“Uh, thanks.” Heat crept up Zack’s neck. He shrugged with one shoulder. “I need a schtick. I didn’t want to copy your vids, and I’m not much of a dancer. Coming up with content’s tough.”
“Eh, your content is fine. Most people on the Fang app are dying to see how the elite vampires live.” Vincent’s smile widened, and he perked up. “I know! We’ll do a vid together.”
“What do you have in mind?” Zack asked.
Vincent was already sliding his phone across to Jeremy and throwing his arm around Zack’s shoulders. “I’ve got the perfect idea. Just smile.”
Zack had an older brother and a dozen cousins he’d grown up with, so he could spot the red flag in Vincent’s tone a mile away. This setup smelled worse than a bottle of milk left out in the summer sun. But other than jerking away, there wasn’t much he could do. Jeremy already had Vincent’s phone pointed at them.
So Zack smiled.
Vincent put an arm around his shoulders and dragged him closer until they were cheek to cheek. He flipped off the camera, the same move he made at the start of every video. “I’ve snagged a minute with GLC’s newest black-collar elite. Isn’t he precious?”
Holding a smile was hard to do, but Zack had been practicing.
“And people, he may look little, but he isjacked.” Vincent ran his other hand across Zack’s chest. His touch was aggressive and pulled the fabric tauter against Zack’s skin. “He totally works out. You do, right?”
“Uh, yeah,” Zack said. And he immediately bit his lip. When he filmed for his own page, he had time to edit them down. He doubted Vincent was going to give him that chance.
“‘Uh, yeah,’” Vincent imitated. “Adorable. Am I right? He’s absolutely adorable.”
Whatever this was, Zack was done. He pulled away from Vincent and then reached for the phone.
Vincent slipped his finger through the loop on Zack’s collar, the same one that the crest tag was attached to, and yanked him into a kiss.
Caught completely off guard, Zack froze. His mind raced through the outcomes. Roger had said he wouldn’t let anyone mock him, but he couldn’t control theinternet. Vincent had thousands of followers, and they would be able to see this lackluster kiss. They’d know that Zack wasn’t cool or sexy. They’d judge and decide that Zack was utterly unattractive. Then they’d whisper that there had to be another reason a party boy like Roger would want him around. Their cover would be blown. Seamus would suspect them and on and on and on. His mind circled, spiraling downward into a drain of paranoia.
In the back of his mind, he heard Cal’s voice saying,Serves you right, traitor.
Vincent was working his lips against Zack’s, but after a few seconds, he gave up. With a malicious laugh, he said, “I don’t see you keeping that black collar for long, precious. At least you’re pretty. Some dickwad will take you in.”
And then Vincent and Jeremy were leaving the booth. They grabbed their coffees on the way out the door, and the other two pets that were with them followed behind. Three of them were snickering and whispering, but Vincent had a smug smile of victory.
Because it’s all about sex and reputation. And I’ve just been trashed. I should have seen it coming.Zack clenched his fist. He hadn’t given in to his instincts and backed off from the video because he’d been acting the way Roger and Josefina had taught him. He’d tried to keep pace instead of making his own path.
“What was that?” Blake whispered.
“Vampire pet bullshit,” Zack muttered.
“Do you think he’ll really post it?”
Zack’s phone dinged. And then dinged. And thenkeptdinging. He closed his eyes. Ignoring the rash of notifications would be the smarter move, but there was a chance people were calling Vincent out on being a dick. After taking a deep breath, he glanced at his phone to sort through the chaos.
Vincent had already posted the video to the Fang app and tagged him. Comments were flooding in. “OMG what a loser.” “How’d he bag a vampire that hot?” “GROSS.” Zack’s stomach churned with every insult. The vid played over and over while he skimmed further and further down the comments.
Notifications kept dinging his phone. People were finally watching his vids, but they were leaving slurs and insults. If there was anything positive, it was buried under the filth.
“Zack,” Blake said.
“Thanks for the gift.” Zack grabbed the book and the card. He tried muting the notifications, but now they were piling in on Night Deets, too. After arranging for a ride via an app, he put his phone on silent and shoved it into his back pocket. “I need to get going.”
Blake reached for him as he slid out of the booth, but he dodged her touch out of instinct. “Zack, please. Sit back down.”
“I’ll be fine. Promise.” Zack forced a smile. “We’ll talk later.”
“We better,” Blake replied. “Otherwise, I’m storming the suite with tacos and Netflix while we plot that fucker’s demise.”
“Yeah, yeah, okay!” He knew he should be grateful that Blake was trying to make him feel better.
