Bookish and the Beast (Once Upon a Con #3)(71)

But none of those words seem right in this moment.

“Sir! Excuse me, you don’t have a ticket, you can’t be here,” one of the flustered parents says, finally clawing his way through the students to get to us. “I’ll have to politely ask you to leave.”

I give Vance a wide-eyed look. “You broke in?”

“I didn’t have a ticket,” he replies sheepishly.

“Sir,” the parent tries again.

“He’s my date,” I reply, and when the parent again repeats that he doesn’t have a ticket, I pull the extra one out from the hidden pocket of my dress, which is probably the second-best part of my dress. The first being the neckline. Because I have definitely, totally caught Vance sneaking a look at it. “He just forgot his ticket.”

“Date?” someone mutters.

“Vance Reigns?”

“But didn’t he coerce her?”

“Who’s going to tell her this is Stockholm syndrome?”

The parent takes the ticket and tears off the admittance side, and balefully hands it back to us. I don’t know if Vance takes the ticket, because I can’t quite believe he’s here.

“I’m sorry,” he says, soft and uncertain, “for yesterday. I know I’ll have to win back your trust, and I know it’s not going to be easy, but…can you let me try? Or start to try? Or—”

“Vance,” I interrupt, and he gives me a hesitant look, before I grab his cravat and pull him down toward me. “Amara up.”

And I kiss him under the starry lights of Homecoming.





SIX MONTHS LATER.

It’s the perfect night for a double feature. The skies are clear and the stars are bright, and it’s just cold enough to still need a blanket and snuggle up with your friends and eat nachos with plastic cheese and warm pretzels. The back of Quinn’s truck is parked in the dead center of the drive-in, in the perfect spot to watch the double feature of Starfield and Starfield: Resonance.

“I really hope this is gonna be good,” Annie says as she reaches over to steal a nacho from Quinn.

“No pressure or anything,” Vance mumbles, pulling the blanket tighter around us. He shivers. “It’s so bloody cold—why are drive-ins charming, again?”

“Your spoiled is showing,” I remind him, and he mutters something to himself and puts his cheek on my shoulder. “And I’m sure the movie will be fantastic.”

I’m not just saying that because we’re sharing a flatbed truck with Darien Freeman and Elle Wittimer, either, though we most definitely are. I’m trying not to stare at them too much, but honestly how can I not stare? It’s Darien Freeman! With Elle! And they’re holding hands! There hasn’t been any official news in the media about them getting back together, and I’ve had to stop Annie from asking more than a few times tonight, but honestly I want to know.

“Why couldn’t Jess come?” Elle asks.

Imogen rolls her eyes. “You know her,” she says. “She’s supporting her girlfriend’s art exhibit in Chicago this weekend.” She takes a pack of Twizzlers out of her purse, breaks open the package, and sticks one in Ethan’s mouth. “There’s no Pokémon out here, babe.”

“I know.” He sighs. “I guess I’ll just have to converse with all of you instead.”

“What a travesty,” she agrees sarcastically.

The large screen at the front of the drive-in flickers, and an animated popcorn scene jumps to life.

“Ooh, it’s starting!” Annie taps Quinn on the leg and tells Darien, “Turn on the radio!”

He reaches up behind him and fiddles with the dial. As he does, I take out a letter from my back pocket and I show it to Vance. In surprise, he also shows me a folded-up piece of paper.

“Oh, you too?” I ask, and we trade papers.

He opens mine, first. His breath catches. “You got in?”

“Full ride,” I reply, smiling. “Your girlfriend’s about to be an English major at NYU.”

“I’m so proud of you.” He laughs and kisses my forehead. “I knew that nerdy head of yours was good for something.”

“Hey! I expect you to come visit.”

“Visit? My stepfather owns an apartment in SoHo. I might just move in. Always fancied New York City.”

I roll my eyes. “Ugh, I forgot how lucky you rich kids are.”

He laughs as I elbow him in the side, and motions to the folded-up paper in my hand. “Your turn.”

My fingers are tingling with anticipation. I’m not quite sure what it is, but I have a guess…If the rumor boards are right, then he might not be able to come visit me for a while. I unfold the piece of paper. First, I see the screenwriter, and then the logo. It looks like the first page of a script. But what script could it be?

Then I see the title.

THE STARLESS—

I gasp.

“Ugh, quiet down back there!” Annie complains as I hide the title page from view. “You’re making us miss the previews.”

Vance puts a finger to his grinning mouth, and I settle into the nook between his head and shoulder. “I hear the villain’s quite good in this one,” he mumbles into my ear, and I feel my mouth spreading into a grin.