SKY
I couldn’t stop staring at Chad from the Hamptons. There was something so familiar about him, and I couldn’t place it. But now that I was sure I knew him from somewhere, I couldn’t stop myself from watching his mannerisms and facial expressions.
Each time I stopped my quiet sleuthing and glanced at River, he was glaring at me. I rolled my eyes and shook my head, but he wouldn’t look away. He sat there, analyzing me, while I did the same to someone else. Only River didn’t look at all happy about it. My cell phone pinged out a notification, and I glanced down to see that someone had commented on one of my latest videos online.
That was when it hit me.
I did a quick search, typing in a hashtag and watching one quick clip to confirm my suspicions before saying anything.
“Oh my God, you’re Ice Cream Chad, aren’t you?”
Now that I’d placed his face with the once-trending hashtag from years ago, I couldn’t unsee it. I knew I was right whether or not he admitted it. The proof was literally in my hand, on my phone screen.
“He’s what?” River asked, his eyes pulled together with his confusion.
I bet he hated feeling left out. River was probably always included in everything. Poor baby.
“Ice Cream Chad. It is you, isn’t it? I knew you looked familiar, but I couldn’t figure out from where.” I couldn’t stop myself from talking, laughter creeping out with my words, while Chad looked downright horrified, most likely wishing that I would shut up.
“What the hell are you talking about? Are you drunk?” River questioned, his tone dripping with utter annoyance.
“No, I’m not drunk,” I snapped.
“I’m a little lost myself.” Carmella held her wineglass in the air before taking another drink of it and almost finishing it off.
I shook my head before blowing out an annoyed breath. “It’s a TikTok thing,” I said, as if that explained everything.
Although to most people, it would have. Apparently, River wasn’t most people.
“You have TikTok?” River asked, his tone beyond rude. Like my having that particular app made me less respectable somehow.
“Everyone has TikTok,” I said, sounding just as judgmental in return.
“I don’t,” he said.
“How shocking.” The sarcasm dripped from my lips. “It’s because you’re no fun.”
“I’m fun,” he argued.
“Clearly.”
“You’re telling me that TikTok is fun? I thought it was all drama and angry people yelling about politics.”
“What?” A laugh escaped me. “I’ve never even seen a single political video,” I said before adding, “I have a carefully curated feed that only brings me joy.”
It was true. I was extremely intentional with the videos I liked or commented on. That way, the app kept delivering more of what made me happy and less of the drama that tended to fill everyone else’s pages. All it had taken was one “like” on an Ice Cream Chad post, and I had gone down the rabbit hole, getting updates and opinions each time I logged in.
“You have a … carefully curated … what?” River coughed as he shook his head.
He was completely lost, and I had to admit that it made me happy to know that he was this clueless about something so popular and well known. The guy seemed to know something about every topic and was always spouting off his knowledge about it whenever he had the chance.
“Someone please tell me what Ice Cream Chad is because it sounds yummy,” Carmella said, and I let out another quick laugh.
Chad’s cheeks were red, and it stopped me from spilling the details before I even got started. This was something that had trended online years ago, but it had been a huge deal back then. The story had made the news and gossip outlets. If I remembered correctly, multiple women had spoken up, and even though they had identified Chad and pinpointed exactly who he was, he’d never made a statement.
“It’s okay. You can tell them. They’re just going to look it up online at this point if you don’t,” Chad said before finishing off his vodka and signaling Raul for a third.
“He’s not wrong,” River said because he was obviously going to do just that if I didn’t.
I probably would have done the same thing.
Now, I felt a little bad for putting the pieces together and placing Chad’s face in front of everyone. I was sure this wasn’t something he was proud of and that he’d hoped he could finally leave it all behind at some point, but online fame followed people in weird ways. It was never really gone; it only snoozed silently in the archives, waiting to be dug up and brought to life again.
“I feel bad,” I said, looking only at Chad. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”
He shook his head as Raul delivered his drink and let us know our food would be ready shortly. “Don’t. I didn’t care then, and I don’t now. It is what it is.”
Well, okay then.
Here I was, thinking that he’d be remorseful or mortified, but he wasn’t. His face was probably red from all the alcohol, not embarrassment, like I’d presumed.
“All right. Well, Chad here got famous on TikTok for dating a bunch of women at the same time and then ghosting them for no reason.”
“Wait. What’s ghosting again?” Carmella asked, her eyes pulled together. “When they disappear, right?”
“Yeah.” I nodded. “It’s when a guy”—I looked pointedly at River—“or girl just basically drops off the face of the earth and never talks to you again after dating you. They ignore your calls, your texts, everything.”
“Why are you looking at me like that?” River asked, and I figured it was obvious, considering that he’d done just that to Stacy after hooking up with her.
“Figured you were familiar with the term.”
“I obviously know what ghosting is,” he said before focusing on Chad, “but how’d you get ‘famous’ for that?” River made air quotes around the word, clearly not understanding the power of social media or a group of scorned women online who bonded over their mutual distaste for the same man.
“One girl posted about him on the app, and it went viral. Her comment section exploded with similar stories. Next thing you knew, there were literally hundreds of videos about Ice Cream Chad here and how he dated them for weeks before disappearing and never talking to them again.”
“But why the ice cream part?” Carmella shook her head, trying to figure out something that seemingly made no sense from the outside.
“Because that’s where I worked. At my family’s ice cream shop in the Hamptons.”
“You met a bunch of women at an ice cream shop?” River questioned, sounding more than a little skeptical.
“No. I met them online. But then I’d bring them all their favorite ice cream flavor from the store on our first date.” Chad sounded almost proud of himself, like he had been so clever to think of that little trick.
“You did the same thing for each woman?” River smacked the table with his hand, like this was too much for him to believe. “And you didn’t think you’d get caught?”
Chad shrugged a shoulder. “They were tourists. Only in town for a weekend or a week at a time. There’s so many people coming and going in the Hamptons in the summer. It’s a constant revolving door of hot, single women.”
“But everyone found out who you were and what you were doing.” I tried to remind him that his behavior hadn’t been cool then, and it certainly wasn’t cool now.
“Yeah. But by that point, I’d been doing it for two and a half summers. It was time to move on. Try something new.”
Chad had learned nothing from his online shaming. Men could be a pretty disappointing species at times, and Chad was living proof of that.
“So, one video ruined it all?” Carmella asked, still trying to connect all the dots.
I nodded. “That first video got a lot of attention, and it led to hundreds more. Girls were crying. Some were angry. Some were embarrassed. People started showing up at the ice cream shop, doing live video feeds, all in search of Chad,” I said, filling in more of the blanks because I had been super invested in the story for a while and knew way too much about it.
“They showed up, filming? Did anyone actually find you while they were doing that? What happened after?” Carmella finished off her wine, her focus solely on Chad, waiting for him to respond.
Chad blew out a breath. “It was a total shit show. I had to hide out until the season ended. My parents were harassed online and in person multiple times a day. That was the only part I felt bad about.”
“Wait.” I put up a hand. “That was the only part you felt bad about?”
Chad looked at me like I was the crazy one. “Well, yeah. My parents didn’t do anything to deserve all the hate that got thrown their way. And honestly, neither did I.”
The three of us laughed and made sounds as Chad quickly presented his defense before we could say another word.
“No, really. I mean it. Listen.” He made eye contact with the three of us before he continued, “What did I do wrong? Date a bunch of women looking to have a fling with a rich guy from the Hamptons? Bring them ice cream and then stop talking to them after whatever we were doing ran its course or they left town? I never promised anyone forever. Never said we were exclusive or even dating. It was a hookup site, and I hooked up.”
“But you were sleeping with multiple women at the same time,” I said, trying to prove some kind of moral point.
“Yeah, I was. But so were they as far as I knew.”
River cleared his throat, and I focused my attention on him. “I’m not sure Chad’s the bad guy here. Sounds like he pissed off the wrong woman, is all.”
“Seriously? You’re defending this?” I sounded far more disgusted than I actually felt.
If it was true, I kind of understood what Chad was saying. I just didn’t like it. I wouldn’t want it happening to me, and hearing River take his side on the matter felt like some kind of betrayal.
Not that it made any kind of sense.
I hated River. Of course he’d side with Chad on this. They were two peas in a pod when it came to women. Dating whoever they wanted with no regard for anyone’s feelings aside from their own.
“I’m just saying that I understand it. He dated multiple women. Who were most likely doing the same thing. I’m not victim blaming or saying that anyone who got hurt by him deserved it. Just saying, after hearing his perspective, it might not be so black and white.”
Chad put a hand in the air for a high five, but River only looked at it before giving him a nod. Chad put his hand down.
“You get it, man, because you do the same thing,” Chad added.
“I do not do the same thing,” River challenged.
I choked on my drink because he kind of did, but I didn’t feel like bringing that fact up for debate. There would be no winning, only more arguing, and I was exhausted, just thinking about it. Males and females didn’t typically see things through the same set of eyes, and they definitely did not feel with the same emotions.
“Did the business survive? Is there still ice cream to be served?” Carmella asked, her voice filled with concern for Chad’s parents.
He grinned. “It gave us a huge boost in sales that hasn’t stopped since. You know what they say about bad publicity. There really is no such thing.”
“Wow,” was all I could muster up in response.
Not that I had hoped for the downfall of his family business or anything, but hearing how the videos had made it even more popular instead of the opposite was surreal, to say the least.
“Sorry that took so long.” Raul suddenly appeared, as if out of thin air, holding so many plates that I wasn’t sure where he’d put them all. Thankfully, he’d brought the bottle of wine over, and he refilled my and Carmella’s glasses to the rim.
“Thank you,” I said with a smile.
I planned on finishing my entire glass.
Raul squeezed as much of our food as he could onto our tabletop before pulling a standing serving tray to the side and leaving the rest of what we all ordered on it.
“We look like we haven’t eaten in days,” I said with a laugh as I reached for my pizza, which was so hot that steam was rising off of the pepperonis.
Everyone mumbled out unintelligible words before the talking stopped completely and our table grew deadly quiet. A mere two minutes ago, we couldn’t shut up, and now, we couldn’t stop eating.
For as hungry as I’d been, my stomach sure got full quickly. I glanced down and noticed that I’d only eaten two slices. Normally, I could put away four before my belly started aching and begged me to stop.
Oh well. More for breakfast, I thought to myself.
Or a late-night snack.
Or both.
“What are you grinning at?” River held me with his gaze, and I dropped the smile from my lips.
I hadn’t even known I’d been doing it.
“Just daydreaming,” I answered, the wine finally swimming in my veins, making me want to be a little bit nicer to my sworn enemy for once.
“About me? You really shouldn’t.” He winked, and the wine niceties ended.
“Never about you,” I groaned. “And always about food. It’s far more satisfying than you could ever be.”
I felt good about my comeback, proud even. Until he leveled me with one of his own.
“It’s not. Not like you’ll ever know.”
I flashed him a dirty look at took a drink of my wine instead of saying something in response.
“Why are you two like this?” Carmella interrupted our insults, waving a finger between me and River while she frowned at us. “Is it foreplay?”
“Carmella!” I shouted, almost spitting out my wine in the process.
“I think it’s their names.” Chad’s voice was slow and slurred, and I whipped my head around to look at him.
“Our names?” I spit out, and Chad nodded, his eyes glassy.
“River. Sky. You’re both elements. Or pieces of elements. I mean, don’t you think it’s weird that you two have names like that? It’s like you were made for each other. You could have babies and name them Ocean and Star.”
He started cracking up, like his suggestion was the funniest thing he’d ever heard. Apparently, it was because Carmella tried to stop from giggling, but couldn’t.
“Ocean and Star. HA!” he said again, and they both laughed, each one holding their stomachs.
“Okay, Cookies and Cream, I think you’ve had enough,” River said with a pat to Chad’s back, and that actually made me snicker in response.
“Don’t get pissed at me because you haven’t landed her yet.” Chad pointed at River, and I knew in that moment that they’d talked about me at some point before we checked into the hotel.
I had pretty much expected it, but it was still a little unnerving. Assuming something had been discussed versus it being confirmed that it had were two totally different things. River had talked about me to Chad. And told him that we never hooked up. Of course he had said that. It was the truth after all. River might be a man-whoring pig, but he didn’t lie.
I guess the guy has one redeeming quality.
“You two act like you hate each other, but you don’t. At all. You want to bone each other’s brains out. But you keep lying about it. To yourselves. To everyone. But we all see it. The secret looks. The lust. Like Carmella said, it’s all foreplay.”
I rubbed at my temples, hoping that drunk Chad would stop talking. “You’re severely delusional. The hatred is very real on my end.”
“Not that anyone even knows why.” River sounded annoyed and a little excited. Like he’d wanted the chance to talk about this, but never had the opportunity before.
I attempted to glare at River from across the table, but I was a little buzzed and wasn’t entirely sure that my face was doing what I asked of it. I probably looked tired and uncomfortable instead.
“Why do you hate me? I’ve never even done a damn thing to you.”
“I’m entitled to my opinion,” I said before taking another drink of wine. If my mouth was full, I couldn’t put my foot in it.
“Opinion based on what? You’ve hated me since the day we first worked together,” he explained, like this was news to me, but I only nodded.
“Yep.”
“Before I even opened my mouth and said two words to you, it was all dirty looks and huffs and bad body language,” he continued, his mouth forming a snarl as he said the words.
Apparently, he didn’t enjoy my initial reaction toward him. I figured he never gave it a second thought after our shifts ended. I went to open my mouth and push his buttons even more, but Carmella beat me to the punch.
“One of us probably told her to.” Carmella raised her hand in the air, and I watched as River focused on her. “I’m sure someone did.”
“Told her to hate me?” he asked, sounding offended and baffled.
“Well, I mean, not hate you per se. But we do tell all the new girls to stay away from the pilots. And to definitely not date them.”
“I thought that was just a rumor,” Chad said, stumbling over the words.
“Nope.” Carmella emphasized before adding, “But it’s not like they listen, so it doesn’t even matter.”
River waved a hand in my direction. “She listened.”
“Then, she’s the only one,” Carmella fired back.
“Can you two stop talking about me like I’m not here?” I said a little too loudly.
“Fine,” River shouted back, his blue eyes piercing into mine. “Did someone tell you to stay away from me?” He leaned back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest.
“Yes.”
“What about me?” Chad asked.
“No, not you, just pilots in general. Like, to stay away from them.” I tried to play it off like it was no big deal, but neither Chad nor River seemed to be taking it that way.
Chad was disappointed that he hadn’t been named, and River was angry that he had.
“So, someone told you to stay away from me specifically?” River pushed.
He was not going to let this go until I answered.
“They did.”
“Who?” He actually sounded upset, and I didn’t want to get Stacy in any kind of trouble with him or make work awkward for her.
“I really don’t want to say.”
“Sky,” he growled.
“River,” I tried to mimic, but I just sounded silly instead, and Carmella laughed.
“Don’t ask her to rat out her friends,” she said, trying to help the situation, but failing because River was pushy and relentless and used to getting what he wanted.
“Just trying to figure out who not to trust, is all.”
Yep. He was pissed. And taking this way too far.
“It’s really not a big deal. You’re turning this into something it isn’t. Can’t we just let it go?”
He uncrossed his arms and made wild arm gestures while he spoke instead. “Sure. Fine. I’ll let it go. For now,” River huffed before finishing off his beer in one giant gulp.
He would definitely not be letting this go.