Page 85 of See Me

He tilts his head and narrows his eyes. “What are you talking about?”

“After my interview. You told me to lose the Anne of Green Gables outfit.” I pick up my bottle and round the Christmas tree he ducked behind to see his face. “Now, I’m too young to know what that is, so I had to look it up. You, sir, are into some weird shit.”

He bends over laughing. “It’s not like I watch it now. My Gram used to watch all that shit when I was younger. I was unwilfully subjected to it. It was forced onto me at an age when I was most impressionable. I take no responsibility for it taking up brain space.”

“And yet… it was the first thought in your head. Seems to me there was a recent rewatch. Maybe a binge session full of floral frocks and straw hats?”

He pokes his head out of his hiding spot to look me straight in the eye. “Absolutely not.”

I tip my chin up in a challenge. “Prove it.”

He scoffs. “How do you prove somethingdidn’thappen?”

“Bring up your Netflix account.” I walk to the coffee table and grab the remote. His eyes are wide as he walks to stand next to me. “It will show me your recent activity.”

His eyes glaze over as I imagine him mentally running through the list of what he’s watched.

Apparently satisfied nothing embarrassing will show up, he nods. “Fine.” He grabs the remote and takes a minute to log in.

When his profile pops up I snatch the remote and start scrolling through hiswatch againtabs. “You watch a lot of viking shows.”

He puffs out his chest and nods. “Vikings are awesome.”

I wave in his direction. “Yes, yes. Very manly.”

I keep scrolling and he reaches for the remote. “See, no floral frocks. Now that’s enough.”

I dart around the couch. “Now if you weren’t acting sosuspicious I would’ve dropped it, but now I think you’re hiding something.”

He puts his hands on his hips and scoffs. “Don’t be ridiculous. I’m not ashamed of what I watch.”

“Kickboxer, Lionheart. Understandable, if not a little predictable. Let's see… Rocky. How original.” He rolls his eyes. I hit the button a few more times and suddenly my heart soars right along with my laugh. “No. Oh my god. Dynasty? My fifty-year-old maid used to watch that… twenty years ago.”

His chin falls to his chest. “It’s the reboot, not the original. Eh, never mind.”

I keep scrolling.

“Footloose. That’s a classic, I’ll allow it.”

He slumps to the couch and chugs his beer. “Is this really necessary?”

“Knight Rider? I don’t even know what that is. And why is it spelled with a ‘K’?”

He turns to glare at me over the back of the couch. “It’s his name, obviously. And he was a hero, fighting injustice with his talking car, KITT. The show was way ahead of its time and an absolute cinematic masterpiece.”

I bite my lip to hold back a laugh and he huffs a sigh. “You wanna be the Knight Rider.”

He stands and brushes past me. “I do not. That’s ridiculous.” He stomps all the way to the fridge and grabs two more beers.

“You rewatched the entire series.” I keep scrolling as I move to sit on the couch. “You so want to be the hero.”

He hands me the beer. “You need to catch up.” He sits on the opposite end of the couch.

I take the beer and twist the top off. “Is that your thing? Playing hero?”

He turns his head to look at me but there’s no humor in hiseyes. He tips the bottle up and turns back toward the TV. “Never been a hero.”

“You sure? You jumped in to save Evie, knowing you had no chance—”

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