Chapter 26
TWENTY-SIX
Emerson
It’s only been a few hours, and Twila’s dance video has gone even more viral than mine did. I don’t mind. I’m so fucking happy for her, for us , there’s no room in my heart or my head for petty jealousy.
This thing we started is working. It’s really working, and it’s going to change our lives.
The people have spoken, and for the most part, they love us. They love being a part of our courtship.
“Twila’s friends are hot.”
The voice startles me, and I see Stone leaning against the jamb of my bedroom door, his phone in his hand and a smirk on his face.
“Are they single?” he asks.
“Raven is,” I say. “But Callie is taken.”
I don’t mention Joey because she’s not on camera. When I video-chatted with Twila earlier, she told me who was who and that Joey was too anxious to be in the video, so she handled the recording.
“Is Raven the dark-haired one?”
“Yeah,” I say with a nod.
They both have dark hair, but Callie’s is more of a deep chestnut while Raven’s is as black as the bird for which she’s named.
“She’s hot, in a sexy-goth kind of way. You should hook me up.”
Nope. Not going to happen.
I love Stone, and he’s a good guy, but he has some massive commitment issues when it comes to women. And if he fucks around with Raven, and things sour, it could mess up the good thing I have going with Twila.
“Dude,” I say aloud, “she lives down near San Diego. Are you going to drive three hours round trip for a date?”
He seems to think about it for a moment, then shakes his head. “Yeah, no. Probably not.”
When he saunters away, I open Twila’s video again and find the comment I left right after she posted the video. It says, “ Girl, same” with a heart emoji since the song they’re lip syncing talks about having a crush…on me. My comment has nearly six hundred likes and a few dozen replies.
And people are asking the same question over and over again––when are we going to meet in real life?
I think it’s time.
Tapping on the direct message icon, I type out a short message, then hit send.
I think we should meet.
Then I close the app and call her through video chat. My heart accelerates as it rings, then seems to skyrocket as the call connects and her beautiful smile lights up my screen.
“Have you been watching?” she asks without preamble.
“Yes,” I say, grinning back at her. “It’s amazing, Twila.”
“It really is,” she says, then clears her throat. “I don’t know if I’ve thanked you properly.”
She has.
“You don’t have to thank me,” I say quickly. “This is benefitting me as much as it is you.”
“But you could’ve asked anyone, and you asked me,” she says, her voice low and filled with emotion like we’ve never had this conversation before. “Thank you, Emerson.”
“You’re welcome,” I say, then swallow thickly. “Did you see my DM?”
Confusion sparks in her eyes as she shakes her head. She looks off to the side, and I can tell she’s tapping at the screen of her tablet. A second later, her eyes widen then flit back to her phone’s screen.
“You don’t think it’s too soon?” she whispers, and fuck, she looks terrified.
I shake my head. “I think we need to strike while the iron’s hot. People are begging for it now, and I don’t want to risk missing the window before they lose interest. I was thinking this weekend. Maybe Thursday or Friday through Sunday?”
She nods thoughtfully, but doesn’t speak, so I push on, my words hurried and filled with obvious nervous tension.
“I could come to you. Or we could meet somewhere neutral. I would offer to host you here, but my roommates would definitely try to steal you away from me.”
She laughs at that, and the tension pops like a balloon. My heart slows as I smile at her through my screen, and I’m certain this is the right time to meet. I’m ready. But is she?
“So, what do you think?” I ask, desperately needing the answer to that question. “Are you ready to meet?”
She thinks for several long beats, then slowly nods. “Yeah. I think I am.”
I grin so wide, my cheeks hurt. Before I can say anything, she starts talking again.
“But I think we should meet somewhere neutral. It will make for better content. We can both post travelling videos to amp up the excitement, and if we go somewhere really fun with lots of things to do, it’ll make our shared content more entertaining.
No one wants to see us hanging out on my couch the first time we meet. You know what I mean?”
“I totally agree,” I say without a second thought. “But where?”
We stare at each other through our phone screens for a few moments, then her face lights up just as my smile widens, and we both speak the same word at the same exact moment.
“Vegas.”