Page 7 of I Did Something Bad
Unfortunately for him, I can discern a tic from a mile away (it’s why my friends no longer play poker with me, the cowards), and I settle a bit more into my seat. At least now I know what to look out for. But now I need to knowwhythat happened.
“Your sister wants to be an ob-gyn? That’s impressive,” I say, trying to push this. I’m feeling around in the dark for something, and even though I don’t knowwhat,I’m almost certain there’s something there, just paces away.
“It is,” he says.
“I’m surprised she doesn’t want to be an actress, too. You know,given how well”—I make a spreading motion at him with my hands—“you’vedone in Hollywood.”
He shakes his head and laughs, but I notice that he hasn’t put his beer bottle down, perhaps using it as an anchor to keep his body language steady. I know from reading interviews that he’s close with his sister, so this could just be a case of him wanting to protect her from being in the press. But also, it could be something else.Isshe planning on becoming an actress? Are the two of them filming something next? I could see a studio wanting to keep a splashy announcement like that sealed shut. “Trust me, Jess is determined to do the complete opposite of whatever I do. She’s… how to describe her? Independent,” he says. Then, “What’s your favorite movie?”
Despite my annoyance in the subject change, I reply coolly, “No one has a favorite movie.”
“But if you had to pick?”
I look up at the ceiling while I think. “Legally Blonde.”
“Huh.”
“What?”
“I thought you’d name one ofmymovies. You know, to play to my ego.”
I can feel the smirk spread on my face. “Truthfully, I don’t think there’s a big enough bat in the world to play to the ego of someone who says something likethat,” I say, and he lets out a loud laugh. Not a full torrent, but a big enough wave that my smirk opens into a grin.
“I can see it, though,” he says, nodding now.
“What doesthatmean?” I challenge.
“I can see you and Elle getting along.”
“Don’t act like you’ve watchedLegally Blonde.”
“What?” His two front teeth dig into his bottom lip as if stopping a smile, and something zings down my spine. “Like it’s hard?”
This time,Ilaugh, shocked by what happened inside my body just then and by his quotingLegally Blonde.Before I can ask him something more interesting and less obvious thanhisfavorite movie (the firstIndiana Jones,as he mentioned in his speech at the Oscars the year he presented Harrison Ford with a lifetime achievement award), the food arrives, delivered by the same uncle who let me in. “Thank you,” Tyler says up at him with a respectful tilt of his head.
The uncle claps him on the shoulder. “I’ll be upstairs. Let me know if you need anything,” he says before retreating to the small staircase located at the very back of the restaurant and that, I’m assuming, leads to the second floor where the family lives.
“Are you seeing anyone?” Tyler asks with zero transition.
I halt, one shrimp wonton squished between my chopsticks, heart rate going from zero to a hundred. “What?”
Tyler picks up a wonton of his own and shrugs. “That’s what everyone’s always askingme. I’m sure you were going to ask me at some point, too,” he says before putting the entire dumpling in his mouth and following up with a small, delicate slurp of the soup. “So I’m asking you first. Are you seeing anyone?”
“No,” I say. “Areyou?”
“Come on now, I thought you’d be subtler than that.”
“That’s not an answer.Come on now,” I mimic his patronizing tone. “I thought we were trying to be friends—”
“We are—”
“—and friends tell each other when they’re seeing someone, don’t they?”
His grin shows off his perfect teeth. “Fair enough. No, I’m not seeing anyone.”
“Not on the apps?”
“Don’t have time for a relationship right now.”
