Page 69 of Fake Crown

“I might even scream your name instead of god’s.”

He chuckles against my neck as he cups my ass and eases into me, but this time, when he withdraws and our gazes connect, the air hums with something I’ve never felt before. Warmth floods my body at the tenderness and desire mingling in his expression. I’m not sure if my expression matches his, but his look is how I feel. For years, I’ve avoided anything that felt even remotely close to this, and now I’m starting to wonder why.

“Slow and steady,” he says. “There’s no rush.”

Instead of answering him, I kiss him deeply and tug him closer. Slow I can do, but I’m not sure about steady. Whatever I’m starting to feel isn’t in my control anymore, and I have no idea where it’ll lead.

The next morning, I get settled on my Greyhound Bus, which will take me back to Northern University campus, and I scroll through my messages from Destiny and Nadiya. Other than telling them I arrived safely, I haven’t said much about my spontaneous trip. Taking a bus on a whim is something I’d normally do, but the reason I got on the bus is out of character.

If Brent and I were just friends, I’d have gone to an important swim meet to support him, without question. That’s what friends do. While he’s gauging his season’s success with each meet, this one wasn’t particularly important in the grand scheme of his swimming career, and I still went. I don’t need Destiny or Nadiya to tell me I’ve slipped into unchartered territory.

I feel it. There’s a change starting in me, and I can’t decide if I need to create some distance or embrace the discomfort.

If I dwell on whatever is developing, I’ll freak out. It’ll be a long three hours lost in my thoughts. I flick through the apps on my phone, and I open the latest social media craze. While I don’t use my accounts much, I always claim my name on each of them. When I open it, my notifications are over a thousand despite never having posted content.

My heart kicks, and a slither of dread snakes down my spine. I tap on the icon to view where I’m being tagged.

It’s a video compilation from the weekend, and I breathe a sigh of relief. Except as I watch it, I realize Brent and I are the stars of the videos. We’re front and center laughing about the signs I’ve made, walking hand in hand from lunch, staring at each other over dinner, cuddled up together in the hallway outside the locker rooms. Wherever it was possible to catch us looking close and happy, his teammate has done it. Strange to see us as others would have this weekend.

I’m so caught up in watching the clips of us that I haven’t fully registered why my account blew up. But once I’ve viewed it a few times and absorbed the vibe between me and Brent, I check the stats on the post.

Holy shit.

Thousands of shares, reposts, and views. My heart rate picks up at the implication. I’ve done a lot of dumb things or attention-seeking things, but I’ve never gone viral before. I click on the comments, and my blood runs cold. Although I was tagged in the original post, it’s Val who is being targeted in the comments.

@valentinaconsuelos Isn’t Brent your boyfriend?

@valentinaconsuelos When did you and Brent breakup?

@valentinaconsuelos Holy fuck. Is Faulkner cheating on you?

@valentinaconsuelos Wasn’t Brent in Bermuda with you a couple weeks ago? WTF is this?

Bile rises in my throat as I follow a few of the shares and reposts with someone else’s commentary attached to them. Very, very few are supportive of me or Brent. Most of the people are in a rage, assuming Brent cheated on Valentina or I somehow lured him away from her. After all, their relationship was #couplesgoals for the last year thanks to her intimate photos and detailed posts. What a crock of shit.

She hasn’t responded to anyone’s tag, but I can’t imagine she hasn’t seen this. The original post is a torrent sweeping across the students at Northern University’s campus.

I’ve been in some girl-on-girl disagreements before, but never on this scale. In every other situation, no one has come out a winner. My best hope at an easy resolution is for Val to admit she and Brent broke up weeks ago. Given that she hasn’t done that yet, I can’t imagine she’ll emerge sweet and demure.

No. She’s the type to go for the knockout punch, even if her opponent is already on the ground.

At the rate the post is being liked, shared, reposted, and commented on, there’s no point in responding. I can’t stem the tide. Instead, I’m going to have to learn to ride the wave. I hope I’m a strong enough swimmer.

Brent

When I wake up from my nap after arriving back to campus, I grab my phone to see whether Posey has texted me yet. She should be back at Northern by now, though her bus left later than mine. There are no texts from Posey, but I have a bunch of messages on my home screen from people asking what’s going on with me and Val, and also, what’s going on with me and the chick in the video.

Chick in the video?

I throw on some clothes and wander into the living room. Jaxon is sprawled across the couch watching TV and scrolling through his phone since he has an evening class on Mondays.

“Why the fuck are so many people messaging me about a video?” I ask. “Do I have some look-alike in a porno somewhere?”

“Nah. It’s you and Posey.” Jaxon chuckles and glances up from his phone. “One of your teammates put together a bangin’ video, and since very few people realized you and Val broke up, Northern is in a flutter.” The last word is full of mockery.

Jesus. I hope we’re not literally banging. We haven’t had sex in public, so a leak like that seems unlikely. I rub my face and sink into the armchair across from him before opening some of my social media accounts. Right away, the tsunami that’s been unleashed is apparent. Not even after the Olympics did I have this many notifications.

Over a girlfriend.