Brandon
So do you.
Brandon
Stop comparing and start connecting.
The trivia host calls for attention, and I put my phone away, trying to focus on the game instead of my spiraling thoughts.
The first few rounds go well enough. General knowledge, pop culture, sports. Mason's team is clearly competitive, with everyone shouting out answers and debating the finer points of various topics. I manage to contribute a few correct answers, including one about country music that earns me an impressed look from Mason.
“I didn't know you were into country,” he says during a break between rounds.
“Born and raised on it,” I say, then immediately worry that sounds too Southern, too unsophisticated for his crowd.
But he smiles. “That's cool. Very authentic.”
My phone buzzes again.
Brandon
Update?
Stella
He just complimented my country music knowledge, but nothing else yet.
The bubbles pop up and then disappear. It happens a few more times before he replies.
Brandon
Doesn't mean he's not interested in you. What's your gut telling you?
I glance at Mason, who's laughing at something the guy next to me said. My gut is telling me I'm in way over my head.
Stella
I don't know that I can trust my gut when it's about me.
Brandon
You predict every Love Island couple and navigate multi-million dollar deals and you can't read that room?
Before I can respond, another text comes through.
Brandon
Let me help you then. You're hot, funny, kind, and so many other amazing things. If he's not directing his total attention toward you, he's a fucking idiot.
Stella
You have to say that. You're my friend.
Brandon
I don't have to say anything. I could've just said try to stay open and not to read too much into anything.
I don't have a response to that. He's managed to completely take my breath away through a silly text.
