“Almost six hundred twenty-five thousand.”
The room erupts in excited squeals and congratulations. “Our girl is going to be BookTok famous!” Brynn yells.
I laugh, tears clouding my vision as I can hardly believe my eyes. Years of hard work. Years of waiting for this moment.
My gaze flickers to my follower count, and holy shit, it’s up by almost fifty thousand.
“This is it! This is your moment,” Charlotte says, grabbing my hands and pulling me to my feet.
All five of us rise, holding hands, giggling, vibrating with excitement like a bunch of preschoolers.
“We need to celebrate!” Samantha declares, eyes bright.
“But we can’t.” Liz groans, and some of the excitement fades from her face as she adds, “Your man will be here soon, and we’re going out with the guys.”
“I’m sorry,” I say, meaning it. Because the only thing better than celebrating this monumental win with the ladies would be celebrating it with Brandon.
The thought stings, and the fact he’s been checking up on me and knew what this would mean to me . . . well, I try not to think about it.
“You’ll just have to celebrate for us,” Brynn declares. “Tell that man of yours to buy you as many drinks as you want tonight because you earned it.”
I grin, wondering what my view count will be up to when he gets here and what he’ll think when I show him. I picture him, beaming with pride as he shows his friends, and my smile widens. Maybe Ethan will finally understand what I’m trying to accomplish.
For the first time all night, my nerves about Ethan’s friends take a back seat to the giddy rush in my chest. Tonight might be about making a good impression with his friends. But maybe it could also be about finally being seen as more than just a girl with a silly hobby. Maybe tonight is the night he’ll finally take my passion seriously.
I’m applying a final swipe of mascara when my phone chimes with a text, and Ethan’s name lights up the screen.
ETHAN:
I’m here.
I snatch up my phone and type back:Coming.
Quickly capping the mascara tube, I leave the bathroom as I navigate to my TikTok account, wanting to check where it’s at before I see him.
The page loads, and my heart leaps in my throat at the number in the corner of my screen?one million, three hundred thousand. In just twenty-four hours, I’ve amassed nearly one-and-a-half million views, and several hundred thousand followers.
Somebody pinch me.
I leave the suite and bound down the stairs to the main floor, where I find Ethan waiting for me just outside the dormitory doors. “Hey you,” I say when I swing them open, and fall into his arms.
He gives me a light squeeze, then drops a kiss to my lips before he pulls back, his eyes sweeping over me with an appraising look I’ve come to recognize. “You look nice,” he says, and I’m relieved because I wasn’t sure if the jeans and thigh-high boots were too casual or if he’d prefer me in a dress.
“Thanks. So do you,” I say, noting his usual polo and jeans. “Where’s Brady and Mike?” I ask, glancing behind him, barely restraining the urge to blurt out the news about my viral post.
“They’re just a few minutes behind me. We drove separately since I’m staying the weekend and they’re not.”
I nod, practically bouncing in my shoes as I ready myself with the big news. “That’s just as well because I have some amazingnews,” I blurt out, unable to contain myself any longer. “You won’t believe what happened with my latest BookTok.”
His eyebrows lift, the slight quirk of his lips telling me he’s amused. “What’s that?”
“Well, last night, I posted a review talking about this a new romantasy series.” I pull my phone from my pocket, my fingers trembling with excitement. “It went viral. And I meanreallyviral. Look!”
I thrust the screen toward him, navigating to the video. “It’s at over one-point-three million views already. In just one day!”
I hit play, watching his face as my on-screen self begins the review. I know every word, every inflection by heart. It’s the review I spent hours perfecting—my analysis of the character development, the way the author subverts traditional romance tropes, and brilliant foreshadowing.
And the way she builds tension between them without ever . . .I mouth along to myself on the video, feeling the same passion I felt when recording it.
