I nodded. Maybe I was reading too much into it, but it seemed like something else was going on, something more than just blowing out one more candle. Bennett had been a little off lately, nowhere near his usual, personable self. Not that he was the loudest of the group by any means. Like me, he tended to hang back and observe. Although, I thought that had more to do with his disability than anything else.
“Everything else okay?”
He sighed. “Dating sucks.”
“You don’t have to tell me.”
“I’ve been texting with somebody for a while, and we were supposed to meet up last night, but they completely ghosted me.”
“I’m sorry, man.”
There wasn’t much more to say. Bennett was right. It didn’t matter if you were fifteen or fifty, dating sucked. Like a bad game of UNO, where your options were limited to skip, pick another, or reverse.
True, it got marginally easier over time, but that didn’t make it any less heart-wrenching. Especially when you worked in an industry that already made relationships next to impossible to manage. There was a common misconception that it was easier for athletes and stars to date. That couldn’t have been further from the truth. It wasn’t difficult to find some companionship for the night, but love and relationships were a different story.
Take it from me, fame did not breed love.
“Their loss.”
His lips kicked up on one side. “Thanks.”
“Did y’all see that Sinclair’s thirst trap is up to three million views?”
Matty’s question gave me pause. “My what?”
“Your thirst trap. From Saturday’s game.”
My eyes nearly bugged out of my skull when he held up his phone. Someone had shared a video of me from yesterday’s game, and it didn’t take a genius to know who. I remembered the moment vividly, from feeling the weight of Clarke’s eyes on me as I adjusted my hat to searching her out in the crowd and finally, the smile we shared. I could see it all, clear as day, even forty-eight hours later.
The video itself didn’t bother me . . . much. It came with the territory of being a public figure—and wearing incredibly tight pants. What bothered me more was my reaction, to knowing that over three million strangers had watched a moment that was supposed to be ours and ours alone.Thathad me grinding my teeth.
“Dude, you should see the comments,” Diaz added. “They love you.”
“Yeah, Booktok is obsessed,” Pink added.
“What the fuck is Booktok?”
“The book obsessed side of Tiktok.” Pink slipped on a trench coat that was way too heavy for spring and slung his bag over his shoulder. “You’re trending on the romance novel side of Booktok.”
He left it at that, walking out before any of us could muster a response. Matty’s look of confusion matched my own. Pink didn’t exactly strike me as an avid romance reader. A laundry list of follow-up questions was already forming in my head, but it would have to wait.
There was a buxom blonde to punish.
Clarke
Ihad just settled into bed with a romance novel when the onslaught of text messages began. My laugh echoed through the empty hotel room when I noticed that somebody—probably June—had changed the name of our group chat to "Bitchcraft."
June
When do you get back? It’s been too quiet around here lately.
Nessa
Too rainy, too. Bring the sun back with you, k?
June
PLEASE.
