"Mach, time to get out of the pool," Hans said, marching toward the pool with Becca on his heels. Sam wasn’t far behind them.
Mach nodded, shaking the droplets from his hair. "Yeah, I know. I’m off the damn slice."
Moving on with life.
"A dating-advice influencer posted about your date," Becca said, hurrying behind Hans, and out of breath.
"Yeah?" he asked. "That’s good for the band."
Maybe something decent would come from all of this. More than the initial deflection of attention off of Tanner.
"They dissected the conversation you had on stage with Darla and Bax." Becca grimaced.
"With emphasis on the part where Darla turned you down," Hans said.
"It’s a… thing," Becca added.
That the date was getting the band some attention? Excellent news.
That the part that was picked up was his humiliation? Not so much.
That pizza slice looked pretty damn good right about then. It practically called to him, inviting him to climb on up.
"Definething," Mach said, already knowing he wasn’t going to like the answer.
"Darla is now very popular," Hans said.
That would be good if Darla wanted the popularity. But Darla didn’t seem like she’d be down with any of this. She’d only wanted to go on a date and meet someone. Not be the center of attention for some influencer’s attempt at likes and clicks.
"And I’m…?" Mach asked.
"Your image is taking a hit." Hans had no emotion as he gave the news. The guy could be telling Mach he wanted oat milk for his cereal or that Mach’s public image was being shredded. It came out the same either way.
Mach didn’t love that his image was gonna need some TLC, but he’d deal with it.
Unfortunately, Mach wasn’t new to this type of attention from the tabloids. His throat went tight because—Darla? Darla was.
"Is this gonna fuck with her life?" Mach finally asked, even though he already knew the answer.
No one answered, so Mach answered for himself. "It’s gonna fuck with her life."
"You know how you always said you didn’t mind being branded as the Dimefront asshole?" Becca asked.
Mach nodded. Of all the shit to care about, that never seemed like something to get worked up about.
"Congrats, it happened," Hans concluded.
"Darla’s the opposite. Everyone’s hoping she’ll find Mr. Perfect out of all this," Becca said as she made a hand motion that probably wasn’t supposed to be lewd, but it was.
"Is anyone even putting us together?" Mach asked. "Hopingwe’llbe a couple?"
"No," Hans said without even a hint of apology. He cleared his throat.
Mach tried to ignore how that word settled heavy in the back of his throat because he didn’t want a relationship. He didn’t.
Since it was summer, everything was warm. But right then, the heat got worse. Mach didn’t like the way the sun pounded on his skin from one side and his blood from the other. Everything seemed tight. He tried to shake it off, but it didn’t work. So he pulled himself up to the pool deck and out of the water. Droplets of water slid over his face, down his arms. He reached for the oversized, white towel he’d set out earlier.
"We need to get ahold of Darla," he said, toweling off his abdomen and arms. "Make sure she’s got whatever she needs, so thisdoesn’tscrew with her life."
