“Know,” he says. “She wants it as much as I do.”
“Good. She seems like a smart woman with great taste. Glad she proved it by falling for my brother.”
He rolled his eyes. If nothing else, Kelsey was his biggest cheerleader.
“Tonight’s the Crypto Games premiere, isn’t it?”
“Are you going?” he asked. Kelsey’s husband Wyatt was part of a huge Hollywood family and tended to have access to any and all parties and premieres.
“We were invited but turned it down. But I know a lot of folks who are going.” She listed a few familiar names from a Who’s Who in Hollywood and LA. “We’ve been on the road so much. But if you’re going we could change our plans…”
He shook his head. “I’m staying here. I’m the guy she comes home to.”
She put her hands behind her and leaned back. “Seriously? And you just started dating? I thought you liked her.”
“Are you kidding? Like only scratches the surface.”
“Then this is hardly the way to get off to a good start.”
“You’re one to talk. You and Wyatt got started when he hired you for a series of nude photos.”
“Actually, we got started long before that, and you know it. So let’s not go there, okay?”
“Dammit, I’m sorry.” She was right. She and Wyatt lost touch as teenagers because of him. Because he’d been an idiot with a match.
She exhaled, obviously readjusting her approach. “I get that you’re nervous. Uncomfortable. And I don’t blame you. But let me ask you this—does she want you there?”
“She understands why I don’t want to go.”
Her head tilted as she flashed a big sister look. “That wasn’t my question. Does. She. Want. You. There?”
He sighed. “Yeah.”
“So you’re starting your relationship by not being there on what is probably one of the most important nights of her life? Certainly it’s her biggest movie by far.”
“Kels…”
“Come on, Griff. Are you really going to tell me it doesn’t matter to her? Because I bet it does. And you know what? That’s a good thing. Caring, I mean. Do you care about her?”
He swallowed, her words making more sense than he wanted them too. “Of course.” His shoulders dipped. “I don’t want to fuck this up with her.”
“Good. Don’t.”
“But I also don’t want to walk down that red carpet and then see pictures of my face all over the trades tomorrow. That’s not me, Kelsey. You know it’s not.”
“I do.”
He heard the sympathy in her voice. “And it’s not like I can wear a formal hoodie.”
A tiny grin tugged at the corner of her mouth. “I have an idea. What time is she coming back to change?”
“Around six.”
She flashed a stage-ready smile. “That should give us just enough time.”