“Let’s go. Movie starts at four, and we don’t want to miss out on the good seats.”
They were thefirst ones in the theater, and Theo let her pick their seats.
Of course she chose as close to dead center as she could, and the old, decades-worn padding squeaked under Theo’s weight when he wedged himself next to her, his long legs butting up against the metal back of the seat in front of them. He passed her the soda and bucket of popcorn he’d bought, and they settled into the dim lights while a smattering of other classic movie enthusiasts shuffled in and took their places in the theater around them.
“Are you sure you’ve never seenCasablanca?” Theo glanced at her suspiciously out of the corner of his eye.
Audrey grinned and shook her head. “None of the households I was placed in were into black-and-white films. There was a lot of wrestling and reality shows, though.” She waggled her eyebrows at him. “Tell me, Theodore: How much do you know aboutTeen Mom? Because ohboy, could I write a dissertation on those girls.”
He snorted. “Oh god, please don’t.” His mask puffed away from his face as he chuckled. “I guess I’ll just have to get you caught up on some of the classics. Tell me what you think of this one.”
“Okay. But then you have to watch an episode ofLove Is Blindwith me.” When he covered his eye with his palm and groaned, Audrey held up an indignant finger. “One episode, Theo.”
“Fine. I’ll suffer through whatever terrible reality trash you want if you make it through this movie.”
“Deal.” She grinned up at him. “So how many times have you seen this?”
He grew quiet for a moment. “A lot,” he finally murmured. “My dad and I used to watch old movies all the time. On rainy Saturdays,we’d take the couch cushions off and throw them on the floor, put pillows everywhere, make a big bed, and pop popcorn while we watched something in black and white. The whole day, spent watching movies. It was my favorite thing to do with him.”
“That sounds so nice.”
“Yeah. It—it really was.” His voice hitched a little, and he suddenly reached over and squeezed her hand before letting his own fall back into his lap. “But now I’m glad I’m getting to do this with you today.”
Something about the way he looked at her and said that made her ache. But before she could respond, the theater completely darkened and the film began to roll.
The theater was only about half full, and everyone had largely opted to spread themselves out, so Audrey and Theo were left well enough alone. His eye was glued to the screen, the black-and-white movements of the actors reflected in his oddly colored dark iris.
Audrey moved her soda to her left and lifted the cupholder armrest on her right, removing the barrier between her and Theo and wedging it between their seat backs. He broke his trance and looked down at the movement, but as soon as he did, she wriggled against his side, resting her head on his shoulder while she munched on popcorn.
Just when she was beginning to wonder if he’d get the hint, he finally did. Theo lifted his arm and wrapped it around her, pressing her into his left side. Audrey snuggled closer, burrowing into his soft sweater, and she lost all track of the story. She was far too distracted by the way his large hand trailed softly along her arm, his fingertips gently caressing the cardigan she wore. His cologne reminded her of cedarwood and juniper, and it mixed with the lingering aroma of dry leaves and sunshine from the park. He was warm, absolutely radiating heat in the cold theater, and she closed her eyes for a moment and allowed herself to melt into him.
She’d always wanted someone to hold her close like this.
No one ever really had.
Audrey looked up at him, and when she did, he glanced back down at her, apparently acutely aware of every one of her movements. She took the opportunity to do what she’d been planning since the park: she held up the popcorn bucket to him and gave it a tempting shake. His eye rested on it for a moment before it scanned the scattered theater crowd, his gaze skipping across the faces of the people closest to them. None of them paid him any mind.
So wonder of all wonders, Theo Sullivan lifted his right hand—and finally removed his mask.
His fingers trembled as they tugged the black elastic loop free of his left ear and let it hang from the right one, fully freeing his mouth.
Audrey could hardly contain herself at the sight of his lips in the flashing light from the film. It was the longest look she’d had of them thus far, and she beamed victoriously at him as she offered him the popcorn again. That smile only grew larger once his shaking fingers tentatively scooped up a few buttery popcorn kernels andthe man actually consumed something.
He peered down at her out of the corner of his eye again with a huff, and she knew he was steadfastly refusing to show her the right side of his face. There was no way he’d turn and look at her head-on.
But that was all right. She’d make do with his profile for now, especially once his mouth finally cracked into half a crooked grin as he gazed at her.
My god, what a smile.
His eye slowly crinkled, and at last she could see part of what the mask had long been hiding.
Audrey had thought him handsome when she only knew a quarter of his face and the briefest flash of the rest of it. Now that she had an extended look at half, her attraction to him only increased exponentially.
Her heart thundered in her chest at the slow blooming of that lopsided grin across the part of himself he’d decided to show to her. Two dark moles dotted the side of his large, distinguished nose, and Audrey had to suppress the urge to run a finger down its perfect slope, if only to finally trace the curves of it, to try to read him the same way she’d wanted to interpret the tiny scars dotting the landscape of his hands under her fingertips.
But the light of the smile flashing across his face was short-lived. As soon as it was wide enough to stretch up and across his cheeks, he winced and shuddered forward slightly, closing his eye as though he were in sudden pain. But that too was gone in a flash, and he pressed his lips together in a softer, smaller smile before grabbing more popcorn. He turned his attention back to the film, crunching contentedly on their shared snack, and the spell was broken.
Audrey tried to turn back to the movie.
