My eye contact avoidance comes to an end as I look at his face. Our eyes meet, and maybe it’s the soft warmth of his brown eyes that gives me enough courage to say, “Thank you for rescuing me, Mateo.”
Mateo smiles easily, as if those six words didn’t take a lion’s courage to speak. “You’re welcome. I wouldn’t want either of my sisters to go on a date with a man like that. I’m glad I could get you out of it, for Alex’s sake, so he didn’t have to beat up anybody at the premiere.”
The thought of my brother punching Jorge brings a genuine smile to my face. “Alex wouldn’t have liked my date. I don’t know why I have such bad luck with men.”
Excuse me mouth, why are you sharing such personal information with Mateo? He’s your brother’s best friend. Do not fall for his amiable smile. You are not to open up to anyone, and especially not about relationship problems. He doesn’t need to know you’re a mess. Thank you very much.
“What do you mean?” he asks, smiling softly as we wait to move to the next set of photographers.
His face is so genuine and innocent, like he's naïve to the filth of men.
Wow. Jaded Holly has arrived at the party.
But I mean, he’s from Bolt. I bet his only dating issue is trying to find someone to actually date.
I roll around the idea of sharing my thoughts with him.
The fact he’s Alex’s best friend means I can trust him with some honesty, right? But trusting him with my feelings feels weird. The only person who gets to hear about my feelings is Alex.
The longer the seconds tick the more his face turns from innocence to curiosity. The way his brown eyes stare into mine makes me want to confess every secret and spill them all to Mateo as he unravels everything about me.
“Ever since Alex’s popularity has blown up, and especially with this movie, I’ve had a string of men trying to date me. On each date, I’ve found out they’re either after my money or something else I’m not giving out.”
His smile wilts, his dark chocolate eyes meeting mine. “That sounds really hard. I’m sorry, Holly.”
I berate myself as I watch his smile disappear.
Why did you tell him, Holly? Now he looks sad. This is why we don’t tell people our secrets. You’re letting the red carpet get to you. He’s not your knight in shining armor, and this isn’t a fairy tale.
I paste on my work smile. “Yeah, just comes with being in Hollywood, I guess.”
Mateo leans in closer, his voice dropping. “Well, for the rest of tonight, I’d love to be your date. Although, we should probably not stay for the movie or else your original date might find us.”
Oh yeah, Jorge. Totally forgot about him for a second.
I run through the layout of the movie theater. Alex has attended premieres with me, and my escape route from last time comes to mind. “I know a back exit from this theater. I can get us out. What should we do then?”
The crinkles around his eyes grow deeper as his grin grows wider. “Probably hit up Wendy’s.”
My heart skips a beat.
Fast food is my weakness and Wendy’s calls to me like a siren.
“Chocolate Frosty?” I whisper as my smile goes from fake to genuine.
He scoffs. “As if you go to Wendy’s and get anything else.”
I laugh for the first time tonight and it feels good.
We smile for our next set of photos, and I know these will turn out better than any others we took tonight. My smile is real as my mouth waters,dreaming about a chocolate Frosty.
I glance at Mateo in my peripheral vision. A man has never taken me to Wendy’s before. Usually my dates take me to five-star restaurants where food is sophisticatedly complicated when all I really want is a greasy burger and a sweet chocolate treat.
But going to Wendy’s with Mateo isn’t a date. It can’t be a date, because I’m actually starting to enjoy our time together. If I call it a date, I have a feeling it will ruin all the magic.
The flash on the last set of photographers blinds my eyes, but I don’t even care that I’m seeing spots. I grab Mateo’s hand and enter the building, leading him around the perimeter of the room. I find the back exit and lean against it, pushing it open and pulling Mateo out with me. We weave through people standing on the sidewalk and make it to the taxi car rentals.
A pang of regret runs through me as we get in a taxi. I’ll miss seeing Alex’s movie, and I feel a little guilty that I’m having more fun right now than sitting in a fancy dress watching Alex’s face on screen for the millionth time.
