Chapter Twenty-Five

Alex

I stood outside the theater and watched the dismal crowd outside. A Tuesday night showing of Bring It On was hardly the social event of the season, but it made me sad to see such a small turnout. The last time I was here for a midnight showing of Titanic, I overheard the owners mentioning the possibility of shutting down. The building was as old as the town itself and in desperate need of repairs. They needed more patrons to afford the remodel and more current movies, but without the repairs and hot new releases, few people wanted to watch movies here. Most people drove the hour necessary to reach a real movie theater if they wanted to catch a new flick.

Still, the building had charm with an old-school marquee out front. The big, black letters announced the weekly show times. Plus, the popcorn couldn’t be beat. Even with the doors closed, the scent of butter, salt, and mystery seasoning seeped out onto the sidewalk and tempted my taste buds.

I scanned the sidewalk. Damian insisted he would meet me here even though we lived right next door to each other. It wasn’t worth pushing the issue, considering coming out here was a big step for him.

The theater doors opened, and the handful of high school students and one elderly couple made their way inside. I checked my phone, but there weren’t any messages from Damian. Had he decided not to come? Maybe suggesting driving separate was his way of getting out of our date.

I mean, I guess it was a date. I’d asked him, and he’d said yes, but...

A high-end mountain bike braked in front of me, nearly taking off my toes.

“Sorry,” Damian said, sliding off the bike and unclasping his helmet. He chained the bike to a lamppost and dusted off his hands. “I’m not great navigating sidewalks yet.”

I smiled, relieved that he wasn’t standing me up. “You know, I could have given you a ride.”

“Yeah.” He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “I don’t really do the contained vehicle thing.”

“Oh, gosh.” Embarrassed heat flooded my neck. “Of course. You bike to work, but I just thought you enjoyed the exercise. I didn’t even think about the accident, and I can’t believe I—”

Damian held up a hand to mercifully cut off my rambling. “How about we forget about transportation and focus on amazing popcorn and your film debut.” He glanced up and down the empty sidewalk. “Did I already miss the press conference? I hope the paparazzi didn’t get too pushy.”

“Ha ha, very funny.” I took his offered arm and walked into the theater. “I’m beginning to regret telling you about that.”

“No way. That’s possibly one of the coolest stories ever. But you have to tell me. Did you have a big party when the movie came out?”

I paused in front of the tiny concession stand behind a trio of giggling teens. “That information is going to cost you a bag of popcorn. A big one. And I’m not sharing.”

Damian stepped to the counter and pulled out his wallet. “I need two of the biggest bags of popcorn you sell.” The popcorn girl turned to fill our bags, and Damian wiggled his eyebrows at me. “Now tell.”

I sighed, but it was only for show. Telling embarrassing stories was worth it to see Damian so relaxed out in public. “Fine. I went to the premier with my parents, and then we had a party at the Hilton with all the kids from my school.”

“And...”

“And it was cheerleader-themed with pompoms and megaphones everywhere. My dad had hired the UCLA cheerleaders to perform some routines, and he’d worked it out for me to join them in a cheer.”

“Yes.” Damian gave me a huge, satisfied grin as he took the giant popcorn bags from the worker and passed her a bill that more than covered it. “Keep the change.”

As we crossed the lobby, Damian stopped and gave me a pleading look. “Please tell me you have pictures of this party somewhere.”

“Um...we aren’t exactly a scrapbook kind of family.”

Damian winked at me. “There’s gotta be pictures somewhere, Alex. A man doesn’t rent out the Hilton for his baby girl’s film debut without hiring a photographer.”

I stole a handful of popcorn out of his bag. “I will neither confirm nor deny the existence of said pictures. However, if the pictures in question did exist, individuals would do well to leave them hidden from the public eye.”

“I guess I’ll just have to use my imagination.” Damian pushed through the crooked swinging doors leading into the actual theater. “Of course, now I’m going to spend the whole movie picturing you jumping around in a short, cheerleading skirt. Did you have one of those bows as big as your head?”

“Damian.” I walked to an empty seat right in the middle of the theater.

“Yep, you totally had a big bow. Probably little pom poms on your shoes, too. And glitter. No self-respecting cheerleader would be caught dead without glitter.”

“Okay, laugh it up, funny man. Maybe I need to go pay a visit to your mom.” I nudged his foot as he sat down next to me. “I bet she has a ton of precious stories about her sweet Damian growing up.”

Damian choked down a piece of popcorn. “Okay, truce. There’s no need to involve my mom in this.”

“Agreed. Truce.” I held out my hand, and he took it to shake, but instead of letting go, he pulled me closer so his mouth almost touched my ear.

“Can I just get a really quick ‘rah rah, sis boom bah’?”

“That’s it.” I pulled my hand away and gave him a devilish grin. “I’m going to make you pay for that.”

Damian’s eyes darkened as the lights went down and the screen came to life. He leaned closer and whispered in my ear, “Promises, promises.”

I swallowed down the lump in my throat as he sat back in his chair and laced his fingers through mine.

Heaven help me, but this was absolutely a real actual date. Because there were the butterflies dancing in my belly to the peppy, opening credit music. And my skin tingled where Damian’s thumb traced little circles on the back of my hand. Not to mention the heat flooding my neck, chest, and more southern locations.

But even if I still wasn’t one hundred percent certain, and all those little warning signs weren’t clear enough, one thing would make it perfectly clear that this was a date and that we were heading into dangerous emotional territory.

The hand holding mine was ridged and puckered.

Damian was touching me with his burned hand.