Better Than Me

Chapter 37

I knew Sophia had to be itching to say something, but she didn't. To be fair, we deserved this and more after the shit we had pulled throughout the last couple of months.

Nora even said as much after she was done laughing, wiping a stray tear out of the corner of her eye. "Just consider this my payment for having to put up with you two for three months. Don't get me wrong – I like you guys. But you were a nightmare at first."

Sophia and I both knew damn well we couldn't argue with her. We were lucky we hadn't been fired and replaced after all of the drama we had started on set. Having us do a fake sex scene in a frigid room was the least we deserved.

I chuckled. "Well played, Nora. Well played."

***

As effective as Nora's "payment" had been, I figured Sophia and I could still help boost the reputation of the project we'd spent the last three months working on by making a bigger deal than we would've liked out of our announcement.

We started going out in public as a couple and regularly did interviews. Out efforts did just what they needed to. The public saw us as the personification of Emma and Will in real life, seemingly forgetting about our past scandals because our current relationship was more interesting. Still, we were careful to keep the press out of our actual relationship, only allowing them to see the bits and pieces we were willing to share with the public. The rest we wanted to keep between the two of us.

"I think that was our cue," I whispered, trying my best to see the set for the Mark Stavros Show without actually going out there and messing up our cue. There was a hallway between us and the set, though, so that would have been pretty hard to do from where I was standing.

"I don't think it was... I think that was just a hand twitch," Sophia whispered back.

I pointed at the hand of the guy who was supposed to be giving us our signal to enter the set. "How about that one?"

"Pretty sure that was another twitch."

Eventually, the guy gave us what we were 87 percent sure was our signal. It could have still passed off as a twitch, but it looked like a more deliberate one, at least.

We walked down the hallway leading to the set, making it out just in time for Mark to introduce us. We made our way to the guest couch, and I purposely sat as close to Sophia as I could, partly because I wanted to be close to her, and partly because it made us look like we weren't just quietly bickering back there.

It didn't take Mark long to dive into what we knew he wanted to ask.

"So things have been rocky with you two in the past, but you guys seem to finally have it on track," he said. "I mean, just look at you. Last time you were here, we could've fit a meter stick in between the two of you. Now, I don't think we could fit a pebble in between you guys. I don't know about everyone else, but I'm curious how you got from point A to point B there."

"Well, it was a long and dark road," Sophia said.

The studio audience laughed, clearly thinking she was being funny, but she wasn't. It was actually long, dark and kind of awful at times.

"Very long and dark," I said. "Believe me, it took a lot of groveling, a lot of apologizing, and a lot of embarrassing speeches to get to this point."

"Frankly, I was surprised to hear you two had not only made it off that set alive, but together," Mark said. "I have a vague memory of something Sophia said when she was here before..."

He grabbed a small remote from a drawer in his desk and pressed one of its buttons. A short clip of Sophia on a previous episode began to play on the screen behind him.

"No, I'm not interested in taken guys."

She had been referring to me and the conversation she'd overheard between me and Whipped Cream Girl. Not my finest moment, but not hers, either.

"Do you think if things were different and you were both single, you might be interested?"

"Definitely not." Sophia wrinkled her nose on-screen. "He's not my type."

Okay, that still stung a little, but I just had to remind myself I'd clearly forced myself to be her type if I'd managed to convince her to be my girlfriend. I had to be doing something right now.

"Not your type? Are you female?" Mark shook his head on-screen. "Sorry to all you Rystings fans out there, but it's not looking good. I think Christian Ryder may have met his match."

Mark clicked a button on the same remote back in real-time. The screen went black behind him.

He looked at Sophia expectantly, and she shrugged. "Yes, I know I look like an idiot showing up here with Chris as my boyfriend months later. But to be fair, I don't have a set type. If I'm wooed, I'm wooed."

Mark switched his attention over to me, waiting for me to give my input.

I just shrugged. "To be fair, I'm pretty sure I really am everyone's type."

The studio audience laughed, probably in agreement because come on. I'd never met a girl who didn't like me. Okay, yes, Sophia didn't like me for a long while there, but I l managed to win even her over. If that wasn't enough proof, I didn't know what was.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Chrissy."

I nudged her arm. "Hey, we're in public. Use my manly nickname."

"You mean Sasquatch?"

"No."

Mark looked between us and smiled. "I mean, I'm convinced. I don't think this is a publicity stunt. If it is, you guys are dang good at it. What do you guys think?" He turned to the audience, and they gave a deafening roar of applause in response. "There ya have it, folks. Alright, Chris, before I forget – rumor on the street is that Frank Renaldo is no longer working for you."

I opened my mouth to confirm the news and was cut off by my phone – only it wasn't the generic iPhone ringtone I usually had. It was that fucking song about milkshakes bringing boys to the yard.

Yes, my milkshake brought people of all genders to the yard. No, I didn't need that sentiment to play as my ringtone on live television.

I scrambled to pull my phone out of my pocket and end the call so it would stop ringing, but it had already played long enough for anyone to recognize the song. When I finally shut it off, I turned to Sophia. "Really?"

Instead of answering, she let out the laughter she'd clearly been trying to hold in while I was scrambling to end the call.

"Well..." Mark glanced towards the audience, which was also laughing at my extent, and at the tiny, wheezing figure next to me. "I'd say this is a good sign it's time to take a break. We'll be right back, folks."

I fought the urge to laugh for as long as I could to avoid encouraging her, but there was only so much I could do to stop myself. Eventually, I caved in, and she didn't look like she was going to stop any time soon. She buried her face in my chest, her shoulders shaking as wave after wave of laughter went through her body.

I wrapped an arm around her and chuckled. "God, I love you."

"I love you, too." It was muffled and it was choked out between laughter, but it was there. She loved me, too.