CHAPTER ELEVEN

 

 

Music pulses through our beach house, filling every inch of the spacious home with perky Top 40 hits. The music is so loud that I can’t even hear my thoughts, which is exactly how I want it to be right now.

Boone and I are coming up on the two-month anniversary of our fake relationship, and I’d be lying if I said it hasn’t definitely been a ton of fun. We’ve been bouncing around all sorts of ideas about what we should do to memorialize the occasion for both our fandoms, but we can’t seem to come up with anything grand enough.

Or, should I say, I’ve been bouncing ideas around and Boone…

Well, Boone hasn’t quite been the same since the night of the Coyotes’ bonfire.

Things have simply been off with him lately. I’d thought after we had such a great conversation that we’d be closer than ever, but it seems like it’s caused him to drift away from me instead.

I’m sure it’s nothing. I mean, every relationship—even ones based in falsehood like ours—has a tide that ebbs and flows. That’s simply how life is.

But Boone doesn’t seem to joke with me as much as he used to, and he takes longer to respond to texts and calls. I haven’t brought it up because it felt like I’d be poking for drama—thus breaking both first commandments of our fake relationship. So, instead, I’ve been biting my tongue and trying to enjoy the ride we’re sharing. It’s not like Boone’s totally withdrawn. He’s always on time for G&G video shoots and our weekly dates, and I’ve still been accompanying him to the team bonfires.

I can’t even exactly put my finger on the change. It’s subtle, but it’s there.

At least my followers haven’t noticed.

At night when I can’t sleep, I stay up late skimming through all the comments on Boone’s and my latest posts and videos together. Just as I’d hoped, the Glammers are going wild over the torrid affair between my hunky rugby player and me. The G&G page’s engagement is through the roof. We’ve even had more sponsors and curious business owners reach out as of late.

So…

If I’m getting everything I wanted, why am I feeling so distraught?

And why is Boone acting strangely?

Could he be regretting ever fake dating me?

Groaning, I saunter over to the speaker and crank the volume higher and higher, moving and swaying to the music. Try as I might, I can’t seem to drown out my doubts.

“Sutton!” someone abruptly shouts from behind me.

Shrieking in surprise, I whirl around to spot Kali and Liv standing at the entrance of the kitchen. Liv bobs her head to the fun music and grins while Kali frowns and sets her hands on her hips.

“Hey, babes!” I call back, grinning at Kali and Liv. My two G&G besties were out doing some meetings related to Liv’s fashion designs. They’d left before the sun came up and have obviously been working hard all day long. They both look beat. It’s a good thing we don’t have any shoots scheduled today.

Kali’s lips move, but I don’t hear a thing over the loud music. Eventually, she rolls her eyes and stomps over to the speaker to turn it off. Even after silence descends on the house, my ears keep ringing. I tug at one of my earlobes and wince.

“We’ve been trying to call you, girl.” Kali sighs. “No wonder you couldn’t hear us. You’re going to lose your hearing if you aren’t careful.”

Giggling, I throw my arms around my bestie’s shoulders. “Aw, you don’t have to worry about me, Mom.”

Liv slides up onto one of the barstools around our kitchen island. “What’s for dinner?” she asks, kicking her legs back and forth. “We were so busy, we barely had time to eat anything today and I’m starving.”

Flashing a happy grin, I clap my hands together. “Actually, I cooked. And before you say it, you’re welcome, babes!”

Liv and Kali stare at me and then at each other. Their eyes are practically round as saucers. I’ve never seen my two BFFs at a loss for such words.

I can’t hold back the laughter for more than a few seconds until I start laughing. “Just kidding! I ordered us sushi from our fav spot. And of course, I got some vegan rolls for you, Liv.”

“Thank goodness,” Kali announces as Liv bursts into laughter.

I paw at Kali’s shoulder while a pretend pout forms on my face. “That’s not nice. Don’t make me eat all of your sushi.”

“It’s just that you’d find a way to burn cereal, Sutton. Even your coffee is…well…” Liv trails off and sticks out her tongue in disgust.

“It’s not my fault I have so many thoughts spinning around my head that I get distracted when I cook,” I huff playfully.

Grabbing the sushi platter from the fridge, I set it down on the counter while Kali takes out glasses and pours iced tea for each of us.

Kali takes a tuna roll and is about to take a bite when she lets out a startled yelp instead and drops it back on the platter. The sushi roll lands straight in the wasabi, sending green flecks flying. George scampers up and licks a green smear off the floor before any of us can stop him, then coughs and shakes his head hard. He stares at the rest of the spilled wasabi, debating eating it even after the uncomfortable first experience. Liv quickly leaps down to clean it up first.

“I just realized I never texted Grayson back this morning,” Kali groans. “He’s probably worried sick.”

She grabs her phone from her oversized purse and hastily types on it. I watch her quietly, biting the inside of my cheek.

“So, you two lovebirds don’t talk, like, constantly?” I ask hesitantly.

Kali laughs and shakes her head. “No way. We’re way too busy for that. We talk as much as we can though.” She looks at me sharply. “Wait a minute. Why are you asking? Are you and Boone all right?”

Suddenly, Liv’s pretty dark eyes and Kali’s bright blue ones are focused on me with laser-like intensity. I swallow hard, startled by the heat of my best friends’ spotlight.

“Of course, we’re all right,” I sputter with a fake laugh. “I was simply curious, that’s all.”

Before either of them can question me more, I grab a piece of the California roll and cram it into my mouth, focusing on the tasty combo of crab, cucumber, and avocado instead of Liv and Kali, who are both eyeing me curiously.

If Kali and Grayson have periods where they forget to talk, then Boone and I are definitely fine.

Everything is fine.

Everything is fine.

Everything is fine.

If I just keep telling myself that enough, it must be true.

Right?

“Oh,” Kali whispers abruptly. She’s still staring at her phone, but I can’t tell if she’s still texting her handsome lawyer boyfriend or not. Her voice drops to an almost whisper, but it’s so strained that her voice squeaks out her throat. “Oh, no.”

Liv and I both immediately grow still at Kali’s clearly concerned tone. Kali doesn’t say anything else. Instead, she keeps gaping at her phone with glazed eyes.

“Kali?” prompts Liv.

She slowly lifts her gaze from her cell. She looks at Liv and then at me. Her mouth opens and closes, but no words come out.

“What is it?” I ask hesitantly. “Is it more photos of Boone and me? Or is it something else?”

Before I can even finish the question, all of our phones start chiming at once. Again and again, our cells trill and ring. The sound is almost more deafening than my music.

Immediately, Liv and I reach for our phones to find out what’s going on.

It’s usual for us to get quite a few notifications at the same time when we make a new post or announcement, but a storm like this only swells when something very, very bad has gone down.

But what could it be? The Glammers have been responding so well to our feed lately.

At first, as I scroll through the messages that we’re receiving on all of our various social media platforms, all I see are a blur of sad and angry emojis. My stomach twists so hard in my core that bile almost rises up the back of my throat. If we messed up and accidentally posted something our fans deemed inappropriate, the Glossed & Glammed ship could sink for good. Our place at the top of the influencer food chain is fragile, none of us can forget that.

Desperately, I try to figure out what could have been posted that would irritate all of our viewers at once.

Then I see it.

I blink hard, but the image feels like it’s engraved on the backs of my eyelids.

“Sutton,” Liv breathes, her voice full of concern.

Kali and Liv hurry over to drape their arms around me. Together, we stare down at the incriminating picture that was making its rounds across all our pages.

Boone and another woman sit at a table in a restaurant, their heads bowed close together as they talk. They’re even sitting on the same side of the booth and their shoulders are touching. If one of them looked up, their lips could lock with ease. While they aren’t arm in arm, it’s clear as day that they’re having an intimate, intense conversation.

I know who the woman sitting beside Boone is without even reading the rest of the comments. It’s Lucy, Boone’s long-lost love—his real love.

How can I compare to that?

Hot, angry tears pool in my eyes. I fight hard not to cry, knowing that I have no reason to weep over this. Boone and I had agreed that neither of us could have feelings for each other. But my feelings are threatening to swallow me whole right now.

“It’s okay, Sutton,” Kali whispers in my ear.

She and Liv hug me tightly, desperately trying to comfort me. Guilt washes over me in ragged, painful waves. I wrench away from them and shake my head hard, desperately holding back tears. And failing miserably. They stare at me with confused, worried eyes.

“You don’t get it!” I cry out sharply. I can’t carry on this façade anymore. I can’t deceive my best friends when I have no right to be this upset to begin with. “All of this was fake. Boone and I were fake. Our date was fake. Our emotions were fake. I lied to you because I didn’t want to admit it. We were faking our whole relationship so that rugby groupies would stop hounding him and the Glammers would give me more attention. I’m not supposed to be upset about this. I can’t be upset about this!”

My shoulders go stiff as I wait for my two best friends to rage at me. I wait for their anger, their disgust, their scorn. But instead, they both pull me back into their arms and hold me even tighter.

Kali wipes my tears and rubs my back. I cling to them, my deep guilt flowing stronger.

“If this is your reaction,” Liv begins gently, “then I don’t think anything about you and Boone was fake after all.”

I slowly lift my head and gaze at the two people who can always keep me floating even when I feel like I’m adrift at sea.

“I don’t know what I did to deserve friends like the two of you,” I croak out, my voice rough from crying.

While Liv dries my face, Kali smiles at me.

“You didn’t have to do anything,” Kali says. “We’re friends because of who you are. We adore you, even if you make a mistake.”

Liv eagerly nods. “None of us are perfect, but we make perfect friends.”

I hug my two besties tighter, but before I can say anything, my phone chimes one more time. Trembling, I hesitantly glance down at the screen.

It’s a text from Boone.

We need to talk.