Better Than the Movies (Better than the Movies, #1)

by Lynn Painter

“I’m just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her.”

“Nobody finds their soul mate when they’re ten. I mean, where’s the fun in that, right?” —Sweet Home Alabama

“A woman friend. This is amazing. You may be the first attractive woman I have not wanted to sleep with in my entire life.” —When Harry Met Sally

“You’re late.” “You’re stunning.” “You’re forgiven.” —Pretty Woman

“You’re not as vile as I thought you were.” —10 Things I Hate About You

“Just because she likes the same bizarro crap you do doesn’t mean she’s your soul mate.” —500 Days of Summer

“When I’m around you, I kind of feel like I’m on drugs. Not that I do drugs. Unless you do drugs, in which case, I do them all the time. All of them.” —Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Wes: Make sure you add “Someone Like You” to the Wes and Liz playlist.

“I’d rather fight with you than make love with anyone else.” —The Wedding Date

“I like you very much. Just as you are.” —Bridget Jones’s Diary

We sat quietly for a few minutes, both of us lost in the starry sky, but it wasn’t awkward. For once in my life, I didn’t feel compelled to fill the empty space with constant chatter.

“She is gorgeous.” He flicked ash off the end of his cigar and gave me the kind of eye contact that forced you to listen. “But, like, what does that mean, really? Unless my goal is just to sit and stare at her like someone would stare at an ocean or a mountain range, pretty is just a visual.”

“Love is patient, love is kind, love means slowly losing your mind.” —27 Dresses

“But mostly I hate the way I don’t hate you. Not even close, not even a little bit, not even at all.” —10 Things I Hate About You

CHAPTER ELEVEN “If you look for it, I’ve got a sneaky feeling you’ll find that love actually is all around.” —Love Actually

“He had kissed her long and good. We got banned from the pool forever that day, but every time we walked by after that, the lifeguard looked down from her tower, right over at Squints, and smiled.” —The Sandlot

If my mom had still been alive, would she have changed her tune by now on the whole bad-boy thing? It seemed to me that because of things like car accidents and lost loves, life and death and broken hearts, we should grab every moment and absolutely devour the good parts. Wouldn’t she want that? For me to ad-lib my life instead of living by some typed-in-twelve-point-Courier-New script?

“And I think I regret all of it. I miss your clothes and curly hair. You look best when you’re you.” You look best when you’re you. Oh, God.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN “Nice boys don’t kiss like that.” “Oh, yes, they fucking do.” —Bridget Jones’s Diary

CHAPTER FOURTEEN “I am not running away.” “Bullshit.” —How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days

CHAPTER FIFTEEN “I love you. I’ve loved you for nine years; I’ve just been too arrogant and scared to realize it, and… well, now I’m just scared. So, I realize this comes at a very inopportune time, but I really have this gigantic favor to ask of you. Choose me. Marry me. Let me make you happy. Oh, that sounds like three favors, doesn’t it?” —My Best Friend’s Wedding

Why was I wasting my life trying to live up to the ridiculous expectations that I was setting for myself?

Please don’t ever become a stranger Whose laugh I could recognize anywhere—

CHAPTER SIXTEEN “When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.” —When Harry Met Sally

“Sometimes we get so tied up in our idea of what we think we want that we miss out on the amazingness of what we could actually have.”

“Did you ever know, Liz, that Wes used to sit on the back porch and listen to you practice the piano? We pretended not to see him, but he was always there. And we’re talking way back when he was a little pain in the ass and you were awful at piano.”

She smacked my arm and said, “And I’m not saying anything other than I think he was after that spot because he wanted a reason to talk to you. Do with that what you will.”

Be brave enough to go big.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN “Here’s the deal. I love you. I know I do. Because I’ve never been so scared in my entire life. And I once shared an elevator with Saddam Hussein. Just me and Saddam. And this is way scarier. I love you.” —Long Shot

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN “But, you know, the thing about romance is, people only get together right at the very end.” —Love Actually

I just wanted to go home and sad-eat, watch a movie, and try to forget how badly I’d humiliated myself.

“Bennett, no one is totally flawless—come on.” I couldn’t believe his nerve. “She’s pretty dang close, though.” “I suppose.” “You suppose? What on earth could she possibly be lacking? Do you want bigger boobs or something? Is she not—” “She’s not you.” “What?” “She. Isn’t. You.”

“She’s pretty, but her face doesn’t transform into sunlight when she talks about music.” He did that clench thing with his jaw and said, “She’s funny, but not spit-out-your-drink-in-astonishment funny.” It felt like my heart was going to explode as his eyes moved down to my lips under the glow of the buzzing streetlight. He moved his face a little closer to mine, looked into my eyes, and rumbled, “And when I see her, I don’t feel like I have to talk to her or mess up her hair or do something—anything—to get her to swing that gaze on me.”

“I fell in love with teasing you in the second grade, when I first discovered that I could turn your cheeks pink with just a word. Then I fell in love with you.”

“What I really wanted was to go with you.” “Well, you could’ve told me that, Buxbaum.” His voice was just a breath between us as he said, “Because just seeing you in that dress made me want to punch our very good friend Michael.”

“Enemies-to-lovers—it’s our trope, Buxbaum.” “You poor, confused little love lover.” A giggle shimmied through me before I set my hands on his face and said as I pulled him back to me, “Just shut up and kiss me.” Cue the Bazzi.

EPILOGUE “A girl will never forget the first boy she likes.” —He’s Just Not That into You “But she’ll also never forget the first boy she hates.” —Liz Buxbaum

Wes was the good guy in the movie. Yes, he was funny and the life of the party, but he was also dependable and understanding and loyal. Even though I realized after prom that I didn’t need him to be, he was a Mark Darcy. Only better.