Grabbing the sushi platter from the fridge, I set it down on the counter while Kali takes out glasses and pours iced tea for each of us.
Kali takes a tuna roll and is about to take a bite when she lets out a startled yelp instead and drops it back on the platter. The sushi roll lands straight in the wasabi, sending green flecks flying. George scampers up and licks a green smear off the floor before any of us can stop him, then coughs and shakes his head hard. He stares at the rest of the spilled wasabi, debating eating it even after the uncomfortable first experience. Liv quickly leaps down to clean it up first.
“I just realized I never texted Grayson back this morning,” Kali groans. “He’s probably worried sick.”
She grabs her phone from her oversized purse and hastily types on it. I watch her quietly, biting the inside of my cheek.
“So, you two lovebirds don’t talk, like, constantly?” I ask hesitantly.
Kali laughs and shakes her head. “No way. We’re way too busy for that. We talk as much as we can though.” She looks at me sharply. “Wait a minute. Why are you asking? Are you and Boone all right?”
Suddenly, Liv’s pretty dark eyes and Kali’s bright blue ones are focused on me with laser-like intensity. I swallow hard, startled by the heat of my best friends’ spotlight.
“Of course, we’re all right,” I sputter with a fake laugh. “I was simply curious, that’s all.”
Before either of them can question me more, I grab a piece of the California roll and cram it into my mouth, focusing on the tasty combo of crab, cucumber, and avocado instead of Liv and Kali, who are both eyeing me curiously.
If Kali and Grayson have periods where they forget to talk, then Boone and I are definitely fine.
Everything is fine.
Everything is fine.
Everything is fine.
If I just keep telling myself that enough, it must be true.
Right?
“Oh,” Kali whispers abruptly. She’s still staring at her phone, but I can’t tell if she’s still texting her handsome lawyer boyfriend or not. Her voice drops to an almost whisper, but it’s so strained that her voice squeaks out her throat. “Oh, no.”
Liv and I both immediately grow still at Kali’s clearly concerned tone. Kali doesn’t say anything else. Instead, she keeps gaping at her phone with glazed eyes.
“Kali?” prompts Liv.
She slowly lifts her gaze from her cell. She looks at Liv and then at me. Her mouth opens and closes, but no words come out.
“What is it?” I ask hesitantly. “Is it more photos of Boone and me? Or is it something else?”
Before I can even finish the question, all of our phones start chiming at once. Again and again, our cells trill and ring. The sound is almost more deafening than my music.
Immediately, Liv and I reach for our phones to find out what’s going on.
It’s usual for us to get quite a few notifications at the same time when we make a new post or announcement, but a storm like this only swells when something very,verybad has gone down.
But what could it be? The Glammers have been responding so well to our feed lately.
At first, as I scroll through the messages that we’re receiving on all of our various social media platforms, all I see are a blur of sad and angry emojis. My stomach twists so hard in my core that bile almost rises up the back of my throat. If we messed up and accidentally posted something our fans deemed inappropriate, the Glossed & Glammed ship could sink for good. Our place at the top of the influencer food chain is fragile, none of us can forget that.
Desperately, I try to figure out what could have been posted that would irritate all of our viewers at once.
Then I see it.
I blink hard, but the image feels like it’s engraved on the backs of my eyelids.
“Sutton,” Liv breathes, her voice full of concern.
Kali and Liv hurry over to drape their arms around me. Together, we stare down at the incriminating picture that was making its rounds across all our pages.
