Page 36 of Baby Love

Cushion looks incredulously at him. “We don’t insult each other? I just called you a bonehead, and two seconds after Baby walked in here, you told him you don’t know how he has so many fans with that baby face of his.”

“That’s different,” Bass says. “He knows I’m kidding, and I know you are.”

“Kiet’s blinded by love,” Cushion says.

We fall into silence, each of us scrolling through his or her phone.

“Daw posted a picture of her and Kiet on a dinner cruise on her IG. So, at least we know he’s still alive,” Cushion says after a moment.

Bass sits up straight. “Oh, my God!”

“What?” I look up from reading fan comments.

“When did this happen? Look at all the likes!“ Turning his phone around so I can see, Bass shows me a YouTube video of Park and me dancing to ‘Time of My Life’ during the workshop a couple of weeks ago.

“We were just fooling around,” I say, a flutter starting up in my stomach.

Joining us on the couch, Cushion watches the video over my shoulder. “Wow, you remembered the steps! You two look so good. And your castmates are certainly getting into it.”

“Look how many views it has,” Bass says. “This is going viral! Let me see if it’s on Insta or Twitter.”

My face is hot. “I didn’t realize anyone was filming us.”

“You guys look great.” Cushion nudges me in the arm. “And people are going crazy in the comments.”

“The name of your series is trending on YouTube and Twitter!” Bass says excitedly.

Picking up my phone, I text P’Park.

Have you seen the video of us dancing? It’s all over social media and has Heartbeat trending.

“Look at him picking you up,” Cushion says, sinking back into the couch with a sigh. “Do you still have a crush on him, Baby? Because if you don’t, I do.”

My phone pings.

You mean that day at the workshop?

Yeah, someone filmed it.

“Don’t listen to her. The last thing you want to do is get involved with someone you want to have a successful business partnership with,” Bass says in answer to Cushion’s comment about P’Park.

“Oh, shut up, Bass,” Cushion grumbles. “It’s not like Spin doesn’t already know P’Park, and they have to be close in order to sell their ship.”

“Do you want Baby to get hurt?” Bass asks her.

“Of course not, but I do want him to get laid.”

“Cushion!” I sputter. “I’m not going to…do that…with P’Park. Not in real life.”

“Well, you’re headed for your mid-twenties and you’re a virgin. Just saying.”

“And you’re not?” I ask. When Cushion doesn’t say anything, I poke her shoulder with my finger. “Hold on. You’re not a virgin anymore? And you never told us?”

“It happened a long time ago,” she says. “And we’re talking about you, not me.”

I look at Bass. “What about you? Have you ever had sex?”

“Well, yeah. I mean, once I started going to university, I thought I should get with the program, you know?”

---