Chapter 20
TWENTY
Emerson
I’m ready to take this BingBang courtship to the next level and confirm the girl I’ve been pining over is, in fact, Twila Greene.
While most of my viewers think they know it’s Twila, thanks to my Easter eggs and her decision to like the comment made by the first viewer to connect the dots, we’re still shrouded in fog because neither of us has actually confirmed anything.
I’m locked and ready to corroborate it, but at the same time, Twila only agreed to this deal a week ago. I don’t want to rush her. And I definitely don’t want to scare her off.
A small voice in my head tells me to be patient, to drag this out as long as I can. But I also don’t want to lose the interest of the public by drawing it out for too long. Social media is a fast-paced world, and if we don’t get the timing right, this could all be for nothing.
The majority of the comments prove that people are here for a romance between Twila and me. Hell, they’re starved for it.
And it’s in my nature to make people happy. But in this case, doing so benefits me as well as them. It benefits Twila, too.
In the two days since she interacted with my video and the comment that named her as my secret crush, both of our follower counts took a huge jump. I need to post something else, something that will give another hint without giving away the whole enchilada…
Or are we ready for that?
Fuck, I don’t know. And that gives me the perfect excuse to call Twila.
“Hey, you,” she greets me with a wide smile that makes my heart stutter.
“Hey,” I reply after clearing my throat. “You got a minute?”
“Sure,” she says. “What’s up?”
“Okay, I’m struggling with what to do next. I’m ready to confirm you’re my crush, but I’m not sure if it’s too soon. But I also don’t want to keep doing what I’m doing for so long that people get bored with it. Know what I mean?”
She nods slowly, and I can practically see the wheels spinning in her head as she thinks. “So, we need to come up with something that moves this thing forward, but doesn’t take too big of a leap.”
“Exactly,” I say. “But I’m drawing a blank. Any ideas?”
She stares at my face in her screen for several long moments, then her gaze flits up to her camera lens. It feels like she’s staring into my eyes, and an involuntary shiver ripples down my spine.
“I think I might have something,” she says. “What if you DM me? Like an initial contact? You could screenshot it and put a sticker over my name and profile picture.”
I’m nodding before she finishes. “It’s a definite step forward without revealing too much.”
“Yes,” she says, her nod enthusiastic.
“That’s…you’re brilliant,” I say, and twin spots of color bloom on her cheeks.
“I wouldn’t go that far,” she replies, and her voice is quiet. Almost breathless.
“What should I say?” I ask, getting back to business before this gets uncomfortable.
I grab my tablet and open BingBang, then I navigate to Twila’s page and open our message thread. It’s blank because I kept my promise to delete our messages when we switched to phone and video calls.
“It should be something sweet and romantic.”
“But not too cheesy,” I add. “I do have a reputation to uphold.”
“A reputation? Of what? Being a goofball?” she counters, and I laugh.
“Maybe,” I say as my laughter winds down, “but that was before. I’ll have you know I have mesmerized the women of BingBang since I started crushing on you.”
“Mesmerized, huh?” she asks, a twinkle in her eyes I can’t resist.
I dip my chin and give her a disbelieving look. “Come on, Twila. I know you’ve seen the comments.”
“I have,” she says with a roll of her eyes. “But you’re trying to get their love, not their lust.”
“So I shouldn’t open with a line?” I ask, a picture of perfect innocence. “How about this one?”
I clear my throat in an exaggerated manner, and she rolls her eyes.
“Are you tired?”
“Because you’ve been running through my mind all day,” she cuts in, and I laugh.
“You’ve heard it before?”
“Everyone has heard that one before,” she says, rolling her eyes.
“Okay, how about this one? I’d like to take you to the movies, but they don’t let you take your own snacks in.”
“Oh, my God,” she says with a laugh, and I smirk.
“That one got you all hot and bothered, didn’t it?”
“Absolutely not,” she says, still laughing.
“Seriously, though,” I say, “tell me what you’d like to hear from a guy reaching out for the first time.”
She sobers, and her nose scrunches in concentration. It might be the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.
“Something simple,” she says slowly. “Something true.”
I think for a few minutes, then slowly type out a message on my tablet. Twila doesn’t interrupt, quietly waiting on the other end of the call for me to send something through to her. If she doesn’t like it, we can always delete the message and try something else.
I finish typing the message, then re-read it to look for any typos before tapping the little arrow that’ll send it to Twila. I look at my phone and see her stare down at her own tablet as it chimes in notification.
“Hey. I hope you don’t mind my reaching out, but I love your content. You’re smart and funny. And I think you’re really pretty.”
When she finishes reading aloud, I see her throat working as she swallows thickly. Her eyes lift back to her phone, and her lips are pressed together in a tight smile.
“What?” I ask. “You hate it, don’t you?”
“No,” she says quickly. “I lo–– I mean, it’s good. Really good.”
“Really?” I ask. Without waiting for her to reply, I add, “What are you going to say back?”
She looks down at her tablet again, and she nibbles her lip as she taps something out. Her eyes move as she reads what she wrote, then she taps the screen. A moment later, her reply pops up on my end.
Thanks, Emerson. I think you’re really pretty, too.
My chest expands as I read the words again, and I have to mentally slap myself. This isn’t real. Not for her, anyway. Shit . Not for me, either.
It’s fake. For both of us.
“Is that okay?” she asks when I take too long to respond.
“It’s perfect,” I say, staring into my phone’s camera lens. “I wouldn’t change a thing. I’ll screenshot this and obscure your identity before posting it. Everyone is going to lose their minds. My secret crush is, at the very least, attracted to me, too.”
“She is,” she says, so softly, I almost miss it.
Almost.
Pretending I didn’t hear anything, I say, “I’ll post this as soon as I get something filmed.”
“Okay,” she says in a low voice, then louder, she adds, “And Emerson?”
“Yeah?”
“I don’t know if I’ve said it before, but thank you for this. All of it.”
“You don’t have to thank me,” I say. “I’m benefiting from it, too.”
“But you’ve been doing all the work,” she argues.
“And I’ve been reaping most of the rewards. Once we reveal who you are, and you can start participating and posting content around our romance, we’ll be even.”
Twila shakes her head. “I still owe you. You could’ve picked anyone for this, and you picked me. So, thank you.”
“You’re welcome, and thank you for agreeing to my crazy plan,” I say finally, and she graces me with a sweet smile.
“Not so crazy,” she says. “Bye, Emerson.”
I tell her goodbye and end the call, but I can’t stop thinking about her words. It only occurred to me once that I could pick someone else for this scheme, and I immediately discarded the idea. I only wanted Twila, and I definitely wouldn’t have shifted to another user if she’d said no.
So, what, exactly, does that mean?