Page 47 of The Marriage Narrative
“Not to brag, butIthink it was a good one.” Her pleased smile was so subtle, it was nearly nonexistent. Someone would have to know her to recognize it. And he was starting to.
“So, you’ve really never been in love before? Please don’t hate me for saying this, but I kinda find that hard to believe.”
“Honestly? I never went looking for it and it never found me.” She shrugged, sighed, and then watched the movie instead of looking at him while she continued. “Everyone is always searching for The One. I didn’t because I have…The Four. My parents. Grace. Fiona. They’re all equally important to me in a way that I don’t think they even understand, but theyarepaired off so…here I am, hoping for The Five.”
Something told him that he’d always remember how wistfullybeautiful she looked right then. “So, instead of The One, I’m The Plus One?” he deadpanned.
She whipped back to him, eyes wide, expression caught between delight and disbelief. “I must be rubbing off on you because that was something I’d actually say.”
He snickered, feeling triumphant. Not only had she confided in him, but he was also pretty sure he knew how to help her. “I think I understand why you’ve been overthinking everything. Let’s break this down one storyline at a time, starting withSweetheart: You love me. You’re getting to know my family. But things aren’t going as well as we hoped—”
“Because they hate me.”
“Theydon’thate you and you have to stop holding back. Being extroverted is your superpower,” he explained, leaning into her interruption. “Your comebacks are faster than a speeding bullet. You open your heart and care for people like it’s a sworn oath. When you laugh it feels like sunshine after an averted apocalypse. You can shootcharmout of your eyeballs like laser beams, but they don’t know any of that because you never show them. Match their chaotic energy by being yourself, turnedallthe way up.”
He hated thinking about her pared down to her most commercial parts. Doing it made him feel slimy, like something gross was caked in his eyes and coated his teeth.
But then Zinnia giggled, and her sunshine laugh got him together. She knew what he’d meant: everything about her was remarkable tohim.
“I’ll try.”
“Now, the second half of theSweetheartstoryline is closely tied toNewlywedsand our biggest hurdle.” He paused to make sure he had her full attention. “Things aren’t going well. So, you should be coming to me for support and comfort because youtrust me. That in turn gives me a chance to help and encourage you to keep trying. But you barely talk to me about the storylines while we’re on camera. You leave the room during tense scenes. You don’t even touch me, which is something we need to fix as soon as possible.”
“Wait, that’s not true.” She frowned for a moment before asking, “Is it? I mean, I’m not the most affectionate person in the world but I…I touch you.”
“You don’t hug me. You don’t hold my hand or my arm. You don’t lean on me. You don’t absently reach for me. Everyone has definitely noticed we never kiss, but that’s not as important.”
Her face transitioned through emotions at a rapid-fire clip. “Beingaffectionatewill convince them that we love each other?”
“It’s a start.”
“That seems kind of shallow.”
“Shorthand isn’t shallow. We need those visual cues.”
“But there’s nothing special about what you listed. I could do that with anyone. It should be different with you.” She suddenly sat up straight, shoulders tense and hands pressed into her thighs. That inquisitive shine in her eyes was out in full force. “I’ve been trying to figure out how to showmy wayof loving someone.”
Jordan didn’t know if he felt charmed or doomed.
Mabel pointing out how happy Zinnia looked in the mornings all but confirmed the direction they needed to go in. TheNewlywedsstoryline would spin their nightly disappearing act as a need for alone time. They’d given up their honeymoon and now made up for it night after night after night because there was no way they weren’t fucking like rabbits.
Zinnia full-on cackled after he finished explaining. “Oh, I wasn’t thinking about it like that! That makes sense, but wait, you don’t want me to kiss you?”
Her leaps in logic never ceased to amaze him.Whendid hesay that? Starting there was a bad idea, definitely. She’d be fine. He’d be ruined.
“Right now, we need to focus on the buildup to our first on-screen kiss. We have to learn how to walk before we can run.”
“Got it.” She nodded.
He sat up, mirroring her again. “Pick something you think you’d be comfortable doing in front of the cameras and try it. I’ll follow your lead.”
She frowned before raising her hands—and then kept opening and closing them like a flashing signal.
“Any time now.”
“I’m getting there.” Her frown turned into a grimace as she concentrated.
Jordan kept his face neutral as he reeled internally. All thesethoughtscame barreling through, one after another, each one worse than the last because she reallydidn’twant to touch him?
