𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐑𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬 • 𝘞𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘳 𝘚𝘤𝘰𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘭

𝟑𝟗: 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐥𝐞

   By the next day, one thing was for sure; Walker was the smartest stupid person Sophia had ever met.

That morning, she came out of her room and into the shared living area. Only one other person was there. "Look who's finally awake." Aryan joked. "It's almost 10:00."

She scoffed, slightly tripping on the edge of her pajama pants as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "Oh shush."

Plopping down next to him, she looked over his shoulder at his phone.

"Who you texting?" Sophia asked.

"Bridgette."

"Ooooh." She feigned surprise. Getting little Bridgette updates from Aryan had quickly become one of her favorite parts of the day. Watching how every time he spoke about her, his eyes lit up, and he got this boyish grin that made her heart melt a bit. He was head over heels. It crossed her mind that she should reach out to Bridgette and ask her about Aryan too. They were undeniably adorable.

"What a shocker." Sophia teased. "How's she doing?"

"Good! I've been telling her she should try to come visit, and she's totally on board. She just has to find a time."

Sophia gasped. "That would be so fun! Maybe a day or so before the premiere?"

Aryan nodded in agreement. "I'll ask her later today. She said she's gonna call me!" His smile could've melted a hundred girls hearts, ten-times over.

Her own smile faltered a bit when her thoughts wandered to last night. She really hoped the fans took the bait they had set, even if all they did was show up together in public. Walker didn't even put his arm around her for the photo.

The more she thought about it, the more she didn't understand. He had liked her. Really liked her. Then all of a sudden, it was like he forgot about the last few months. He refused to acknowledge whatever they were to their friends anymore. He was adamant in rejecting Ryan's advances about her being his girlfriend. He didn't even hint at this whole 'fake dating' situation feeling the tiniest bit real to him.

It was so damn confusing. There would be times where she swore she saw that familiar warmth in his eyes, the type he saved only for her. Other times it was like the kiss in his room never happened. Like he had erased it from his memory. Or was trying to.

Whether it was on purpose or accident, his whole mood was toying with her feelings. Or she was diving too deep into it. After all, she was known for being a master over-thinker...

...But if he liked her, why didn't he just say something? There was nothing stopping him, and she mentally made the point that with Archer following her around, the reassurance of knowing Walker meant his protectiveness in a more-than-a-friend-way would be nice.

Plus, she really wanted to kiss him again.

Someone else came out from the boys room. "Great, you're finally awake!" Walker exclaimed, hopping up onto the counter between Aryan and Sophia. "So, did you look at Instagram yet? Did you see the posts? And comments?" He interrogated her.

"Oh right! No, hold on." She pulled out her phone as he waited with anticipation. After a few swipes of her finger, she landed on a short video from a news outlet. It was her and Walker posing on the carpet, then getting yelled at by the man before Walker escorted her off.

She mentally noted that his hand was resting on her arm, and not her lower back like usual. Just a thought.

She scrolled a bit further, and there was a post with multiple photos. The two of them getting out of the car. Smiling, talking and posing with fans. More similar posts popped up as she scrolled, and she looked through the comments in a few of them, holding her breath.