Page 109 of Now or Never

Unless she hated that movie.

Was that a movie that film nerds liked? Probably not. It was just a silly romcom, right? He had no clue.

Adam shook his head and set the stereo down on the bench. She’d still laugh at him. And he’d get the dimples. Maybe even an eye roll if he was lucky.

He knew she lovedJawsfrom the framed poster he’d seen in her house. AndPulp FictionandGoodfellas. Maybe there was something in one of those movies that he could do for her. He’d have to think about it. He was surveying his options when his phone rang.

“Uncle David!”

“Nephew Adam! How’s it going?”

Adam eyed the stereo. “I’m not sure yet,” he said.

“Well, that’s better than bad. Have you been going to your therapist?” he asked.

Adam smiled. “Yes, I have. Everything is going well on that front.”

“And things with Chelsea?”

Adam scratched the stubble on his jaw as he took in the stereo and wondered for the millionth time how her date with Scott had gone. Hopefully, they hated each other, though he couldn’t see how that would be possible. Best-case scenario, they were just casually dating and not officially together. He really didn’t want to steal Scott’s girlfriend.

But he would.

“It’s going so-so,” he settled on. “How are you?”

“I’m great. I have some news.”

Adam sat down on the stool, looked at the buttons on the stereo. “What is it?” he asked.

“Well, I offered to fund Chelsea’s feature, and she turned me down.”

Adam’s hand froze as he tried to process the words. “Chelsea’s feature?”

“Yeah, you didn’t know? She quit Lilian’s project, told Jasper to go to hell, and poached Vincent off the set.”

“She did?” he asked, his face breaking into a grin.

“She sure did. It’s all anyone is talking about. She’s made quite a splash.”

“She has?” he asked again.

“Yeah. Jasper’s become something of a pariah—Lilian’s shitting herself. And everyone in town is trying to get in on Chelsea’s project.”

He hopped up from his seat. “They are?”

Uncle David laughed. “Yeah, the premise sounds brilliant, and once Vincent backed it, it caught everyone’s attention. Where the hell have you been?” he asked, as if everyone had access to this information.

Adam rolled his eyes at himself. He’d been racking his brain, thinking of ways to get her back, and hadn’t even deployed all his resources. “I’ve been trying to figure out how to win her back.”

“She shot you down pretty hard, eh?”

“Like a highly trained sniper.”

Uncle David laughed. “Good girl. I could tell she was smart,” he said, then fell silent for a moment. “I was calling you to see if you could convince her to let me invest, but I’m guessing she told me nobecauseof you.”

Adam nodded. “I wouldn’t doubt it,” he said. He looked around his workbench until his eyes landed on his mitre saw, and a brilliant thought popped into his mind. He let it roll around for a moment, then smiled. If she was hesitant to take his money, maybe he could help her with her film in a different way.

“Adam—”

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