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“Now who’s profiling,” he said, a teasing note in his voice.
“Tell me I’m wrong.”
“Can’t. She said she thought you were a sweet girl but a drama queen.”
Andi snorted, nearly inhaling her beer. “A sweet girl? Like I’m a five-year-old with pigtails?” She shook her head. “I know who I won’t be calling to check on my case. She must think we’re hooking up or something.”
His forehead wrinkled. “What?”
“Just a vibe I got. She had no reason to dislike me that quickly. I barely talked to the woman. So it must be some residual territorial stuff.”
“Huh.” He looked pensive and then the corners of his mouth twitched up a little bit.
She shifted on the couch, the change in expression intriguing her. “What’s that look about?”
“I don’t know.” He met her gaze. “I’d like to say I’m sorry if I gave her the wrong impression, but I’m kind of not.”
A little tremor of pleasure went through her. “No?”
“Nope. I know it’s petty as hell, but on the breakup score sheet, she’s landed all the points so far. Having her think I’ve moved on with someone like you and her being annoyed about it? I’ll take the point.”
Andi narrowed her eyes. “Someone like me?”
His gaze skipped away and he cleared his throat. “Yeah. You know, someone smart and interesting. Obviously beautiful.”
Her stomach dipped. “Oh.”
Obviouslybeautiful? She’d never had anyone call her that. Like beautiful was a fact and not up for debate.
He cringed. “Sorry. I’m making it weird. I’m not hitting on you. All I’m saying is…you’re great fake-girlfriend material.”
The statement was so unexpected from someone like Hill that a laugh bubbled out of her. “Fake-girlfriend material? Someone’s been watching too many rom-coms.”
He smiled. “That’s probably true. When I was recovering from my injury, my friends forced all the happy-ending movies on me. I wasn’t allowed to watch anything dark, so there were a lot of rom-coms thrown at me. My friends were into the forced cheer.”
“Ugh, that sounds like a nightmare.” She took a slow sip of her beer, trying to settle herself after being called obviously beautiful by the werewolf.Be cool, Andi.“If I want comfort, I’m going straight to all the dark and scary stuff. That makes real life seem better because no matter what’s happening in my life, at least a psycho with razor fingers isn’t trying to kill me in my sleep and a demon’s not trying to steal my soul.”
“Is that why you’re into what you’re into?” he asked. “You find it comforting?”
She gave a little shrug. “It’s partly comfort. Partly entertainment. It also helps me feel prepared.”
“Prepared?” he asked. “What do you mean?”
She broke eye contact, focusing somewhere over his right shoulder. They’d had some honest conversation tonight, but she definitely didn’t want to open up that chapter in her past. He’d predicted she was the nice girl in high school. What was closer to the truth was that she’d been the girl desperate for everyone to like her. So desperate she’d ignored what had been right in front of her face. “Most people want to ignore the dark stuff. Pretend it’s not there. Imagine that human nature is inherently good. Close their eyes.If I don’t see it, then it can’t hurt me.But itisthere—horror, crime, truly evil people—and once I realized that, I refused to ever look away again. If something bad is going to get me, I at least want to see it coming and have a chance—and a big-ass can of pepper spray.”
He frowned. “But what about the supernatural stuff? Do you think a vampire is going to get you?”
She laughed without humor. “The monsters are metaphors for real-life horrors.” She lifted a finger. “Though my jury is still out on ghosts. And it sounds weird, but horror is often about hope. We want to believe we can be the final girl. That the good guys or girls can still beat evil despite it all. I mean, Laurie Strode inHalloweenis a badass. The kids inITare terrified but determined to win. They never stop fighting.”
Hill set down his beer on the side table, a thoughtful look on his face. “I never thought about it that way.”
“Yeah, well, lots of people dismiss the horror genre as exploitative and cheap. But it’s been around so long for a reason. We get something out of being scared. It’s important.” She laid her head back against the couch. “And Andi will now step off her why-people-should-respect-the-horror-genre soapbox. Sorry.”
“Don’t be,” he said, his deep voice like distant summer thunder. “It’s good that you’re passionate about what you do.”
She lifted her head, trying to determine if he was being sarcastic or serious. “You have feelings on horror?”
“Not really. By the time I was old enough to be interested in exploring any of that, I lived with my aunt and uncle. They didn’t allow me to watch or read that kind of stuff.” He reached down and grabbed the handle on the recliner to lift the leg support. “Partly because of their religious beliefs, but more because I think they worried it would warp my brain or something.”
