Amazed, Katherine turned to look at Cage. He was leaning against a wall, staring in their direction with a smirk.

“Crafty bastard,” Katherine mumbled under her breath.

“What does it take to make an appearance in your videos?” Ryan asked suddenly. Katherine’s eyes widened comically as she stared at him.

“I mean, you could walk into frame and I would let you take over my channel, so.” Honest answers always won out. Ryan laughed, almost flattering her. “Come on, let me say hi to your fans!” He pulled a hand over her shoulder and waited for her to pull the phone up and in view of their face.

The live stream began and thousands filtered in to watch. “I made a new friend,” Katherine said with a chuckle. Ryan peered into the frame more prominently and waved.

“I’ve never really done this before. How is it that you do this?” he asked. He had a hard time looking directly at the camera and not the screen.

“It should be more difficult to look at the camera when your face is on the screen,” Katherine said with understanding.

“You’re right, it’s hard to look away from my face.” Ryan, the epitome of comedy, as always.

“I feel your pain,” Katherine remarked with a thinly veiled boast.

“I was thinking, how about you become my photographer for the night, Katherine?” Ryan suggested. The comments blew up and Katherine looked at him with a weird expression.

“You’ll swap out those expensive professionals for little old me? Aren’t you scared I’ll take unflattering pictures of you?” Katherine teased lightly.

“I’m the one you’re here to see. That much sincerity will get you a permanent position as my photographer,” Ryan nodded sagely.

“I am here to see you. It’s your movie!” Katherine replied, finally getting into her element.

“Will you be offering any spoilers for your fans?” Ryan injected helpfully.

“I don’t want to die just yet, so I’ll refrain from that. But you can reveal something juicy, can’t you?” she asked. She gave the camera a wink and then waited on him to think it over. He did a great job pretending to mull over it before grinning.

He gave out the most salacious detail without a hint of information on the plot, perfect content to get people’s imaginations running.

“You’ve given nothing away, Mr. Reynolds. Now they will have to watch the movie to find out!”

“Satisfaction promised, though!” he relayed. “My abs and almost my… strong thighs…” he trailed off. Katherine squinted her eyes, her expression mischievous.

“We’ll look forward to it!” Katherine cheered. Ryan said his goodbyes and the live stream was cut off. Cage had long looked away and was talking to other people. Having seen Ryan off, Katherine’s time tonight had become better.

She was promptly led into the auditorium and had to take a seat. The lights dimmed and Cage finally found his seat beside her. He effortlessly sat down, not a care in the world about the others around them and slid his palms into hers.

“Had fun?” he whispered as the host appeared on stage and introduced the event.

She hummed in acknowledgment before going into a small rant on the difference between a convention and a red carpet event. This time, she had come as a fan, so she had a completely different take on things this time.

“Are they any different from what you expected?” Cage asked softly. No one around them seemed to shush their conversation, so it continued.

“Of course. Ryan was just as funny though. Didn’t expect you to pull that trick. What did you trade?” she asked. Neither looked at the other, keeping their eyes planted on the stage and watching the silly moments play out on the screen behind the host.

“Not much. He might contact you, though. He promoted his movie for free to your audience of millions without spending a dime. He games sometimes and you being a popular female gamer makes the appeal better. He might just collaborate with you in the future.”

“Don’t joke!” she exclaimed. She turned around immediately to see if someone had heard her loud voice. No one seemed to notice.

Finally, the stars entered the theatre and Katherine’s eyes remained riveted on the stage. They were closer than Katherine had expected. Just two or three rows from the stage, so they had a clear view. Ryan Reynold’s was talking.

“Don’t drool,” Cage whispered in her ear, shaping her out of whatever trance she was going into.

When she turned to him, her eyes were dancing with amusement. “Are you jealous?” she joked.

“No, you’re just cute when you are starstruck,” he chuckled.

“I’m not starstruck. Just listening… closely,” Katherine protested.

“Fangirl,” he accused with a smile and held her hand tighter.

“I teased Ryan Reynolds today. Don’t reprimand me.” His other hand darted towards her head and he patted her hair affectionately.

“You’ve grown up,” he said proudly.

“You’re going down!” she threatened, answering his blatant teasing.

He turned to her with a grin. “That’s the plan.” He winked.

She couldn’t help but whimper.

How was she supposed to concentrate on the movie when he made such threatening promises?

– – –

The whole way back to her place, she chattered about the movie. There were arguments about plot points and they differed on how the romance between two unlikely characters should have progressed. Katherine seemed to see the bromance as something more… romantic, while Cage insisted that it was friendship.

She was still debating the matter hotly when they got in the door. He pulled her down the living room towards her door and had to pick her up and settle her in the middle of the bed when she wouldn’t stop arguing.

“The look in their eyes. How can you not see it?” she argued further.

She didn’t seem to notice that he was taking her shoes off, pulling her stockings down and off shortly after it. He pushed her gently backward as she presented her essay on the subject.

He’d even pushed her legs apart and licked his way along her slit when she stopped short.

“I- what are you doing?” she stuttered.

He raised his head. “That should be obvious,” he commented as she pushed her dress further up her torso and grinned coyly at her. “I did tell you that I was going down.”

She tried to be playfully combative.

He simply smirked and lowered his head. She couldn’t win the argument if she was incoherent and screaming his name.