The distance between them was killing him. He hated feeling like they weren't them. If he could just get her talking, then maybe he could get past the fact that he was in love with her and stop second-guessing every move, every word, every gesture he made. Talking. That's where they'd always connected.
He'd been trying without success, so since both tactics A and B had failed miserably, he figured C was up to bat. Hopefully, he would knock this one out of the park.
"So, did you get bit by the bug?" he asked, casually staring straight ahead at the highway illuminated by his headlights.
"What?" Becca asked. He felt her head turn and knew that he, at least, had her attention.
"The acting bug," Brian explained. "Have you decided to abandon your career in medicine to pursue a life of auditions filled, of course, with assholes in the waiting room?"
Becca laughed and Brian's heart expanded with so much love that it felt like it was going to burst out of his chest. Her laughter might just be his favorite sound in the world. He was sure it had magical powers. Even before he'd found himself head over heels in love with Becca, he'd maintained that, if they could just bottle her laughter, it would not only heal diseases, but also stop wars.
"No, I think I will stick to my day job, thank you very much," Becca said, her voice sounding present and not like she was a million miles away. "Honestly, I have no idea why you or anyone would subject themselves to that. Not just the waiting room, which was … awkward, but the actual audition itself. I mean, just the lights, the camera, the talking-it's all so … I don't know, so not real."
"You're right. It's not. So the challenge is making it seem natural, real. That is the hardest thing for most people to do." Brian knew that they weren't talking about what was bothering Becca, but at this point, he was just happy that she was talking at all.
"Do you like auditioning?" Becca asked. "I don't remember you saying that you didn't."
"Yeah, I've always liked it. I guess because I have a little different take on it than most of the other actors I know. I've always just thought of it as not having anything to lose and a lot to gain. I mean, like today, this morning, I wasn't part of the cast of Fairytale Love. So if I don't get cast, then what did I lose?"
"That makes sense," Becca said as she turned towards Brian and lifted her foot up, tucking it beneath her as she got comfortable in her new position.
Brian felt himself relax. For forty-five minutes, he hadn't been able to get more than an "I'm fine" out of her. He'd wanted to kick his own ass for taking her to that audition. Not only had it taken significantly longer than he'd hoped it would have, but between Mr. Steroids and Becca's practically being forced to audition, the entire thing had been a nightmare. All he wanted to do was put it behind them.
"So," she said softly, sounding unsure as she spoke, and Brian glanced over to see her looking down at her hands, "what do you think your chances are of getting chosen to be on the show?"
"No idea. Honestly, I think it may just come down to what it usually does-looks."
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Becca nodding. "Yeah, I saw that they had stacks of princes and princesses that they were putting headshots in."
"You did?" Brian hadn't seen that. But he also hadn't looked at the table Mary had been sitting behind.
"Yeah. When I handed over the questionnaire, I saw your picture in the ‘Phillip' pile."
"Which one is he from?" Brian had read a lot of the classic fairytales and also seen a few of the movies, but he definitely didn't know them by heart-especially the princes' names.
"He's from Sleeping Beauty." Becca's voice sounded … sad.
Brian had a gut feeling that the show, or more specifically his being on the show, was what was bothering her, but he had no idea why. She'd been so supportive when he'd first told her about it. He could keep asking her if she was okay and try to get to the bottom of it, but Brian knew he wouldn't get anywhere. Becca would talk to him when she was ready and not a minute before.
"What pile did you go in?" Brian asked.
"Snow White," she sighed.
He should have known. For as long as he'd known Becca, people had compared her to Snow White. A smile spread on Brian's face. He looked over at her and almost started laughing at her expression.
He didn't want her dwelling on the Snow White of it all, so to change the subject, Brian asked, "So, what did they ask you?"
"Just basic … stuff. What did they ask you?" Becca asked, her voice going up an octave the way it did when she was nervous.
Why would she be nervous to ask about the questions he'd been asked in his audition?
"They asked about my goals, family, and past relationships mainly," Brian explained.
"Yeah, that's pretty much what they stuck to with me, too. Did you talk about Skylar?"
"Yeah." Brian wasn't sure why the energy in the cab of the Jeep had shifted. All he knew was that it had. This line of questioning was making the air crackle with electricity, at least from where he sat. "Did you tell them about Ethan?"
Ethan was the only serious relationship Becca had ever had. Brian had only met the dude once. He'd seemed like a nice enough guy, but he hadn't been surprised when they'd broken up. The guy had no sense of humor, and Brian knew that was a deal breaker for Becca.
"I mentioned him when they asked me about my longest relationship," Becca said. Brian wasn't sure if she was being intentionally vague or if she really was just tired.
Before he could stop himself, he asked, "Did she ask you if you've ever been in love?"
When Becca didn't answer, Brian looked over at her and saw that she was nodding.
Brian knew a lot about Becca. Even Becca, herself, had said that Brian knew her better than anyone. But, for all of the knowledge he had stored in his Becca-vault, that was a piece of information that was missing.
Brian's heart was beating so loud that he could barely hear himself speak. He hoped that his tone was even and casual as he asked, "What did you say?"
Oh boy!
* * *
From the moment Mary had asked her the ‘love' question while she was seated in front of the camera, that was filming her every move with a spotlight shining brightly on her face, she'd been worried that her secret would be revealed. Had she answered honestly? Yes. Had she answered specifically? No.
Why mess with what was working?
Clearing her throat, Becca hoped her voice wouldn't crack as she spoke, "I said ‘yes'."
Brian's honey-brown eyes darted to hers. "You did?"
"Yep." Trying to deflect any follow-up questions, Becca quickly asked, "Did she ask you?"
"What?" Brian's brow knitted as he looked back at the road.
"Did she ask you if you've ever been in love?" Becca wasn't sure if Brian really hadn't understood the question or if he just didn't want to answer it, but she asked anyway, turning the tables on him.
"Oh … yeah." Brian shrugged as if it were no big deal.
Okay …
"What did you say?" Of course Becca figured that he'd said yes. Skylar had been his longest, most serious relationship, but Brian had had a few semi-serious relationships.
"Yes," Brian said as if it were obvious.
If she didn't know any better, she would think that she was irritating him. But that was ridiculous. He'd started this line of questioning. She'd been perfectly happy to sit quietly, looking out the window, contemplating how on Earth she was going to survive this summer when all she wanted to do was crawl over the seat, sit on top of Brian's lap, and kiss him senseless.
He was the one who'd kept asking if she was okay and then started questioning her about the audition. A thrill ran down her spine as she thought about his voice when he'd told Hulk Junior that he'd needed to leave-now. Good Lord, how had she spent the greatest part of two decades being best friends with the man seated next to her and never thought of him like that!? Had she had some kind of lust-slash-love blinders on that had been removed last summer? Had she just been immune to his charms, his voice, his appearance, his heart because she'd grown up surrounded by it every day?
Maybe that was it. Maybe the fact that they'd spent almost every day together from pre-kindergarten until senior year had caused her to develop an immunity to Brian. But then, going years without seeing each other on a daily basis, she'd had no anti-love serum stored up in her DNA. So, when she'd seen him at her sister Haley's birthday celebration and he'd asked her to dance, the second his large hand had rested on her lower back and she'd laid her head against his muscular chest, she'd been exposed to lust and love that she was totally defenseless against.