Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 117177 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 586(@200wpm)___ 469(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 117177 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 586(@200wpm)___ 469(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
It took everything within me to stop myself from blurting out how I felt about him. I tried to hide the surge of emotions I was feeling by kissing him playfully. But as he murmured “mi cielo” again, my kiss turned hungrier, more desperate.
Chris groaned, guiding me onto my back. “I think I need to learn more Spanish if this is the reaction.”
“I’m absolutely on board with that idea,” I murmured before his lips found mine again.
THIRTY-ONE
Hallie
That I had clean clothes and toiletries at Chris’s place didn’t seem weird to him, and I was ecstatic to walk into my bathroom and see his stuff cluttering up my counter. Althea worried we were moving too fast, but it didn’t feel fast for us. It felt right.
The Monday after my embarrassing rendition of “Sweet Caroline” had started like a regular Monday in Chris and Hallie’s world. I woke up in his bed, he made it very difficult for me to leave it, we eventually did, he made me breakfast while I showered and then dressed in the clothes I’d dropped off at his place the morning before. I departed for work, and Chris went for his morning run before he’d return home to work on his book. Writing had started to occupy most of his day, which was exciting because it meant he was getting close to finishing it.
On cloud nine, not long later, I clung to a pole on the train and swayed with its movements, not paying any attention to the crowded car as I made my way into the city.
Until my phone vibrated continuously, distracting me from the podcast I half listened to through my earbuds. What if it was my mom or my dad? Hope blossomed within a confusing, icky tangle of resentment and hurt as I rummaged through my purse for my cell. When I pulled it out, however, I was shocked to find a bunch of texts and social media notifications from my friends. Seeing a text from Althea, I clicked on it.
Have you seen this? Are you okay?
Attached to her text was a link. I’d discover all my friends had also shared and tagged me in photos some random person had taken of Chris and me and posted to their social media.
A local New York paper had picked up the story in their gossip column.
Althea had sent me a link to that news piece. My stomach dropped.
HAS OUR NATIONAL HERO FOUND A NEW HEROINE?
And beneath the headline were photographs of Chris and me in Central Park on Saturday. In one we were holding hands and laughing, in another we were cuddling, and the pièce de résistance was a photo of us kissing. He cradled my face in his hands like I was precious, while classy me had my hands on his ass. It was a hot picture.
Cheeks burning, I skimmed the article, which outed who I was, where I worked, my college education, and that I was a surprising choice for Chris to move on with from Darcy Hawthorne. They then discussed Darcy breaking up with Chris to become engaged to Matthias. I could see from the tags on socials that a few big influencers had reposted the story on their feeds. Great.
Sweat dampened my hands and under my arms as I lifted my gaze in paranoia to see if anyone was looking at me. Thankfully, no one seemed to notice my existence.
I knew Chris still had his following on Instagram, but after the TV interviews upon his return from space, the media had pretty much left him alone. Why did anyone care anymore about whom he dated?
How did this happen?
Just as I climbed up the stairs out of the subway, my phone buzzed in my hand, and I startled. It was Chris.
Fumbling for the Answer Call button on my earbuds, I answered breathlessly, “Hi, hi, oh my God, hi.”
“You saw the photos online?” he asked, his tone tense. “I’ve got a ton of comments on my last Instagram post about this, and apparently there’s an article in a New York gossip rag.”
I winced just imagining how cruel some of those comments might be. I’d had to stop scrolling through the comments on Chris’s posts just because of the sheer amount of people who flirted with him. There was no doubt in my mind, some of those people had some not nice things to say about his choice of girlfriend. Shaking off the morose thought, I replied, “I saw the article. Althea sent it to me, and I’ve been tagged all over social media.”
“Shit. Are you okay?”
“Um, yeah, I think so. I just . . . I don’t understand why someone would take those photos.” The idea of someone following us and watching us all day creeped me out.
“Some people don’t have boundaries. As for the article, it’s just a puff piece,” Chris said, trying to assure me, but I could hear his agitation. “This will blow over.”