Page 39 of Awestruck at Dusk
“I don’t want you to leave either.”
Ren and Sophie were trying the long-distance relationship thing. It was going as well as it could be expected. At least they made the most of it when they saw each other, which wasn’t as often as they liked.
Cecile was still single. After breaking things off with Paul, she tried to deal with the heartbreak by partying hard and having a bunch of one-night stands. That’s what Sophie told me once in confidence. She was a bit worried about her, but Cecile always liked to pretend like she was okay.
I could relate to that last pretending part.
And I didn’t want to mention it, but Tobias was here. It was going to be hard for her to see him because it would remind her how she messed things up with Paul. But something told me Cecile liked Tobias. She was just too proud to admit it.
I could relate to that too.
Nathan chatted with Lily and Joel, and I wanted to say hi to them, so I told Sophie and Cecile that I’d be right back.
“Lily!” I sang with a laugh. She glanced at me, and I shook my head playfully. She wore the Enzio de Luca dress I gave her. “Are you considering a career in acting? You’d be aterrificactress.”
She laughed as I hugged her. “I’m so sorry! Nathan was the one who gave me a script. He didn’t want you to suspect at all. Was it worth it?”
“It was. I wasn’t expecting any of this. But I’ll be waiting for the almond croissants you promised to bring over tomorrow.” I joked. “The dress looks great on you, by the way.”Obviously.
“Thank you! I love the color. And yes … You’ll have the croissants tomorrow, I swear!”
I hugged Joel next. “Thank you for this,” I told them. “You really didn’t have to.”
“Oh, we had to,” Lily replied. “I wouldn’t in a million years allow you to skip celebrating your twenty-first freaking birthday.”
A server approached us with wine, and my eyes twinkled.Yes,please. That right there was the solution to my problems.
Lily and I grabbed a glass, but Nathan and Joel declined the wine and ordered “drinks for men,” which was basically whiskey on the rocks.
Someone tapped my shoulder, and I turned around to see Tobias. “Billie!” He wrapped his arms around my waist and lifted me.
“Would you mind putting my girl down?” Nathan said with a laugh behind me. Tobias obeyed Nathan and replied something in Swedish. They laughed and shook hands with a loud clap and pulled themselves in for a few pats on the back. “Glad you could make it, mate.”
“I thought you were still on the road promoting your new film,” I told Tobias. I’d grown so fond of him lately. And I was so proud of him. His film was doing great at the box office. He was like the big brother I never had.
“I still am. We’re almost done, though,” Tobias said, sipping on his beer. “But I’ll have to fly to L.A. first thing tomorrow morning. I’ll probably have someone drag me straight to the airport because I ain’t leaving until someone throws me out of here. And Iwon’tlet you sneak out either. Jordan! Hey, man!” Tobias shouted at some guy.
I turned around to see who Jordan was. “Is that—” I said in a whisper.
“Yes, it is,” Tobias replied before I finished the question. “Nathan’s been doing a good job of getting you up to speed with your pop culture.” He grinned. “I’ll be right back, Billie.”
I shook my head with a snort.
Jordan Schreiber starred in a movie with Joel. A movie Nathan and I watched a few months ago. He was good friends with the Sjöbergs. The guy had short, dark brown hair, light brown eyes, a tattoo sleeve on his left arm showing off from his black, short-sleeved, button up shirt.
He looked big and brawny, but not scary. I’d confirmed this fact after watching the film. His classically handsome face softened up the bad-boy look—a little.
Jordan was one of those guys that stood out in a crowd for sure. Bryce stared at him as she took a swig of her drink. Her eyes were about to pop out of her face. Nina and Cecile couldn’t stop looking at him either as he strutted past them to reach Tobias.
I sipped on my wine and couldn’t help but laugh a little. It wasdelicious, by the way. I had to ask William about it since apparently, he’d been the one in charge of that department.
Where the hell is he? I was surprised Nathan and William agreed to collaborate. I guess Nathan could use all the help he could get, being as busy as he usually was.
Nathan talked to Joel, so I hung out with my friends from school for a while. I entrusted Nolan with my camera and asked him if he could take a few shots whenever he felt like it. He was happy to do so.
Then I stopped by to say hi to CJ, Nina, and Ren, who were already chatting with Sophie and Cecile.
“Oh em gee! That dress is—wow, Billie.” CJ scanned me from head to toe and stood up to twirl me. Nina agreed with CJ while Sophie giggled at CJ’s theatrics. CJ grabbed the Polaroid camera on the table and took a selfie of Nina and me with him.
