Page 62 of Sometimes You Stay

“The people who watch my videos, the ones who follow me—they make it possible.”

“How does that work? Who pays you?”

She pursed her lips to the side and stared out the window for a long second. “It’s a little here and a little bit there. It’s kind of confusing.”

“I’m a pretty smart guy.”

“With absolutely zero interest in the workings of social media.”

He shrugged. “All right. That’s a fair point. I’ve never had an interest before. But I’m interested in you.”

Her gaze darted back to him, a questioning eyebrow arching high on her forehead as a smug smile fell across her lips.

Flames licked at his throat, and he tugged at the collar of his Henley, wishing he could undo a button without her noticing. “I mean, I’m interested in learning how you do what you do.”

“Ri-ight,” she singsonged. “Okay. Fine.” She seemed to inspect the ceiling of the truck, her eyes darting back and forth. With a deep breath, she waved one finger. “Almost no one makes a living online with one revenue stream. So, while my one job is making videos, where and how I post them can bring in various opportunities for income.”

He must have looked confused, because she sighed. “The videos I post on YouTube are monetized through ads. YouTube pays me to be able to run ads on my content. And the more my videos are watched, the more I make.”

“How much are your videos watched?”

“On YouTube? My best video has been watched 4.7 million times.”

“Four million people watched you?” He couldn’t hide the disbelief hitching a ride in his tone.

“Not necessarily. It’s not how many people. It’s how many times they watched.”

“All right.” That made sense. Advertising he understood. He’d sponsored an island youth baseball team to get an ad in their program a couple years before. Basically the same thing, with a little smaller audience. “What are the other streams?”

She ticked off a second finger. “Subscribers. Several thousand people pay five dollars a month to get exclusive content from me.”

“Exclusive, like...”

“Like pro packing tips to fit everything you need for a weeklong trip in a carry-on. Like suggested itineraries in various cities—for families, romantic vacations, bachelorette parties, and guys’ getaways.”

“I never thought about that before, but I guess a family trip would look different than a honeymoon trip.”

“For sure. Like, so many people think that Nashville is only for bachelorette parties and honky-tonks. And, yes, there are a lot of those. But there’s also a ton of history in the area to explore and museums and, of course, live music. There are romantic nooks on rooftop bars and speakeasies that take you back a century. Once a month I do an ‘Ask Me Anything’ video where I answer my subscribers’ specific travel-related questions.”

“But not personal questions about you?”

She giggled with a shake of her head. “There’s not much to tell about my personal life. I post most of my life on-screen, and I don’t have time for much behind-the-scenes stuff.”

“Like a romantic situation?” He hadn’t meant to say that out loud. More inside processing that had no business being released.

Still, he held his breath. In the almost two weeks he’d known her, she hadn’t said anything about having a significant other. But that didn’t mean she was single. No matter how much he wanted that to be true.

Pursing her lips to the side, she rolled her eyes at him as though debating if he deserved an answer to his question. Finally, she shook her head. “The onlyromantic situationin my life is helping to plan romantic vacations.”

Her words were a bit of a kick to the gut. Only he couldn’t tell if it was because she’d confirmed she was single or because she didn’t consider theirsituationa romantic one. Not that she should. Nothing had happened. Yet.

“Last year a couple asked me to help them plan an anniversary trip to Middle Tennessee on a budget. So I created a custom itinerary just for them. Cozy hideaways and candlelit restaurants. They sent me a picture of them holding hands on the pedestrian bridge over the Cumberland River, and it was the absolute sweetest.”

As she spoke, her eyes lit up and her voice danced, and Finn had the worst urge to take her on one of those custom romantic trips. To make very good use of every dark corner and moonlit stroll so there was no doubt that there was more than friendship between them.

Gripping the steering wheel a little harder, he cleared his throat. “So, advertising and subscribers and what else?”

Cretia blinked, probably at his sudden change of topic, but continued on. “Sponsorships. Companies pay me to spread the word about their products on my platforms.”

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