Remi’s finished with Felix, and she snags the spy glasses from Dev. With the wave of a hand, she dismisses them. Lee steers them out the door, no doubt to make sure Felix doesn’t destroy anything without Remi’s supervision. Colt starts to follow them but pauses, tossing a look back at me.

“Can I trust you to play nice, or do I need to hang around?”

“Whose security are you?” I ask, feigning offense.

“She’s a nice girl.” He shrugs. “Don’t ruin her, yeah?”

By the time he and Christian saunter out the door, the room has cleared out. Remi must not realize I stayed back. She pulls her phone out, and a second later the steady drum and bass beat cuts off. It’s replaced with a slow intro. Guitars and then soft vocals. Familiar.

“Mazzy Star.”

She startles and spins. Her eyes crush closed when she sees me by the window. “I thought everyone left.”

“Would have, but apparently the director requested me for an interview.” I move toward her and the table of equipment, and her gaze falls to it too.

“We should get you set up with a mic pack. I can show you how to change out the batteries, and then⁠—”

She cuts off as I drag my fingers over the black-framed glasses. They feel so familiar, and as if sinking into a former life, I slip them on. The silence echoes in that moment. I look over to find Remi staring up at me, her lips parted and eyes glued to my face.

“I always wondered what you’d look like with them on.”

We stand there a few more seconds, staring at each other. Even after everything, it feels wrong not to be touching her right now. Just like in Prague, when it seemed like such a waste not to put my hands on her, my lips. It’s easy to forget something so soft and beautiful is heartless.

I swipe off the glasses and toss them in front of her, not giving a shit about the ripple of tension spreading between us.

“The weight of the camera in the bridge will leave marks on the nose,” I tell her. “Might want to think about that before we wear them. Make sure there aren’t photoshoots or appearances scheduled after.”

She nods and then finally lets her gaze fall to the table. “Right. That’s a … really good point.” The last part comes out with a breath of air, either surprised I’d think of it or bothered she hadn’t. “So, the mic pack.”