ve seen and gone through, but I plan to hero the shit out of my little starlet until I'm all she ever thinks about when she hears the word.
I just need to get everything ready.
Chapter Twenty-One
Wisteria
I jerk awake and wonder what woke me up. When I came to my room for solace - and to hide the fact I was such a dumb, naïve idiot - I spent some time crying. I had thought about going to find Aaron and helping him hunt for the secret passage again. Fuck Banner Arden! He doesn’t get to tell me who to be around and flirt with! He doesn’t get to dictate who I am just because of one damned movie.
One movie I never should have gotten involved in. This damned thing has been nothing but one messed up situation after another. It’s cursed. That’s all it is. The movie is cursed.
I came out of my room and down the stairs to find Rachel and Banner standing close together. Really close together. She had her hand on his arm. It looked like she was whispering in his ear. They looked… like they fit together perfectly.
I shouldn’t have been stupid and made a sound so everyone could tell I was looking at them like some voyeur perv. And how embarrassing is it that he felt like he had to follow me upstairs and what… do more scene practice with me while Rachel waited on him downstairs? The thought of him going from whispering sweet nothings in Rachel’s ear to trying to make out with me is just… I’m done. Maybe she's okay with it, but not me. I need to get my ass back on a bus and back to my hometown. I need to stay the hell away from people like Banner, men who can lie as pretty as they tell the truth.
I thought I could do this, that this is what I was made for. But it’s not. It’s not something I can do.
I roll on my back and stare at the ceiling. Of course, I have to find a way to get through this movie first. The last thing I need is to be sued for breach of contract or some shit. Flickering light from outside my balcony draws my attention over to the French doors. I sit up and hear the sound of thunder rumbling all around me. I set my feet on the floor and feel the thunder rumble through the boards beneath me. The storm must be bad. I can’t help but wonder if the guys going into town are back or if they are still somewhere having fun while the storm rages.