“How many do you usually sell?” I asked.
“Um, about a hundredth of that in a non-release month. Not even.” She glanced back at me, her eyes wide with a different kind of shock. “Auden found a couple of viral videos from book influencers today and told me to check my sales. And there are… a lot.”
She grabbed the phone and stabbed at the screen.
“You’re on speaker, and Taylor and Silas are here.”
“Okay, the last video I found had ten thousand views from only an hour ago, and I came across five others.”
“Are you searching me?”
“Well, yes. Of course. I figured I’d watch so you wouldn’t have to, but I didn’t find any of those twats who were talking about you this morning. It’s all about your books. I found a comment from someone who thinks she may have seen Silas at one of your book signings. Your readers are going to eat this up with a spoon. Fuck Gayle. Who needs to write PR when they’re famous?”
“It’s one day,” Rachel said. “I’m a temporary fascination, and they’ll move on.”
“Not when the press conference circulates. And this isn’t even a full day. Having them tag your author account was like striking gold.”
“Okay, calm down. I may get to pay my bills for another month, which is fantastic—let’s not push it.”
“Ugh, I can’t believe you.”
Rachel and I shared a laugh at Auden’s groan.
“I think she’s right,” I said. “I think all this attention is going to get R.M. Dioro everywhere.”
“Well, since Rachel Manning is out of a job, it would be nice for my alter ego to support us for once. Listen, I have to go. Thanks for letting me know. I’m sure if I keep circulating, you’ll tell me.”
“You could be a little excited.”
“I am.” Rachel met my gaze with that same fucking smile that knocked me on my ass the first day, and I’d never been able to get up. “I got exactly what I wanted today.”
“Fine. Go sex up your famous boyfriend, and I’ll report back in the morning. Oops. Sorry, Taylor.”
“I’ll be in my room. With my headphones on and the door closed,” Taylor said, pushing past us toward the hallway.
“How do you feel about that?” I asked, nodding to her laptop screen.
“What? That all this got me a few book sales? It’s good, and I’ll enjoy it while it lasts.”
“I think it’s going to last a lot longer than you think.”
She rolled her eyes.
“I’d say let’s go back to what we were doing, but…” She flicked her eyes to Taylor’s closed door. “Rain check for later?”
“You should know by now,” I said, pulling her back, “I’m not going anywhere. Not tonight. Not tomorrow.” I yanked her closer and pressed my mouth against hers. She grasped the collar of my shirt as she smiled into the kiss.
“Not ever.”
EPILOGUE
RACHEL
Two months later
“You thinkthey’re going to do it?” Taylor asked me as we took our usual seats behind the Bats’ dugout.
“I don’t know. I hope so,” I said, shivering in my Bats hoodie with Silas’s number on the back. The weather was abnormally chilly, the fall crisp in the air we’d just started to enjoy now just plain cold. I wore heavy gloves and a long T-shirt under my hoodie, but I still trembled in my seat.
