Page 101 of This Changes Everything

Rory kissed me softly once more. We returned to our table to find Zoë and Orson holding hands.

After Greensboro, Rory started coming out to Los Angeles almost every weekend, staying with me and Zoë in Highland Park. I showed him all my favorite places and taco trucks. We did the Hollywood sign hike. I took him to see an outdoor screening of The Lost Boys at Hollywood Forever Cemetery. My neighbor Martin brought him along as a substitute player for his West Hollywood dodgeball team, Fleetwood Smack, where Rory was so popular, he may as well have been King of WeHo. Martin had never been so proud to show off a beautiful new friend. Rory moved seamlessly into my American life as if he’d always been there, and I anchored into his. If he wasn’t in LA, I went to Vancouver or off to wherever his golf took him.

When the Hollywood Bowl concert finally came around, we packed a picnic, wine, and blankets, and Rory finally understood what all the fuss was about. The sunset had lit the sky lavender, and the Hollywood sign sat in the hills just beyond the iconic bowl. We arrived early to sit on the bleachers and enjoy our picnic while watching the crowd filter into the world-famous outdoor amphitheater.

“This is incredible.” Rory opened our bottle of wine.

“The coolest thing I’ve seen here was a screening of The Nightmare Before Christmas, and the cast sang with a live orchestra to the movie. Oh! Wait, maybe not.” I scanned my memory. “Maybe it was seeing Steve Martin play the banjo here.”

“No wonder you don’t want to come back to Vancouver.”

My heart sank. I tilted my head at Rory. “When did I say that?”

Rory shook his head, clearly upset with himself. He kissed my shoulder delicately. “You haven’t. Not to me. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

“Ellie?” The voice came from behind me, and my body tightened. I turned slowly to see Craig Sinicki looking at me, bemused. He was with a friend, and they were taking their seats six bleachers below us. I let out a slow, deep breath, and could tell from Rory’s shift in position, moving closer to me, that he could feel my energy change.

“Hi, Craig.” I forced out a smile.

“Guns N’ Roses? I never would have pegged you.” He let out a smarmy smile as he ran his fingers through his blond hair. “Who’s this?”

“Craig, this is my boyfriend, Rory. Rory, this is Craig. We work together.”

“Well, she works for me.” Craig reached his hand out to shake.

Rory looked down at the hand, not wanting to accept the pleasantry but doing so anyway.

“I don’t work for you,” I said flatly, then turned to Rory. “Craig is the showrunner for one of the shows Marie Street produces. The writers’ room is in the same building as us. So our paths are always crossing.” I nodded. Hopefully, that was the end of the conversation, and we could all go on our merry way.

“Well, apparently, we have a complicated relationship that we’re still trying to figure out. Ellie, you can set me straight later.” Craig laughed with his friend.

Goddamn it.

“Excuse me?” Rory said, his jaw hardening. His hand stopped gently skimming my back, and he pressed his palm into the side of my hip, scooting me closer to his body.

“I’m just messing around. Ellie’s one of the good ones.”

I stiffened and pressed my lips together tightly.

“We have a lot of fun together, right, El?” Craig winked and then sat down with his friend, turning away from us to face the stage.

Rory moved his hand from my hip to around my shoulder. “What was that?” he whispered into my ear.

I barely shook my head, silently communicating with him to please drop it.

“Do you want to go?” He lightly brushed his lips against my temple.

I turned toward Rory. “No, I absolutely do not want to go. I—I . . .” I stumbled.

“I don’t like the way he was talking to you, Ellie.”

“I know.” I closed my eyes and nodded. “I didn’t like it, either . . . Okay, give me a second. I need to collect my thoughts.” Rory waited, watching me. I could see the concern growing behind his eyes. “I know that in Vegas, when Zoë brought up my work, there were some alarm bells for you.” I shook my head, changing my mind. “I don’t think I want to get into this right now.”

Find your words, Ellie.

“It’s been a long, hard road, Rory.”

“I know that.” Rory knew that my job demanded my time, and that my work-life balance was essentially nonexistent, with often sixteen-hour days and being on call for my boss twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. But he didn’t know the whole story.