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“Oh, I don’t.” He handed her a drink with a wry smile. “You scare the hell out of me, Andi Lockley.”
She laughed and accepted the glass. “Good. Be afraid. Be very afraid.” She sipped the drink, the delicious tart-sweet combo making her hum with pleasure. “Ooh, that’s tasty.”
He nodded slowly. “Yes. Arsenic does go down easy. Sweet on the tongue.”
She snort-laughed and almost choked on her drink. She shoved him in the shoulder. “Oh my God. You’re awful. No poison jokes!”
He grabbed her drink from her and sipped it from the other side, a playful glint in his eye. “There. Now we’re both in trouble.”
He handed the drink back to her, but her laugh quieted in her throat. She hadn’t seen this side of Hill before—this confident, flirty side. The man was damn sexy on any day, but this? This was fan-herself-and-find-the-smelling-salts swoonworthy. She held his eye contact and sipped her drink where he had. He watched her mouth.
That focused gaze felt like a touch.
Worried she’d show how she was feeling all over her face, she pushed off from the counter. “We should eat. Otherwise, this is going to go straight to my head. And drunk Andi will not be a good movie buddy.”
Hill’s attention jumped back to her eyes and he nodded. “Lead the way.”
Andi calmed herself while she plated the food and set up the TV trays so they could eat in front of the television. Hill brought the drinks into the living room, and before long, the two of them were set up side by side on the couch, the DVD in the player.
She took a quick bite of the pad thai and closed her eyes, the sweet-salty-sour combo making her groan in approval. “Holy crap, this is amazing. This tastes like what my takeout aspires to be when it grows up.”
Hill’s expression transformed, obviously pleased. “I’m glad you like it. It’s been a while since I made it, so I was hoping I remembered the recipe.”
“It’s freaking fantastic. I’m supersmart for making friends with a chef. I don’t know why I didn’t think of this before.” She took another bite before setting her plate down to cue up the movie.
“So,” Hill said between bites as she scrolled through the menu. “Why DVDs? Wouldn’t streaming be easier?”
“I watch a lot of newer stuff on streaming, but you don’t get the extra features that way,” she said. “So I try to get my favorites on DVD.”
“Makes sense.” He took a sip of his drink. “Tell me whyHalloweenis my first lesson.”
A rush of enthusiasm went through her, and she realized how much she wanted him to enjoy this. She wanted him togetit. So many people didn’t. “Well, first, it’s a great introduction to a horror staple—the slasher film. The originalHalloweenwas, in my opinion, the start of the golden age of slashers. We get the crazed killer who may have a motive, but his kills are mostly random. Random makes it scarier because it means anyone can be at risk. We get the masked killer who can’t seem to be killed—which pops up again in movies likeFriday the 13thandScreamandThe Strangers. We have the final-girl trope—meaning the one woman who either defeats or escapes the killer and is the last left standing—and this movie has a great final girl.” She looked over at Hill. “Her journey from sweet to badass is awesome.”
“You like the final-girl aspect,” he said, taking in her expression.
“It’s one of the things I like most about horror movies. People seem to think horror is anti-woman, but I think a lot of it subverts gender dynamics. In most cases, you don’t want to be the dude in the horror movie. The dudes get dead. They ride in like the hero to save the ladies and the villain is like—nope. The women save themselves.”
***
Hill had stopped eating and was listening intently, watching the sparkle in Andi’s blue eyes. This woman wasn’t only beautiful, she was fucking smart. He’d sensed that from the start, but hearing her talk about her passion brought that intelligence to the forefront. He bet a lot of people discounted her as the “quirky, cute girl” with her bright hair and nose ring and silly T-shirts. But that outer image was smoke and mirrors.
She stopped talking and smiled when she caught him staring. “What?”
“Nothing. I just feel like I should start calling you Professor,” he said. “You probably really could teach a class on this.”
She sipped her drink, looking pleased. “Maybe I will one day. Lucky you, you get to be my guinea pig and listen to me wax poetic.”
“I’m here for it. So horror movies aren’t anti-woman,” he said. “I’m taking mental notes.”
“Well,” she said. “Let’s watch. They have their pro-woman moments but also some problematic ones. Like the women who have sex are more likely to die—slut-shaming at its finest. Final girls, especially in older movies, are virgins. That changes over time as culture shifts on premarital sex, but still.” She made a sour expression.
“What?”
“I just realized I forgot to ask if you were okay with nudity,” she said.
His brain didn’t compute for a second. Hearing her ask if he was okay with nudity made his mind go in a decidedly unneighborly direction.Yes I am. Very much so. How about right now?“Huh?”
She cocked her thumb toward the television screen. “This movie has boobs. Is that going to make it awkward to watch with your neighbor?”
