Page 68 of Play Room Actor

Everyone at the table laughed, and I had to work hard to stay serious.

“Here! Your order,” Jacob said, placing a whole pizza margherita in front of Kilian.

“Thanks!”

“What, an order?” Vanja asked. “Can you actually order here?”

“We can,” Jacob answered, sitting down with a second pizza between Eliah and me. “This is the reward for our hard work.”

“What did you guys do?” Eliah asked.

“Set everything up,” Jacob said, nodding toward Kilian. “And he handled the lighting.”

Kilian was now solely focused on the food. He folded his slice of pizza in half and took a bite. As he chewed, he grabbed a napkin and wiped his mouth.

Seeing him like this—eating, having fun, and relaxed, just like we knew him—was a relief. I was glad to see he was feeling better and had his appetite back.

“I’ll grab another drink. Want anything?” I asked him.

“Sure, a beer,” he replied, his mouth full.

When he smiled at me, and I saw the light in his dark eyes, my heart fluttered. I wanted to kiss him so badly. But here? In front of everyone?

Returning with two beers, I placed one next to Kilian’s plate. Vanja, Eliah, and Jacob were deep in conversation about the bride and groom, with Vanja asking if anyone knew where Sebastian and Kathrin were going on their honeymoon.

“Hawaii, as far as I know,” Jacob answered.

“Cool! When?”

“Not until the end of September,” Kilian added between bites.

“Supposedly the best time to go,” Jacob continued. “Seb will be gone for an entire month.”

“Man,” Vanja sighed with envy. “I’d love to do that sometime.”

I sat there, barely able to breathe with Kilian nearby. His presence attracted me like I’d never experienced before. And there he was, just sitting there, eating his pizza in big bites as if he hadn’t had a meal in five days.

“You seem to be feeling better,” I said after watching him for a while—probably not as discreetly as I thought.

“Yeah, I’ve been back to normal since Friday,” he replied, grabbing another slice. Before he took a bite, he paused and looked at me. “Thanks for ….”

I waited in vain for him to finish the sentence, furrowing my brow. “What?”

“You didn’t bombard me with questions. I appreciate that.”

“I don’t think you would have answered them anyway.”

“They would’ve put more pressure on me, and … I didn’t have the energy to kick you out, so …”

“Kick me out? Would you have wanted to?”

He thought for a moment, then shook his head. “No, it was fine the way it was.”

“As long as you’re feeling better.”

Kilian folded the pizza slice and shoved it into his mouth.

“I’ve never seen anyone eat pizza like that,” I said with amusement.