“As long as we’re clear.” Rhonda grabbed a bottle of water for herself, then hesitated a moment before tearing off her bikini top and jumping in.
“Rhonda!” Anne laughed, scanning the windows behind the fence for prying eyes.
“What! Your neighbours are never out, and I don’t feel like wearing a top.”
Melissa climbed in last and took the bench since all the bucket seats were taken. “Whatever, you’re hoping six-four-five is watching.”
“Who’s six-four-five?” Jenna asked.
Rhonda sighed and pointed over the fence to a grey house with dark windows except for one light on the second floor. “He’s a doctor.”
Tina cackled. “You don’t know that!”
“I told you, I saw him walking into the house with scrubs on!” Rhonda pushed up a bit higher. “Maybe he’s in his room. He’d get a perfect view?—“
Anne smacked her arm. “I swear, if I end up on the neighbourhood underground, this friendship is over.”
Rhonda reached for her tumbler. “Better on the gossip chain for tits than forgetting your trash can or something. I’d only make you more popular.”
Tina dropped lower into the water. “Okay, enough about tits. Jenna—time to dish. How did Gentry end up at the studio?”
Jenna reached for her wine. “Apparently he has a viral TikTok channel.” She watched and waited for their looks of shock, but they never came. Rhonda looked at Anne. Tina pretended to be working on a hangnail, and Melissa resembled a cat following an airborne fly.
Jenna clenched her hand around her tumbler. “Wait, did you guys all know about this?”
Rhonda held up her hands. “In my defence, I had no idea previously that you had a connection to this guy. Anne just barely filled me in.”
“So . . . you all knew that Gentry was on TikTok?”
“Doesn’t he go by Country?” Rhonda asked, and Tina shot her a look.
“I'm honestly kind of shocked you didn't know he was viral,” Anne said.
Melissa exhaled. “Yeah, I think we all assumed you were just ignoring it.”
Jenna pushed herself higher in the water. “You thought I'd seen his channel and just never brought it up?” All four of them nodded in unison. “And none of you thought to ask me about it?”
Tina hugged her knees into her chest. “Why would we ask you about it? All of us remember what you were like after you two broke up.”
Rhonda laid her head back on the edge of the tub. “I've only ever known you post-Country, so don't ask me.”
Jenna scoffed, forcing down the lump in her throat. “You guys, this was thirteen years ago. You don't think I would have wanted to know that my ex-boyfriend was internet famous?”
Tina looked away and took another sip of her Cabernet. How had she been living under a rock? She had the app. She scrolled regularly, and because of her job, she was fed all kinds of hockey content. How had it never once made it onto her For You page?
The only thing she could think of was that she downloaded the app when she was still living in Windsor. Maybe her algorithm had been curated based on that location? Look at her, knowing all about algorithms. Maybe she was adept at social media like John kept insisting.
Anne pulled out her elastic and re-tied her hair into a bun on the top of her head. “Listen, I'm sorry we never said anything. I know it was thirteen years ago, but Country wasn't just an ex-boyfriend, Jenna.”
“He was the ex-boyfriend,” Tina added.
Jenna slumped down in her bucket seat, allowing the water to cover her neck and hit the lobes of her ears. Gentry was THE ex-boyfriend. She dated him longer than any other guy, and even though thoughts of him had faded over the years, they'd never completely gone away. Especially now that she was back in Calgary. Those memories seemed to resurface at annoyingly regular intervals.
“I guess I forgive you,” she sighed, setting her tumbler in the cupholder.
Rhonda kicked her feet up on the edge of the tub. “So, friendship still intact. Now back to our regularly scheduled content. How does his very hot TikTok channel lead to him showing up at your office?”
“John’s nephew clued me in, and since our ratings were shot, I proposed that John bring him on as a guest sportscaster.” Jenna answered. That comment got the reactions she was hoping for the first time.
