Everything I Wanted

The Feeling She Won't Name - 31

Story woke up to a text from Barry.

Barry: Good morning, beautiful. I'm landing in LA earlier than expected. Wanna grab coffee today?

She blinked at the screen, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she sat up in bed. She hadn't expected him to text so soon, but she didn't mind. Barry seemed like a great guy, and after their chance meeting in Dallas, she was actually looking forward to getting to know him better.

Story: Yeah! Let me know when and where.

Her mom was already up, probably downstairs working or scrolling through the news with her morning coffee. Stretching, Story grabbed her phone and got out of bed, deciding she needed food before anything else.

As she walked into the kitchen, her mom glanced up from her laptop. "Morning, sweetheart," she greeted. "Sleep well?"

"Mhm," Story hummed, opening the fridge. "Guess who just texted me?"

Laurel took a sip of her coffee before raising an eyebrow. "That cute Irish guy from the airport?"

Story paused, looking at her mom with mild surprise. "How did you—"

"I might've peeked at your phone yesterday," Laurel teased with a smirk.

Story rolled her eyes but couldn't fight the smile tugging at her lips. "Well, yeah, him. We're getting coffee today."

"That's nice," Laurel said, nodding in approval. "But you're sure you're just looking for a friend, right?"

"Yeah," Story said, though the answer felt more like a reassurance for herself. "I just... I don't know. He seems cool, but I don't think I'm ready for all that."

Laurel smiled knowingly but didn't press further.

✨

Meanwhile, at Billie's house, she was lying in bed, scrolling through her phone when she saw Story's text pop up.

Story🩷: I'm getting coffee with Barry today!

Billie stared at the message longer than she should have. Something in her chest twisted, and she wasn't sure why. She told herself it was nothing—just her natural instinct to be protective. After all, Barry was a well-known actor, and even though Story had been in the industry for a while now, Billie still saw her as somewhat... untouched by Hollywood's messiness.

Billie typed out a response and then erased it. Typed again. Erased it again. What was she supposed to say? Be careful? Have fun? Don't fall in love with him?

She scoffed at herself. What the hell was wrong with her?

Eventually, she just settled on:

Bils🤍: Ooo fancy, have fun. Don't let him charm you too much.

The second she sent it, she regretted it.

A minute later, Story texted back.

Story🩷: Haha, I won't! It's just coffee :)

Billie threw her phone onto her bed and rolled onto her stomach, groaning.

This was stupid.

✨

Barry picked a quiet café in West Hollywood, tucked away from the usual paparazzi chaos. When Story walked in, he was already waiting at a small table near the window, looking effortlessly cool in a plain white t-shirt and sunglasses perched on his head.