After sending her reply, she moved on to the next message.
“Owen called because of the pictures?” Matt asked.
Nodding, she read the next text.
Phoebe: When were you going to tell me you were seeing Matt Sherbrooke?
Liv: Soon.
“You know about the photos on CHAT?” she asked.
“Yeah, my cousin told me. I was going to tell you, but Owen called before I got the chance.”
“Have you seen them?”
Matt shook his head.
Before she second-guessed her decision, Liv opened the app on her phone. Sure enough, pictures of her and Matt popped up on the screen.
They weren’t kidding.
Her brother and her friends had told her photos were trending on the site, but still, she hadn’t been 100 percent prepared to see them.
“Why would someone take a picture of us eating ice cream?” Didn’t people have better things to do?
“People do weird things.”
Even as she scrolled down to the comments, she recognized it was probably a bad idea.
“I’ve had people take pictures of me leaving the grocery store,” Matt said.
Although she’d expected some less-than-kind comments, she didn’t find any—at least not yet. Instead, the comments consisted of people wondering who she was and commenting on Matt’s looks.
“I know you avoided going out in public with me because you were worried this would happen.” Matt’s statement pulled her attention away from the comments.
She’d never told him that because she thought he’d find it a silly concern.
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
Reaching over, he took her hand. “I don’t know. But I hoped no one would notice us yesterday, and when you saw people wouldn’t bother us everywhere we went, you’d get more comfortable going places with me.”
Her phone alerted her to another text message, and she groaned.
“Unfortunately, things didn’t go as I planned.”
Liv didn’t blame him. “It’s not your fault.”
“Are you okay with this?” His eyes reflected the worry and concern in his voice. “It doesn’t happen every time I leave the house,” he continued before she could answer. “I know it might seem that way, but photos of us won’t show up on social media every day.”
She’d never thought much about it, but Matt’s statement made sense. “I know.”
He squeezed her hand. “That doesn’t answer my question, Liv. Are you okay with this? Because it will happen again.”
Before last night, she would’ve said no. A short summer fling wasn’t worth public scrutiny. Now, though, she knew he wasn’t spending time with her as a way to pass the time while in town. While there was no guarantee that they wouldn’t eventually go their separate ways, she was willing to face the keyboard warriors on social media to see where things between her and Matt went.
Leaning closer, she pressed her palm against his cheek and smiled. “I’m not thrilled about it. But for you, I’m willing to deal with it.”
Twelve
