Page 56 of Me and Mr. Just Right

“This is why you have me!” She closed her eyes and groaned. “This is so cringe, Haydn. I’m dying of secondhand embarrassment right now. We might have to call the whole thing off.”

Haydn was used to Rosie’s theatrics, but since he was already nervous about tonight, her words were putting him on edge more than they usually would. “Why?” He pulled up his own phone to look up some of the comments he’d made. He and Jules thought they were a perfect blend of casual and inconspicuous, while still aiming to get her attention, when they’d written them together last night after the group had split into their hotel rooms—Bennett and Rosie in one, Haydn and Jules in the other.

She let out a short breath, as if grasping for patience. “Tell me. Do you really think she runs her fan pages?”

“No, she has people that do that for her, but we figured they could pass the message along.”

“You and Jules figured that, did you?” She blinked at him a few times, and he felt the sweat building up behind his collar. Jules and Bennett had left to go pick up food while Haydn rested for the big night. But rest was impossible.

Lia’s benefit concert was tonight, and he was going to shoot his shot as soon as it was over. Tickets had been sold out for months, but they’d purchased some online from a reseller for about ten times the normal value. No one had batted an eye at the price, so he tried not to either as he’d pressed the purchase button.

But thinking about attempting to talk to her after the concert—there was a small mix and mingle for people willing to spend enough money to buy another tiny island in Alaska (he was such a person, apparently)—made it impossible to rest or to get comfortable. Why was Nashville so hot? He couldn’tthinkin this heat.

“You and Jules believe she runs sites called AureliaHalifaxBiggestFan05 and ILoveAH4Ever?”

He wouldn’t tell her about the other ten or so he and Jules had posted on. Didn’t seem like the time. “I thought so, yes, but now I’m second-guessing.” Did he sound frustrated? Yes. Did he care? No. He jammed his finger on the lower temperature button for the A/C. He wasn’t paying the electric bill in this place.

Rosie tossed her phone to her side and threw herself back on the bed. “My brothers are idiots. It’s amazing they managed to survive this long without me.” She sat up then and leveled him with a glare. “They’re run by fans, Haydn. Hardcore, name their kids after her, tattoo her name on their chest fans. She has nothing to do with these sites, and I guarantee you she never looks at them.”

“Oh.” Whoops.

“Yeah. And you’re all up in them writing things like …” She lowered her voice. “‘Lia, I wish we could go back and have “a pleasant walk, a pleasant talk, along the briney beach.” Miss you. H.’”

“It’s from ‘The Walrus and the Carpenter.’”

“I know,” she said slowly. “And so does everyone else, because they’ve looked it up. You know what else they know? What H stands for, because you used your own profile to comment. It’s all over social media.”

“Are you serious?” Embarrassment made him feel even hotter. He’d never intended for anyone to see those comments—or think twice about them—other than whoever ran the fan sites. They’d send the personal message to Lia, she’d see it, and she’d know that he was referring to that last day on the beach when she’d told him who she was. That he regretted pushing her away. That he missed her.

“People are tweeting it and subtweeting it and making whole boards about it, and someone even has a dedicated page to it now.” She went silent for a minute as she looked at her phone. “Oh, no. This is bad, so bad.”

He felt himself drain of energy. “Do I even want to know?”

“How many followers did you have on Instagram last week?”

He rarely checked his Instagram, except to add photos maybe once a week. “Maybe five thousand.”

She looked up at him, and by the ill expression on her face, he knew. “You now havetwenty-five thousand. Don’t you get notifications?”

“No. I turned them off years ago.” He stared up at the ceiling. Rosie was right. They might have to call the whole thing off. It looked like he was still using her to get more followers. She would never listen to him now.

He went to his Instagram and closed down his account, but the damage was probably already done. He’d also quit his job withAlaska Ridges Magazine. He didn’t want to have association with anything that could tie any success of his with Lia. He had to prove to her that he would never use her. That he loved her. And maybe she’d look at him like he was crazy. Laugh. Remind him that they were just as summer fling. But he hoped she wouldn’t, and that hope was what had brought him and his siblings this far.

“Wait, what did you do?” Rosie said, sounding frantic. “I can’t access your Instagram anymore.”

“I closed my account.”

“What? You can’t get followers like that again!” Was it possible for Rosie to look any more stressed? “Okay, from this moment on, you are not allowed to make any moves without me.” She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. He remembered her learning how to do meditative breathing after their mom died, to help her with the panic attacks she’d been plagued with for months. “I’m good. Actually, that was the right move, to delete it. I was thinking with my Instagram influencer brain and not my romantic brain. Rookie mistake.”

“I’m sorry, Rosie. I know I’ve botched this, but we’re doing it.”

She nodded forcefully. “Yes, we are. At least she’s going to know what a goober she’s agreeing to be in a relationship with. No unpleasant surprises later.”

“See? There’s the silver lining.”

She held up her finger menacingly. “Don’t push it. No more going rogue. Stick to the plan.”

He held up his hand. “I promise.”

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