“Well,thatwas adorable.” Hope gathers the cards. “Another round?”
“Absolutely,” Tony says.
This time, Hope wins. She looks directly at Tony. “I pick you.”
Tony folds his arms.
“Okay.” Hope taps her cards against her lips, thinking. Tony watches her with an intensity that makes Ash sit up straight. “What’s the thing you want the most in the world?”
Tony leans back and cracks his knuckles. “That’s easy,” he says. “Money.”
“Nope.” Hope tone is languid, dangerous. “We’re not going to let you get away with that. Not after you put Spencer through the wringer.”
Tony shrugs. “It’s the truth,” he says. “And Ihavemoney. But who doesn’t want more of it?”
“What does moneymeanto you, though?” Hope presses. “Being able to travel? Owning a house? Providing for your family?”
Tony laughs. “I’m already doing all of that,” he says. “And that’s even with my income cut in half thanks to my shitshow of a divorce.”
“Then why do you need more?” Hope presses.
“You can’t have too much,” Tony says. “Like, you can’t be too famous, right?” He holds Hope’s gaze for a second, or tries to. This whole time, she hasn’t taken off her beanie. This whole time, no one, including Ash and Caro, has been able toreallysee her face.
“I still don’t buy it,” Hope says.
“You don’t have to,” Tony says. “Let’s go again.”
But Hope stands up, stretches into a yawn that she doesn’t try to pretend isn’t at least partially feigned—the exaggerated nonchalance of it, the way she rises on her tiptoes, how she plays up the length of the inhale and the exhale that follows.
“No.” Hope drops her arms and turns away, a smile in her voice. “I think we’re done.”
12
BEFORE
“WHAT’S THE WORST PARTabout being famous?” Ash asks Hope. It’s a warm summer night in all three places (they’ve each bragged about their weather, shown the others via their cameras how absolutely gorgeous it is in Santa Monica, Salt Lake City, Portland). Since Hope recently revealed who shereallyis, Ash and Caro are asking her all the questions that have been on their minds in the month since they last met.
They’ve been chatting for hours. Hope was supposed to go to a party, and she decided to miss it so that she could keep talking to them. This thrills Caro and Ash (Hope Hanover would rather be with them than at a party in LA!). Both Ash and Caro are alone. Wade and the girls are visiting his parents so she can get some work done, because it’s wedding season, the absolute worst, and Caro’s Dan is on a bikepacking trip with his friends. At some point, Hope said, “Wouldn’t it be great if we could keep talking until we fell asleep, like a sleepover, like we did when we were teenagers with our friends?” and they’ve decided to do exactly that.
Ash is already fighting for her life. They’ve taken their phones to bed with them, and Ash began to droop the minute she sat down against her headboard, pillows at her back. (Caro and Hope were intrigued to see that Ash has an extremely modern-looking bedroom, not the sort of bohemian flowery vibe they had expected.) “We didn’t think this through,” Ash says,laughing. She’s loopy from the wine she and Hope have been drinking—a white wine from Hope’s new line that she sent to Ash and Caro. “We’re all going to fall asleep, but then our phones will stay on all night.”
“That’s fine,” Caro says. “What does it matter. Let our batteries die.”
“Whatareyou drinking, anyway, Caro?” Hope asks. “It looks like antifreeze.”
Caro doesn’t drink, plus right now she’s training for a triathlon. She lifts her glass, which is full of a pale green liquid. “Lime Cucumber Gatorade,” she says. “The nectar of the gods.”
“Really?” Hope sounds skeptical.
Caro laughs. “When we meet in person, I’ll buy you some.”
“Famous,” Ash reminds them sleepily. “What’s the worst part?”
“I think it’s exactly what you think it would be,” Hope says reflectively. “Losing your privacy. People feeling like you belong to them.”
“Have you ever had a stalker?” Caro wants to know.
“I’ve had a few,” Hope says.
