Young Adulting

by Christina Benjamin

  Another cocky smirk graced his flawless face. “I assume you have coffee?”

  I nodded.

  “Perfect, we’ll meet at your place.”

  I swallowed. Great, having Henry Landon in my bedroom is exactly what I need to snap out of the fantasy I’d been living in all day. Not!

  It was getting harder and harder to remember that this was fake. I was having too much fun, and being around him was too easy, and the way he’d talked about his family problems was too relatable, and this attraction I felt toward him…?

  That was way too real.

  I wasn’t sure I’d ever been so hyper aware of another human being before. I’d never been so overwhelmed by a guy’s scent, or the heat coming off his body, or the way the slightest touch of his skin against mine could set off freakin’ fireworks inside me.

  But physical chemistry wasn’t everything, right? And sure he’d proven to be surprisingly sweet and thoughtful, but his friend Leo was the one who’d made me laugh out loud this morning with his email. He was the one who seemed to understand what I was thinking better than I knew myself. We’d become more than just writing partners. We’d become friends, and maybe...maybe something more.

  So then, why was my heart beating like a drum when Henry twined his fingers through mine and tugged me so close my hip brushed against his thigh?

  Why had I spent the better part of this afternoon wondering what it would be like if today hadn’t been fake, if I’d really been his girlfriend, if going to a party together was just another day in the life of our relationship?

  Henry led us toward the gate leading to the valet stand in the Maxwell’s curved driveway and I tried not to get nervous about the fact that I was about to be alone with him in his car.

  Nothing could happen. I knew that. I mean, we were just working together, and for all I knew he was still in the middle of something with Elena and—

  “Are you okay?”

  I looked up to see him watching me with concern as we reached the valet.

  “Fine,” I said with a smile that felt too big. “It was just a long day, that’s all.”

  He slipped an arm around my waist and tugged me toward him so I was partially resting against him like it was the most natural thing in the world.

  The crazy part?

  Resting against him felt like the most natural thing in the world.

  The thought had me pushing away from him just as the car was pulled around and Henry opened the passenger side for me before the valet could.

  “Thanks,” I murmured.

  For the first half of the drive back to my neighborhood, we sat in silence. Not awkward silence, necessarily. I got the feeling we were both lost in thought.

  We both broke it at once.

  “Henry, I—”

  “Izzy, I should have—”

  We both stopped and looked at each other before bursting out in a laugh.

  “Sorry,” he said. “What were you going to say?”

  I shook my head, heat already creeping up toward my neck because...I didn’t even really know. I just wanted to clear this tension between us because I’d never been one to ignore a problem, and whatever this was between us…

  Well, I wasn’t sure I’d call it a problem, but it was complicated. I had a crush on the two men involved in the script that could make or break my career. If that didn’t sound like trouble, I didn’t know what did. “I was just going to say…”

  I like you.

  I like Leo.

  I’m so freakin’ confused right now.

  “I just wanted to say thank you for bringing me. I had a great time today.”

  He flashed me a lopsided smile that made the air in the car feel too thin like I’d just climbed to the top of a mountain. “I had fun, too,” he said.

  Silence fell again, and this time it was thick with tension and unspoken words.

  I cleared my throat. “What were you going to say?”

  He flashed me a quick look and licked his lips. Was he...nervous? I wasn’t sure I could imagine a nervous Henry Landon, but he was shifting in his seat and his hands fidgeted on the wheel.

  “There was something I wanted to talk to you about,” he said, darting another look in my direction.

  I shifted to face him. “What is it?”

  He cleared his throat and fixed his gaze on the road. “Earlier today when my dad came over.” He shot me a quick look. “I owe you an apology—”

  “No, you really don’t,” I interrupted quickly.

  His eyes widened a bit. “You don’t even know what I’m apologizing for yet. You might change your mind—”

  He stopped talking when I placed a hand on his arm. Maybe I should have let him explain, but I didn’t want him to feel like he owed me any explanations. All afternoon I’d tried to shake off the look on his face when he’d faced his father. That was the first time I’d caught a flicker of vulnerability in the great and powerful Henry Landon. At one point he’d given his father a look that seemed to be pleading, and then something had passed between them that I couldn’t fully grasp, but I could understand.

  “Look, I get it,” I said. “I really do.”

  He glanced over at me. “You get...what?”

  “What you said about you and your dad. About how you didn’t want to tell him about the script, about pretending this was a date.” I shot him a questioning look. We were pretending, right?

  I paused for a heartbeat too long as if he might protest.

  Ugh. Stupid, Izzy.

  I hurried on once I realized he wasn’t about to argue the point. We’d been pretending. This was all a pretense. But that didn’t mean that the empathy I felt wasn’t authentic. “I know our situations are totally different, but I have a similar issue with my parents.”

  His brows shot up in surprise. “You do?”

  I nodded. “I want to make them proud. But their plans for me are so much different than my own. I feel like they don’t understand why I’m here. All they do is worry and I feel bad about that but…” I shrugged. “I also want to pursue my own dreams. And sometimes…” I trailed off with a sigh right as we pulled up in front of my apartment complex and he shut off the engine.

  “Sometimes what?” he asked quietly.

  I turned to face him, the light from the streetlamp making his strong features unbearably handsome. I wanted to lean forward. I wanted to feel his lips on mine and breathe the same air. I wanted…

  I swallowed and shut my eyes. This was a problem, because this could ruin everything. My internship was why I was here, not to flirt and certainly not to make out with celebrities. I opened my eyes again and found his blue eyes lit with a blazing fire that made it hard to breathe. He reached out and touched my cheek so softly I almost thought I imagined it.

  “What is it, Izzy? What are you afraid of right now?”

  You. This. How I feel.

  I gave my head a little shake and focused on the conversation we’d been having. I wasn’t exaggerating about my parents and that was the reminder of why this internship was so important. It was a reminder of why I couldn’t afford to get carried away by chemistry and hormones.

  “This is it,” I blurted out. “This is my chance. Leo’s script…” I licked my lips as I tried to find the right words. “It was hard enough for my parents to let me come to LA, and it took all of my savings to pay for this opportunity. If I don’t make the most of it—if I don’t win this competition and get Leo’s script approved…” I met his gaze and I knew without a doubt that all my fears and hopes were right there for him to see. “This is my only chance at the life I want more than anything.”

  He regarded me steadily for a moment before reaching out again and tucking a stray blonde curl behind my ear. “Izzy, you’re what...eighteen?”

  I nodded and he gave me a small smile in return. “I highly doubt you’ve peaked at eighteen. Even if you don’t win the position at your production company, I’m sure there'll be other chances.”

 
My groan of exasperation cut him off. “I knew you wouldn’t understand.”

  He was out of the car and around to open the door for me before I could do it myself.

  I let him take my hand and help me out. “Thanks,” I muttered and tried to shake off my disappointment as I turned to walk toward my apartment. But Henry didn’t let go. He continued to hold onto my hand as he shut the door and turned to face me head-on.

  “Just because I don’t understand doesn’t mean the discussion has to be over. Don’t run away,” he said. “Talk to me.”

  I sighed, torn between the happy buzz I’d been riding all day and this growing frustration that was a bitter reminder that Henry and I lived in two different worlds.

  Leo, on the other hand...he would understand. I knew he’d get it.

  “Talk to me,” he said again.

  I shook my head. “You won't get it. You can’t understand. You grew up inside the walls of this fortress of a town.” I tugged my hand from his. “You have a free pass to come and go as you please. It’s not like that for me.”

  My breath caught in my chest when I looked up and saw the myriad of emotions swimming in his eyes. Hurt was the most obvious and it struck me like a blow.

  “Henry, I didn’t mean—”

  “Sure, you did,” he said, bitterness lacing his voice. “You think I’ve been handed everything on a silver platter, that I didn’t have to work for any of it.”

  “You haven’t,” I said. He jerked like I’d just struck him and I reached for his hand. “What I meant was, you didn’t have to, but you did anyway.” I licked my lips under the force of his stare because it was clear he was hanging on my words, wanting to understand.

  “I didn’t mean for it to sound like you don't work hard or that you don’t deserve what you get. Watching you on the set, talking to you about the script and knowing how passionate you are…I know better now.” I exhaled loudly. “I didn’t mean to say that you don’t work for what you’ve got, but that doesn’t change the fact that you started with a leg up.”

  I saw him wince, but I wasn’t about to hedge around the truth. “You didn’t have to work as hard as some nobody from nowhere, but you did. And that is admirable.” I waited until his gaze met mine so he could see I meant what I said. “I love the fact that you could have taken the easy way with your acting career, but you chose not to.”

  His expression shifted, his eyes softened.

  “But that doesn’t change the fact that you are so lucky to be born on the inside, to have the advantages that you do. Once this internship is over, if my parents have their way...I don't know when I'll be able to come back.”

  Some of his hurt and anger seemed to dissipate.

  “That's why I lied to Leo in that first email,” I said. “I'm not a liar. I hate liars.”

  He seemed to flinch again as though I’d just struck him.

  I shook my head and looked down at my feet. “But I’d thought I had to because I was so desperate to prove myself.”

  His silence lasted too long and guilt made my stomach churn.

  I shifted again. “Maybe you wouldn't understand that.”

  “I would,” he said. “I do.”

  I looked up and my heart stopped beating. It got caught somewhere in my throat because never before in my life had anyone ever looked at me like this.

  Like I was everything.

  His hands gently cupped my cheeks as the intensity in his eyes deepened. “Izzy, we’re more alike than you know.” He moved closer, his hands slipping into my hair as his gaze dropped hungrily to my lips. There was a moment of hesitation, a breath where he gave me an out, but I didn’t take it. I couldn’t even if I’d wanted to. I was too stunned by the magnitude of overwhelming desire coursing through me as Henry drew me into his arms.

  And then, he kissed me.

  It was so much better than I’d fantasized, those fireworks bursting through me at the first touch of his lips on mine. After the first initial gentle kiss, something seemed to shift. All at once we moved like we were both consumed by an overwhelming, greedy need to touch and be touched.

  His lips slanted over mine as he deepened the kiss, his arms wrapping around my waist as I clung to his shoulders.

  For who knows how long we kissed each other like we needed this closeness in order to breathe.

  It ended like it started, both of us stilling at once, as though we both came back to reality with a start.

  It was a passerby on the other side of the street who had got our attention, reminding us we weren’t actually in this safe little cocoon, even if that was what it felt like.

  I stumbled back a step and Henry let me go.

  Oh no. What had I done? I lifted a hand to my lips and I imagined my eyes were just as glazed as Henry’s.

  My head was still spinning from the feel of his arms around me and his lips on mine, and I…I was more confused than ever. So of course I handled it like a complete professional, mumbled an awkward goodbye and ran into my apartment like I was certain I’d be turned back into a pumpkin at any moment.

  I mean, what other logical explanation could there be for Prince Charming himself kissing me?

  Chapter Thirteen

  Henry

  I was halfway home when I realized I’d left Izzy’s without ever going over her notes for her pitch tomorrow morning. Though, I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised, since the only thing my brain seemed capable of focusing on was that incredible kiss.

  I’d kissed a lot of women, both on and off set, but I could safely say, I’d never had a kiss like that. It felt like being struck by lightning when my lips finally touched hers. But that wasn’t the thing that had surprised me most. It was the way that she’d kissed me back.

  The fact that she’d let me kiss her at all had been beyond my expectations, but to have her return the kiss...it was the most pleasant shock I’d received in quite a long time.

  Even as I plopped down on my bed, I couldn’t wipe the stupid grin off my face. I should’ve probably left well enough alone, but patience was a virtue I’d never learned. I pulled up Izzy’s contact on my phone and fired off a text.

  Me: I’ll be thinking of you tomorrow. You don’t need it, but good luck.

  I saw the tiny text bubbles appear and disappear a few times before she replied.

  Izzy: Thanks. For everything.

  Me: I’m the one who’s thankful, Izzy. I have a feeling together, we can make all our dreams come true.

  When she didn’t write back, I groaned at my own cheesiness as I reread the text, mashing a pillow over my face. Oh well, too late now. The text was out there.

  And I didn’t regret it.

  Everything I said was true. I was grateful Izzy had confided in me tonight. I liked learning about her family and what was at stake for her. It was the first real conversation we’d had as Henry and Izzy. And it felt great to know she’d entrusted me with something that even the ‘Leo’ version of me didn’t know.

  Our relationship had grown leaps and bounds today. Strangely, I owed that success to my father. If he hadn’t stood me up and demanded I attend a kid’s birthday party, Izzy and I wouldn’t have had this breakthrough.

  Or maybe I owed scatter-brained Shari for this cloud nine high I was riding. Whoever was responsible, I was just grateful it happened.

  It was funny how things worked out. Hollywood truly was the land where dreams could come true. And it seemed my new life’s mission was to make Izzy’s dreams a reality. And maybe my own would work out too.

  That is, if I could figure out a way to confess the Leo situation.

  I shook my head. Ironic that a fictional character could come between me and the girl of my dreams. Because that’s what tonight’s kiss had helped me realize. Izzy was my dream girl.

  Never before had I connected with someone so easily, and on so many levels. Sure, we’d had a misstep or two in the beginning, but that was my fault. And even though I’d been a quintessential jerk, she’d given me anoth
er chance. Not only as an actor, but as a friend—as more than a friend, if tonight’s kiss was any indication.

  A flurry of emotions filled me with restless energy as the memory of that epic kiss came crashing back to me. I might need to take a cold shower, or better yet, a run and a cold shower.

  Thanks to the indescribable way Izzy’s lips felt against mine and my uncanny actor’s ability to call the sensation back to mind, I knew I wouldn’t find sleep easily tonight. But I needed to be well-rested tomorrow.

  It was a big day. On many levels.

  I’d come to a few conclusions on my drive home from Izzy’s tonight.

  One: I needed to tell my father about the script.

  Two: I needed to tell Izzy the truth about Leo.

  Three: I needed to manage the fallout of both before things went any further.

  Izzy was pitching the script to her boss tomorrow. And if it made it through the next round, we would be one step closer to getting the greenlight on Beyond Sunset.

  That meant I’d no longer be able to put her off from meeting ‘Leo.’ It also meant I’d have to turn my father’s big franchise film offer down. I knew he wouldn’t be happy, but having the validation of Beyond Sunset being chosen to move forward by Polarizing Pictures would give me a leg to stand on.

  Plus, until today, I’d forgotten that he and Bob Wentworth were such good friends. If Bob’s studio wanted to produce my script, it would make it much harder for my father to underestimate my talent and potential success.

  But thanks to Izzy, I was beginning to realize that his opinion of me wasn’t the end all be all I used to think it was. Having her believe in me meant more. And as much as I loved all the praise and respect she gave the script on Leo’s behalf, I knew it would mean even more if she were truly saying those things to me.

  It’s why I was so nervous to tell her the truth. I’d grown used to the confidence her undiluted emails to Leo gave me. I’d never had such an encouraging force in my life and it was something I desperately needed. I hated the idea of losing that once I came clean. But I hated the idea of disappointing Izzy even more.

  So, Leo had to go.