Chapter 10 #2
“Exactly.” I shut my laptop with a satisfying click.
A person can only take so much of a hot football player staring back at her before she goes a little crazy.
“He wouldn’t want anything to do with me either.
” Especially not when he realizes I bashed his career right up there with the rest of the entertainment industry.
“Anyway! Thanks for coming to my TED talk about TJ Wilson and my whirlwind night of fun with him. Now that you know all the sordid details, we can all move on.”
“Can we, though?” Cassie’s voice rises in question.
“Cass!” I groan. “Let it be.”
She shakes her head, her gaze lit by the glow of her own computer screen, which is where I’d guess she’s looking right now.
“No, I don’t mean to push you at him or whatever.
If you say you’re done with him, then that’s good.
But the River Foxes just posted something you might want to take a look at. ”
A strange sensation fills my lungs, triggering a sixth sense. I know once I re-open my computer and see whatever it is Cassie wants me to see that everything is going to shift in this safe little cocoon I’ve built for myself.
I navigate to my generic account, the one that’s not associated with my real name or my pen name, and tap the River Foxes page, which, of course, I’m now following.
Sure enough, a new post went up ten minutes ago.
I read the graphic out loud, and my stomach pitches. “TJ Wilson is looking for his Cinderella.”
“What?” Philly shrieks.
“Hold on. I’m looking it up now too.” Bex sits cross-legged on her bed and pulls her computer into her lap, chucking a half-eaten carrot across her room.
I’m scanning the caption, even as my eyes are registering the thousands of likes and hundreds of comments that have been left since the post went up.
TJ Wilson, star running back for your Green Bay River Foxes, needs our help.
He met a mysterious woman at the charity gala held at the stadium last Friday, but due to unforeseen circumstances, the pair had to part ways before exchanging contact information.
We want to remedy that! TJ will be waiting in the Mezzanine at the conclusion of Sunday afternoon’s game to rendezvous with his mystery woman.
The woman in question has dark brown hair, a stunning smile, a quick wit, and enchanting hazel eyes—his words, not ours, folks! We’ll provide Prince Charming, but are you his Cinderella? To prove yourself, tell TJ one simple thing: What is he afraid of?
It’s been a magical season so far for the River Foxes. Let’s help one of our own make some magic happen off the field, as well, shall we? See you Sunday.
#bibbidibobbidiboo #fairygodmother #gusgus #jack #pagingcinderella #tjwilson
“Oh my gosh.” I cover my face with my hands, leaning back in the four-poster bed.
“Seems like your boy might be a little hung up on you,” Bex says, and when I open my eyes to glare at her, she’s smirking.
“He’s not my boy. He’s not my … anything!” I run my hands through my hair. “This is a disaster. What is he thinking?”
“He’s thinking you have enchanting hazel eyes.” Bex grins. “Guy’s a football player and a poet.”
“Bex! Stop!”
“Sorry.” She doesn’t look sorry at all. “I’m done.”
“So you’re not going to go?” Philly moves her face closer to her phone screen, her doe eyes imploring me to reconsider.
“Of course not!” I tell her. “This changes nothing. It only brings more unwanted attention to me.”
“Relax,” Cassie says in her usual no-nonsense tone. “It’s not like anyone is going to hear that very basic description and think, Oh, Cinderella must be the elusive Lucy Dupree. There are a lot of women with brown hair and hazel eyes.”
I flush as I think about TJ thinking about my eyes and my smile. I can’t even count how many times I’ve replayed the moment when he touched a strand of my hair like he was holding a strand of gold … right before I told him I’d never been kissed.
I’m an absolute fool for admitting that, especially now that I know TJ is my polar opposite in that department.
Where I’ve never been kissed, he’s very obviously been kissing a lot of women.
Many of his kisses are documented for the entire world to see on social media and on sports and pop culture sites across the internet.
Which is fine. I don’t expect anything from him, and it’s another reason we very much would not work, even if I wanted us to.
“You’re right.” I take a deep breath. “I’m overreacting.”
“You’re really not going to go over there on Sunday?” Philly asks again. She’s a hopeless romantic.
“I’m really not.” I give her an apologetic frown. “The last thing I want to do is stir things up. TJ and I made a clean break. It’s better for everyone if we put the whole thing to bed.”
“To bed? Now we’re talking,” Bex says gleefully, but I narrow my gaze and she holds up her hands. “My bad, I can’t help it!”
“Anyway.” I cross my arms. “I’m sure if no one comes forward after the game on Sunday, this’ll all fade away as the latest and greatest celebrity news takes center stage.”
“You’re probably right,” Cassie says, stretching her arms over her head. “But,” she adds, “I still think you should go see him.”
I groan. “It’s like talking to a brick wall with you people.”
“Hear me out!” she argues. “You could go see him again, if for no other reason than to tell him not to push this any further.”
“That would mean telling him who I am.”
“I know.” Cassie nods. “You’ll have to figure out if that’s worth it to you. Hearing you talk about your time with TJ last weekend makes me think he’d be someone you could trust with your identity, and maybe he wouldn’t hold it against you.”
She phrases her last statement like a question.
I sigh. “I don’t know. I don’t know him that well.”
Cassie shrugs. “Just think about it.”
All I’ve been doing for the past week is thinking about TJ Wilson.
“I make no promises. Now”—I level my friends with a look through the camera—“can we talk about someone else, please?”