“No? That would be—” I stop. “Wait, what does she say in the confessionals?”
“Oh, nothing bad!” Dad jumps in, still smiling. “She's very complimentary. Talks about what a gentleman you are, how you're different from other guys your age.”
“It’s actually really good television,” Jerry interrupts even though no one asked him.
Am I still salty at him for recording Laura? Yeah, and I don’t think that will go away.
“If you have a new love—”
“No.” I cut Jerry off, my voice hard. “Absolutely not. I’m not doing any more storylines for this show.”
“Scotty—” Dad starts, confused.
“I’m not,” I insist. “I'm not letting another birthday incident happen. Not with—” I stop myself before I say her name.
There's a beat of silence.
“Birthday incident?” Dad's brow furrows, and I can see him genuinely trying to understand. “What are you talking about?”
I wince with my eyes closed. I shouldn’t have been so open. The most Dad knows about it is the bad lighting.
“Did something happen at your birthday?”
I don’t answer, and seemingly no one else does either.
“I thought it was just a lighting issue.”
Sighing, I run a hand across my face and realize this is the time I need to be honest with him. “No, Dad. It was more than that. Much more than that. You’d know that if you’d…”
I trail off, not wanting to get too deep into a conversation with him since the entire crew and Erik are still standing around.
Come to think of it, why aren’t they recording this?
“If I what?”
“Wasn’t so obsessed with the show.”
Erik takes in a sharp breath.
Fuck. Did I just say that?
“Am I obsessed?” he asks, looking between us with furrowed brows.
“Yes,” Jerry and I say it at the same time.
My dad physically steps back.
“But I thought you liked it?” he asks.
I shrug. “Maybe at first it was fun, when I was a junior in high school and got recognized, but now it feels like a chore, one I do because it makes you happy.”
“Y-you only do this to makemehappy?”
“Yeah. Do you really think I enjoy my most embarrassing moments being aired on TV?”
“We’ve never aired anything embarrassing, have we?”
“Yeah, we have. Do you remember when I asked Fiona to prom?”
