"That's fine, I'll let you get back. It was great seeing you."
"No, no, if you could just…" she hesitated, staring at her phone and texting before looking at him with an exasperated expression. "I'm supposed to be there now, and there's fifteen minutes left on the pizza. It's not for me. It's for the creative team of this show. James asked if I could pick up some pizza so I could meet the director and everything." She made a hopeless face. "James said Domino's would be fine, and now I feel bad about coming here because I'm going to be late. It's two pizzas. I called it in an hour ago. I had no idea they would be so busy." She shrugged. "I hate to complain. I've been in the weeds before at my place. I'm just stressed because they were expecting me."
"Yeah, I know that feeling when you have no control to make something go faster."
She made a face. "I can't believe how many people are here. Sorry I vented. I don't mean to keep you. What are you doing here?"
"It's my brother and sister's birthday," he said.
"Both? Do they have the same birthday?" she said, looking surprised.
"They're twins," he said.
"Oh yeah, I remember you mentioning that you had twin siblings."
Ash nodded, and then he turned and pointed to their table. Mason and Val's chairs both had a balloon attached.
"Oh, that's your family with the balloons?"
"Yes."
"How cool." She smiled and waved at Mason, who had been watching them and waiting for his moment to wave at her.
"That's my brother," Ash said, seeing what was going on.
"He looks just like you—not quite as handsome," she said.
"Don't tell him that," Ash said. "He thinks he's the most handsome guy on the planet."
"He's still up there," she agreed, like it was an objective fact. She took a deep breath and turned to stare at Ash again. "I ordered from this place to make a good impression, and now it's going to be a bad impression."
"Don't stress about it," he said. "Everything happens for a reason. You have to trust that. What if you took it on time and you got some big role, and it was the worst experience of your life?"
She laughed. "Yeah, I guess you're right. So, you're saying that failing to impress them tonight might save me from succeeding, which will save me from something terrible?"
"Exactly," he said with a nod.
She smiled. "Thanks," she said. "I think." Her teeth weren't perfectly straight, and it made her smile even more interestingand beautiful. He had been attracted to Audrey Wells from the moment he met her. But any man in his right mind would be. He thought of his brother, who was no doubt watching them at this very moment.
"Where's Bella Luna?"
Audrey smiled. "She still tells people that's her nickname."
"Who'd she tell?"
"Her coach the other day. She just started a little gymnastics class, and her coach asked them if anyone had nicknames."
"And she said that?"
Audrey nodded.
"Do other people call her that, or did she get it from me?"
"No. I'm surprised, but no one else has ever said it. I've used it a time or two since we met you. I call her Lu mostly. That's what I thought she'd tell him. I call her peanut, and pumpkin, and all sorts of other things. I never thought she'd mention that one."
She glanced over his shoulder and smiled, and Ash turned in time to see that his brother was walking toward them.
Mason, to Ash's horror, walked up wearing his most dashing smile. It was obvious to everyone that he was still checking Audrey out. Okay, maybe it wasn't obvious to everyone, but it was certainly obvious to Ash, who knew his brother and could see that confident lady-killer smile from a mile away.
