This time, I let her.
I answer on the third ring.
“What.” Not a question. A warning.
“Who is she?”
“Who is?—”
“Your photo is trending!” Rick sounds like he just won the lottery. “Brody, this is—where are you? Who is she?”
I frown. “Who?”
“Hang on.” A moment later, an image flashes through my text messages. I pull the phone away to look at it, and my heart plummets. It’s Chloe. And me. From five minutes ago.
The cold wind bites at my neck, and I lift the phone back to my ear.
“This is exactly what we needed, Brody! ‘Hockey’s Candy Kane spotted with mystery girlfriend’—it’s everywhere! The comments are overwhelmingly positive. This could save everything!”
Could save everything.
Could.
I look in the direction Chloe went. She’s long gone, disappeared into the darkness like she was never there at all.
But I know she was, because in my heart is a gaping wound again.
“I have to go,” I tell Rick.
“Wait, don’t hang up. We need to strategize. Can you get her to come to your next game? If we can get another photo, maybe something more couple-y?—”
“Rick.”
“What? I’m trying to help you here!”
“I’ll call you back.”
I hang up. Stare at my phone.
Three notifications already. How can the photo be everywhere? It’s been, like, a minute and a half? X, Instagram, fan accounts I didn’t know existed.
The image loads.
There we are. Me looking down at her. Her looking up at me with those wide eyes, surprised, but with something else—I can’t unpack it. But my arm around her back, the warm glow of Ironclad behind us…
We look like a real couple.
And the comments are rolling in:
@renodaisy: Oh my word, they’re so cute!
* * *
@Letsgoblue: Candy finally found someone!
* * *
@LuvCats39: She’s gorgeous! Who is she?
