But then he put his other big, warm hand over mine, and it caused my stomach to hollow out and my galloping heartbeat to thump so hard in my throat it felt like it would strangle me. What was I doing? I counted out my breaths, inhaling one, two, three and then exhaling one, two, three before carefully extricating myself. I didn’t jerk my hand away, which I thought was pretty impressive, given all the rampaging and conflicting feelings that were happening inside me.

Chase ended his speech and exited the stage as the music played, and the lights went down. Zoe jokingly told me to save her seat, as she was going to find a restroom.

“Tell Chase congratulations from me when you see him,” Noah said, and she smiled and promised she would.

I thought that was very big of him. “I wouldn’t have guessed that you’re a good sport. I bet you’re that guy that every time you have a game night you lose friends.”

He blinked slowly, as if considering what I said. “In this situation it really is an honor just to be nominated.”

“But you would have liked winning, right?”

“When you join the army, there is no such thing as losing or defeat. My company used to say we were only doing a tactical retreat. So yes, it sucks, and I would have much preferred winning.” That sly smile of his played at the ends of his mouth.

“How competitive would you rate yourself? Like, on a scale of one to five?”

“To be fair, it would depend on what I’m doing and how much it mattered, but in general I’d say I’m maybe like a three.” He paused. “Or a five-plus all the time.”

I laughed at this, glad to know that Noah Douglas wasn’t perfect and might actually have some flaws.

“Same,” I told him. I’d always hated my sense of competitiveness, and it was a relief to find someone who operated on the same wavelength.

Somebody called his name, and Noah said hello to an older man. I briefly wondered what he did for a living—studio executive? Producer? Director? Screenwriter? As I ran through potential jobs for him, it occurred to me that there was only one more award to be given out, Best Picture, and then this night would be over.

I felt a twinge of sadness at the idea this whole thing was coming to a close. I pulled up the Uber app to see if I could schedule a ride when we finished here.

“That’s not going to work.”

The feeling of him so close to my neck did funny things to my gut, but I didn’t even scold Noah for looking over my shoulder. “Why not?”