“What are you two doing sitting in the car?” she asks outside the passenger door, apparently unconcerned about the light rain falling on her.
“What are you doing standing in the rain?”
Georgie shrugs. “You live here long enough, you get used to it.”
She tugs at my reluctant hand. “C’mon, Liam. I’ve got a cozy tea waiting for you.”
***
“I cannot believe you’re dating Collette Best!!!”Georgie says for about the millionth time. The warm tea and meat pies she set out are indeed cheering me. When I saw the food, I realized I hadn’t eaten much since I found out Lettie wrote that abominable book.
“One, her name is Lettie, Collette Best is just a pen name, and two, we are definitely NOT dating.”
“But you could be,” wheedles Georgie. “It’s obvious you guys like each other. I saw those pictures.”
“She wrote me as a villain.”
“Don’t be so easily insulted. All the fans love you. They all ship Ivan and Lizzy. And it’s obvious reading the book that Lettie loves you, too.”
“When she wrote it, she was furious at me.”
“Have you read those kissing scenes?” Georgie asks, her eyebrows raised. Yes, more than I would ever admit.
“She made you the villain, but she put more time and care into your scenes than the ones with the hero.” Having read the book twice now (I read it on the flight), I know my sister is right. Still, I’m hesitant to believe Georgie’s theory.
“If she cares about me so much, why didn’t she tell me that she put me in her book?”
“For being so smart, you can be really clueless,” my mother says before taking a sip of tea. “It’s obvious. She didn’t want to lose you.”
“Also, it looks like Lettie tried to change the book. Ms. Book Boyfriend just released this.” Georgie slides her phone over. On the screen, the TikTok lady holds the cover ofAll’s Fair in Lovewith a shocked look on her face. The caption reads: “Suspicious Edits in Revenge Book.”
I hit play. “The plot thickens,” says Ms. Book Boyfriend, waving a print copy of Lettie’s book. “This morning, I woke up to messages from readers all over. Accusing me of talking shiz. They had bought the eBook ofAll’s Fair in Loveand, stop the presses: Ivan Pennington is no longer an avocado grower! Now, he works in construction. He never rowed in college but played water polo, and there’s nary a mention of crooked teeth. All these changes are in the most recent eBooks. However, my followers who received print books today report that Ivan Pennington is still an avocado grower. Did the author make these changes willingly?” the woman asks the camera. “Or are there more sinister motives at play? Who’s to say? As for me, I say ‘something is rotten in the state of Denmark.’” The clip ends.
“Book Tok girl quotes Hamlet?” My mom sounds shocked. “I did not see that coming.”
“What does it mean?” I ask.
“That it’s suspicious,” my mom says.
“Not the Shakespeare quote,” I say. “The changes to the book.”
“I bet Lettie tried to change it,” says my sister. “Self-published authors can change their manuscripts fairly easily.”
“Wait! Lettie did say something about changing it.” I see her tear-stained face as she pled with me. “But I read the eBook that night, and Ivan Pennington was definitely an avocado farmer.”
“Well yeah... I think it can take a few days for those changes to go into effect,” says Georgie.
I consider this. It means, possibly, that Lettie had already changed the book before this weekend. Did that make a difference? I mean, she still made me the villain and Noah the hero. I think about our fight in the car. I was so upset I didn’t hear her out. In my mind, she should have told me about it earlier. And she should have. But when she was finally telling me about it, I should have listened.
“I think you should give her another chance,” says Georgie. “It’s kind of a big deal that she changed a best-selling book for you. Not sure that was the wisest business decision.” My sister tuts.
“And reading that book,” adds my mom. “It’s clear that she’s in love with you.”
“Did we read the same book?” I ask. “Or did you read the newly revised version?”
“No, he definitely had crooked teeth in the one I read. But those kisses,” my mom says in a way that makes me blush.
I’ve already read the mistletoe kiss a few thousand times. Each time, my thoughts rush to the very real kisses, very hot kisses Lettie and I shared. Whatever she wrote, the feelings between us were (are?) real, and this book is fiction.
