I gaped at the small building sitting on the edge of the space opposite the screen. It housed a snack bar and, most likely, the projector.
Grayson found a spot and turned the motor off. “You want popcorn?”
I nodded with my hands clutched to my chest. “How did you know?”
“About the popcorn or the drive-in?”
“Both.”
I must have looked as stunned as I felt because a line appeared on his forehead. “We can go somewhere else if this isn’t what you want to do tonight.”
“No, this is perfect,” I exclaimed, my voice loud in the confines of the car. “I’m just surprised. But in a good way.”
He hesitated before nodding. “If you’re sure. But it’s no problem. We can do something else.”
I couldn’t tell him I hadn’t been to the drive-in movies in years. The last time I went was with him. It had been something we’d done whenever he came to visit. It used to be our thing. Like Bo’s Diner.
Putting my hand on his, I took a long breath. “I love that you brought me here.”
“So, popcorn?”
“And nachos.”
He grinned and got out. Before he closed the door, I leaned over the driver seat. “And Milk Duds.”
“I’ll be right back.”
He shut the door, and I was left with a jumble of emotions I had no way to untangle. The joy at reviving our friendship warred with the regret I felt at how we parted ways five years ago.
I needed to come clean about my lie but didn’t know how to broach the subject. We were in a great place right now. What if bringing it up pushed him away again?
We only had a few weeks left, and I wanted to soak up every minute I had with him. And there was no use dredging up the past. He’d clearly moved on from whatever I thought we might have had. After all, Wynona was still in the picture and made sure I didn’t forget it.
Grayson never mentioned her, and I wondered when they even saw each other. We spent all our free time together. That only left the time he was at home, and I didn’t want to think of her in his house, in his bed.
The driver door opened again, and Grayson slid back into his seat, holding out his bounty. “I also got you Sno-Caps.”
I took it all with a big grin. “You remembered.” I had decided against Sno-Caps tonight, but as soon as he’d walked away, I’d changed my mind. Same as every time we’d gone to the movies. And he hadn’t forgotten.
“It’s not a movie date without them.” He moved his seat back and grabbed a blanket from behind him, putting it between us. “In case you get cold.”
“We’re in California, not Colorado. I don’t think I’d ever get cold here, not even in winter.”
Grayson patted the blanket. “Just in case. We both know you’d get cold at some point, even if we were in Death Valley.”
I threw popcorn at him, which he deflected with his hands and an amused chuckle. But he was right. And despite all my intentions not to read too much into any of this, I couldn’t help but let a little bit of hope in.
For what, I wasn’t sure. Because all he’d done since we became friends again was act like the best friend a girl could wish for. And that he seemed to remember every minute detail about me—no matter how insignificant—told me he hadn’t forgotten what we had.
Grayson’s phone vibrated from where it was sitting in the cup holder. He pulled it out with an apologetic glance that morphed into a delighted grin when he read whatever was on his screen. “The power will be out for half the day tomorrow on set.”
I swallowed the handful of Milk Duds I’d crammed into my mouth. “Oh no, what are they going to do?”
“Give everyone the day off. And about time too. They had to give everyone a free day anyway or the unions would be on our asses.”
I internally cheered at the unexpected day off. I’d barely been awake the last few days during filming, the demanding schedule taking its toll.
Grayson put his phone back in the holder. “You’ll have gotten an email as well. They sent it to everyone.”
