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She wrinkled her nose. “Bummer. Did you go out and watch or read all the things once you were a grown-up?”
He reached down, absently massaging the knee above his prosthesis. “Not really. I guess I didn’t feel like I was missing out on anything. Plus, I used to see a lot of real-life horror at my job. Why come home and see more of it?”
Her lips parted. “So, wait, you’re telling me you’ve never really watched horror movies?”
“I watch thrillers sometimes,” he said, an unsure note in his voice. “Do superhero movies count?”
She sat up fully now, setting her beer aside, the shock of this new information making her voice rise. “Those don’t count. Thrillers are adjacent to but different from horror. So noNightmare on Elm StreetorPoltergeistorThe RingorMiseryor—”
He laughed at her overt shock. “No. I guess I’m a horror virgin.”
He didn’t look like a virgin of anything. Those old-soul eyes of his looked like they’d seen the world a few times over. But she believed him on this one. “Unacceptable. We have to fix this.”
He shook his head. “We do not. I promise. I’m good.”
“Nope. This cannot stand.” She frowned. “Unless you’re scared of the movies, because then I wouldn’t force them on you and—”
“It’s not about being scared,” he said, cutting her off. “I don’t think anything in a movie would be scarier than some of the stuff I’ve seen on the job.”
“Then we’re fixing this. You have no idea what you’re missing out on.” She got up and walked to her shelves of DVDs, already scanning, determining. “We need to break up all that rom-com brainwashing you got. Plus, watching movies gives me much-needed writing inspiration, and it will be more fun to do that with company. I need to put together a syllabus.”
“A syllabus?” he asked, amusement in his voice. “Andi…”
But it was too late. The starter pistol had been fired. She was off and running. “This could be a great series for the podcast. Me introducing a horror virgin to the classics. It could be—”
The chair squeaked as he shifted. “Whoa there. You went from zero to podcast series in two point three seconds.”
She turned to him, her mind moving too fast for his protests. “You said you had some free time on your hands, right? This could be a fun project, and my podcast could really use an injection of something new and lighthearted. I’ve been wanting to put something fun in the Friday slot.”
“Andi.”
“And have youheardyour voice?” She put her hand on her bookcase of DVDs. “I mean, it’s like melted butter and molasses had a baby. I would listen to anything in your voice. You could read me the ingredients on the cereal box and I’d be enthralled.”
His eyebrows arched. “Uh, thanks?”
She rolled her lips together, realizing she’d let a little more than she’d planned slip out. “It’s just, your voice is made for radio—or in this case, a podcast.”
“Andi, I don’t know anything about podcasting or being a guest on one,” he said, his voice calm but firm. “I think this is one of those late-night ideas that will look ridiculous in the morning.”
She put on her best pretty-please expression. “Come on. Don’t shoot it down yet. Late-night ideas can be the best ideas. It’s why I keep a notebook and a lighted pen next to my bed. This could be fun. It wouldn’t feel like a podcast. It would be watching movies and then talking about them afterward—just us. Like going out for a drink with your friends after a movie to discuss.”
“Right. Just us. And the world listening tojust us.”
Just us.The two simple words coming out of his mouth sent a little zap of pleasure through her. Unbidden images flashed through her mind—nights curled up on the couch with Hill, watching scary movies with his big, warm body next to her, her sliding her hands beneath that T-shirt and feeling exactly how furry the werewolf was.Nope. Stop that.They were dangerous visions, ones that were way too tempting. This was about thepodcastandfriendship. Shecould notget involved with her neighbor and landlord.
She didn’t get involved with guys at all. She didn’t slide her hands beneath their T-shirts. She didn’t do the things she fantasized about late at night. She’d tried that in real life a few times, trying to get past her hang-ups, but it’d been a disaster every time. She’d learned sex could only be good in her fantasies and with a vibrator. In reality, with another human being, it was a terror fest for her and an exercise in confusion and frustration for the guy.
No matter what fantasies Hill stirred up, the only thing they could be was friends. She would need to keep the boundaries clear.
“We could do a few practice runs. If you hate it, we can stop. I would never post anything without your permission,” she said. “You’d have full veto power.”
Hill ran a hand over the back of his head, considering her. “How about we start with a movie? Because you’ve got me curious about the genre. But no podcast promises. I’m a pretty private person and that seems very not private. I don’t know if I want comments from listeners about tying me up.”
She grinned. “Oh, you’d get some comments, but I bet they’d be date proposals, not death threats.” She pointed at him. “Molasses and melted butter, Hill.”
He snorted dismissively.
“But I hear you and agree to your terms,” she said, meaning it. “We’ll start with a movie night. I’ll curate a list and provide the movies. You can provide snacks with your mad cooking skills. It will be fun. And educational. And life-affirming because you should not be deprived of the best genre that ever existed in the world.”
