Page 106 of Dream (Fighting Fate)

Maybe it was her experience in Africa, or maybe it was just her genetic disposition. Either way, she was a force no one had seen coming. Including me. It was a side of her I didn’t even know existed, and when I thought about how many times I’d agonized over her ability to handle my world, it made me feel ashamed that I’d underestimated her so badly.

And it was for that reason that I needed to confess my sins and ask for her forgiveness. As she stepped out of her bathroom, I drew in a deep, steadying breath and sat down on the little armchair where it all began.

Her eyes narrowed as she found me, confusion creasing her brow. “What’s wrong?”

I pressed my lips together, hoping like hell she wasn’t going to be mad. “There’s something I need to tell you,” I said, diving in before I chickened out.

Worry flooded her eyes, but she moved toward me anyway, taking a seat on the edge of the bed.

I paused, my brain refusing to cooperate with me in its full capacity. “I’ve done something I probably shouldn’t have, and I’m praying to everything holy out there that you’ll forgive me.”

Her chin raised a fraction, dread flashing in the depths of her eyes. “Okay,” she said, making it sound more like a question than anything else.

I sat forward, leaning my elbows on the arms of the chair. “The night you were attacked—when I got here and found you asleep,” I started, searching my head for how to say what came next.

She cocked her head to the side, nodding slightly.

“I didn’t want to wake you, but I didn’t want to leave you either,” I said carefully. “I thought that maybe I could sit here and read something . . .”

She nodded, still confused.

“I thought you might have a book or something somewhere . . .”

“Josh,” she said, warning clear in the tone of her voice.

I huffed. “Okay. I found your screenplay.”

Her eyes widened. “You read it?” Her tone was slightly incredulous.

Yep. I was fucked. “I’m sorry, Liv. I didn’t intend to. At first I was just surprised. I mean, you’ve never said anything to me about writing one. But then I read the first page and I couldn’t stop. Why didn’t you tell me you’d written a screenplay?”

Uncertainty forced her eyes to narrow. “I don’t know,” she said. “It’s not something I’d ever thought about, really. It wasn’t until I saw your script at the beach house that I thought it would be cool to convert the novel I’d written into one.” She stood and moved over to the window. “I just wanted to see if I could do it. For the fun of it.”

I stood and walked over to her. “I wasn’t going to say anything. I thought I’d wait until you were ready to tell me. But I can’t stop thinking about it, Liv. It’s good. Like really good. I think I can get someone to pick it up.”

She gasped. “What? No!”

“Why not?” I asked, confused at her reaction. “I’m serious, Liv. I’m not saying this to make you feel good or any other crap. I genuinely think it has amazing potential.” I sighed at her horrified expression. This so wasn’t going how I’d wanted it to. “Please, Liv. Just let me show it to Lucas. If he doesn’t agree with me, we’ll never talk about it again.”

Her gaze moved between mine, worry and indecision making her chew on the inside of her cheek. A long moment later, she released a slow breath. “I’ll let you show it to Lucas on one condition.”

I waited, hoping it was something I could agree to.

“You can’t tell him I wrote it.”

I blinked. I didn’t understand why she wouldn’t want her name associated with it. It was fucking incredible. But there was no way I was going to argue with her about it. “Deal.”

“And don’t ever read my work without asking again,” she said, her gaze warning me.

Pulling her into my arms, I gave her an apologetic smile. “I promise, I won’t. But, Liv, you need to have a serious think about what happens when he says he loves it. Because I know he’s going to.”

“What do you mean?”

There was no way to be gentle about it. “I mean it’s going to get picked up, Liv. Unless you say no, that story is going to be made into a movie. You need to start thinking about how much you want to be involved in it.”

Worry churned in her eyes again, and she moved to sit back down on the bed. “I don’t know, Josh. You know it was never my intention to get into the movie business. I just like writing stories.”

Sitting down beside her, I took her hand. “I know what you mean, but writing screenplays is a part of the movie industry, Liv.”

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