“Just one more thing we have in common.” His words had a weight to them that I didn’t want to examine. Just friends. That was it. We didn’t need to overcomplicate things.

To stop where he was headed, I asked, “So who is your favorite director?”

“There’s too many with different forms of artistic expression that it would be impossible for me to pick. Do you have a favorite director?”

I nodded. “I never used to before, but I do now, since I binged that trilogy of yours. Rian Johnson. That dude’s amazing. So talented.” That he’d directed the second and vastly superior movie in the trilogy was the main reason I’d chosen him. I had really liked Knives Out, too. “So if you won’t pick a favorite director, what about a favorite costar?”

“Easy. Lily Ramsey.”

“Good choice,” I told him. She’d seemed so nice. “What do you think is the best feeling in the world?”

He looked at his fingers, still running through my hair, and hesitated. His eyes met mine, and then he was the one to quickly look away. “I feel like I should say something trite, like climbing into a newly made bed. But I don’t make my bed.”

“Me neither,” I confessed. It drove Shelby crazy. Which was why I kept my bedroom door shut.

“So I’d say it’s probably sitting with Magnus while reading a book.”

Aw. “That’s nice.”

“But I imagine that the best feeling in the world would be getting to be with the person you love most.”

“That’s mine, too.” I hadn’t meant to say it out loud. Mostly because I’d never let myself dare to dream that it was possible that I could ever be in a relationship. But I wanted to be. That was why I was doing all this. So that I could get to that point. But it embarrassed me to admit it.

“You like snuggling with Magnus, too?” he teased, letting me off the hook.

“I do. He’s such a good boy.”

Magnus thumped his tail against the floor, pleased at being included.

Before Noah could maneuver the conversation back to something I wasn’t ready to talk about, I asked, “What’s up with the socks?” Tonight he was sporting penguins on his feet.

“Too many people in this industry get caught up in their own self-importance and believe their own hype. They’re a reminder to not take myself too seriously. And don’t think I haven’t noticed how you’re hogging this conversation. I want to know about you, too.”

“Like what? You already know my secrets.”

Not all of them, that pesky internal voice reminded me, and I shut it out.

“Um, did you make any New Year’s resolutions?”