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“Brie Larson.”
“Chris Evans,” she countered.
I leaned closer to her, just inches from her face. Close enough for her perfume to fill my nostrils. “Anna Kendrick is in it, back before she was really famous.”
“And Kieran Culkin,” Alyssa replied.
Then, at the same time, we both said, “Aubrey Plaza!”
We leaned back in our chairs, laughing incredulously. She was looking at me with fresh eyes, and I was thinking the same thing about her.
“Did Jack put you up to this?” I asked.
“I haven’t talked to Jack about anything meaningful in almost a decade. I swear.”
“It’s my comfort movie,” I admitted. “My sick-with-the-flu movie. My lazy Sunday afternoon movie.”
“My sister hated it, so I always watched it alone,” Alyssa said.
I chuckled with wonder. “I watched it every week while I was living two houses down from you. It helped me whenever I was homesick.”
“I wish I had known! I would’ve come over to watch it with you.” She blinked. “Well. Maybe not, because of Jack. But you could’ve come and watched it at my place.”
“If only we had known.”
“Too bad this is just a courtesy date,” Alyssa mused. “If there was a second date, I know what I would want to do.”
The waiter was approaching with our plates of food. An idea came to me, and I seized on it.
“Here we are, two fried groupers. Is there anything else I can—”
“Can we get this food to go?” I asked.
The waiter blinked. “To go?”
“To go?” Alyssa echoed.
“We’ve just learned of a cinematic emergency that needs our immediate attention,” I said.
The waiter looked annoyed, but went to grab two take-out boxes.
“Let’s pivot this date back to my place,” I said. “We can put on the movie, eat our food, and see which of us has memorized the movie the best.”
“The answer is clearly me,” Alyssa said. “But going back to your place…”
I realized what she was hinting at. “My intentions are pure.” I raised my palm like I was swearing an oath. “I promise to end the date with a kiss on your cheek, as promised.”
She grinned eagerly. “Let’s do it. But only if we can get more fruity drinks on the way.”
I smiled back at her. “You’ve got a deal.”
8
Alyssa
I was surprised by how much fun I was having. Admitting that we had both agreed to the date in order to make Jack jealous had taken all of the pressure away, allowing us to be ourselves. Liam was charming, and handsome, and his accent was totally disarming. Sexy like an Australian accent, but even friendlier.
And that was before learning that we had the same favorite movie.
