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He put the two tapes back, then together, they moved through the collection one-by-one, marveling at movies neither of them had ever heard before—though that wasn’t a push for Winnie.

“I have no idea what’s good and what isn’t, so I’m leaving the choice up to you,” she said.

“Oh, don’t do that,” Matthew said. “Or we’ll end up with something like this.”

He raised a copy of the live-action version of The Flintstones, and she laughed again.

“Okay,” she said, leaning forward and choosing one herself, “how about The Silence of the Lambs?”

“Er, no. Do you know what that one is about?”

She shook her head, having only heard of the title before. She looked at the back and read the description, and her mouth dropped open in disgust.

Matthew laughed. “I take it that isn’t your cup of tea.”

“Not by a long shot.”

He chuckled again.

A knocking on the side of the wall startled them both, followed by a gruff, “We’re trying to sleep in here.”

Winnie covered her mouth with her hand. “That’s where the other guests are,” she whispered.

Matthew clenched his teeth together in a half-wince, half-smile, though his eyes still shone with humor.

“Come on, let’s pick something quick,” Winnie said.

And yet, the more they looked, the more they laughed.

“Godzilla?” he asked. “Oh, no. Lost in Space. Oh, oh! Hero and the Terror with Chuck Norris! Ah, there are too many good ones to choose from.”

Winnie continued laughing, the lateness of the night getting to her—and the fact that she found everything coming out of Matthew’s mouth to be completely hilarious.

Eventually, he reached over, placing a few fingers on her lips as his eyes shone with mirth. “Quiet. You’re going to get us into trouble again.”

The thrill of his warm fingers against her lips was enough to finally settle her down, though now her heart raced instead.

She drew a deep breath, and nodded. “Seriously, just grab a few, and we’ll head back to the room.”

Matthew took another moment to decide, then reached for a few tapes before they headed back to their room.

She jumped onto the bed as he put the movie in and stood back from the small screen, the warped sound of the tape warbling as the VHS warmed up to being played after who-knew-how-long.

“What did you choose?” she asked, watching the screen expectantly.

“The Man from Snowy River,” he said, turning the volume a notch higher before looking back at her. “Have you seen it?”

She shook her head, and his smile grew. “I think you’ll like it.”

Intrigued, she watched the screen before noting Matthew moving to the chair he hadn’t broken.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

He paused, motioning to the chair. “Sitting down to watch the movie.”

She shook her head. “You can’t break another one.”

He propped his hands on his hips. “What makes you think I’m going to break this one, too?”