Billionaire Romance Boxed Set 2(141)

“Comfortable?” Asher asked. He intruded on my daydream, waltzing into his home and joining me in the open living room.

“Yes,” I said. I sat up and patted the seat beside me on the couch. “Do you want to be comfortable, too?”

He smiled and sat next to me. Not too close, but close enough. I sat and stared at him with my hands in my lap, realizing I had a silly smile on my face but not knowing any way to get rid of it. I couldn’t have stopped smiling right now if I tried, so I just let it be.

“The pizza will be here soon,” he said. “Jeremy is picking it up. The Arcadia. Have you heard of it?”

I shook my head, no.

“It’s very good. A classier place, but they don’t skimp or make it cheap. There, pizza is pizza, with tons of toppings and a crust you can sink your teeth into. Not like those fancy places that give you something the size of a tea saucer and charge you five times what Domino’s does.” He paused for a second, then added, “Not that I’m annoyed about that or anything…”

“I take it you’ve had some bad pizza?” I asked, laughing.

“I prefer not to talk about it,” Asher said. He lowered his eyes, feigning shy indignance. Asher was anything but shy, though. He looked up soon after, glanced at me, making eye contact, and flashed me a bright smile.

“I was thinking,” he said. “Have you seen The Goonies? I haven’t seen it since I was a kid and I’d love to watch it again. It’s a great movie.”

“Is that the one with the pirates?”#p#分页标题#e#

“Kind of,” he said. “Not really, but sort of. There’s a pirate’s treasure, and a mafia crime family. Traps and adventure and a little romance and friends coming together to accomplish something big, and…”

I listened to him with rapt attention. He sounded so into it. It wasn’t the kind of movie I’d typically like, though I was sure I would have watched it with friends. The way Asher talked about it, the glimmer in his eyes and the excitement in his voice, I really wanted to watch it now, though. Something about it, sharing his passion, watching the movie and simultaneously watching him watch it, seeing him enjoy it; the idea appealed to me.

“I’d love to watch it,” I said.

“Great!” He got up, walked towards the fireplace.

Tapping on one of the bricks revealed a panel with a bunch of buttons and he pressed a few. The large windows surrounding the living room immediately darkened, becoming tinted(almost like magic) and blocked most of the late afternoon sun. Then, something clicked behind and above me. I craned my neck and looked back to see a plate opening in the ceiling, with a projector dropping down and arranging itself so it pointed in front of us. And, finally, a large, white screen descended above the fireplace.

The whole thing looked like some movie theatre set up. Except, of course, for the fact that I was still in Asher’s living room. I gaped at the screen, dumbstruck. I’d never really imagined anything like this. It was the kind of thing people talked about wishing they had, except Asher actually owned it. He snickered at my reaction.

Walking with a swagger back to the couch, he plopped next to me again. “I have everything set up,” he said. Leaning forward, he snatched a remote off the coffee table. “With this, I can access every DVD in my collection and play them through the projector. It’s quite useful.”

“I imagine,” I said. I couldn’t keep my eyes off the projection screen. “This is amazing.”

“You think this is amazing? Just wait until the pizza arrives.”



…



The movie ended. The pizza was as amazing as Asher said, too. I loved all of it. Not just the pizza or the movie, but every time something exciting was about to happen Asher would tense up. He’d stare at the screen, entranced, watching. Sometimes he’d notice me looking at him and laugh, telling me to watch. “A good part is coming up soon,” he’d say.

I scooted closer to him on the couch as the movie progressed, almost touching him, side by side. It was a good movie and I liked it. Cute, silly, with lighthearted parts sprinkled in with the more serious plot points. I could tell why he liked it, and I think I would have loved to read a book about it, to learn more, get a better feel for the characters. It was good, though. The whole evening was good. Wonderful and great.

“Who was your favorite character?” he asked me during the credits.

A Cyndi Lauper song hummed through the surround sound speakers. “I liked the little boy with the gadgets,” I said.

Asher laughed. “I always wanted to be like him when I was younger. I used to watch this movie all the time. I don’t know why, but whenever I saw it was on TV I’d switch to that channel and watch it, even if it was halfway over already.”