Page 61 of Celebrities Don't Date Bookworms

“Can I help you?” I asked.

“Megan,” he said slowly. He didn’t say it like he was trying to get my attention, but rather that he was feeling out how the name felt on his tongue. For some reason, that made me nervous. “That’s a pretty name. Any nicknames?”

I narrowed my eyes. Was he trying to figure anickname for me or something? Did he really think we were close enough for me to agree to that?

“No,” I said coldly.

“None?” he asked. “Not Meg or Maggie or… Eggo?”

I was actually pretty proud of how well I managed to hold back my surprise, even as I felt like my heart was going to leap out of my chest. I took some deep breaths to calm myself down before asking, “Where did you hear that name?”

Hudson leaned forward. “I saw it on the screen.” Okay, so he had seen it on my phone. That didn’t mean anything. I wasn’t sure why he was bringing it up, but whatever the reason, it was better than the alternative would be. But just as I started to calm down, Hudson said the words that made my world come crashing around me: “And more importantly, I’ve been talking to a girl named Eggo for a few weeks.”

I was going to vomit.

“Oh?” I asked. I tried to keep my voice light and breezy. “How strange. I guess it’s a common nickname.”

“I know I haven’t lived in Canada for that long,” Hudson said, spreading his hands, “but I’ve personally never heard the nickname. Is that just a me thing? Do I need to get out more?”

My hands were shaking so much that I barely felt like I had control over them, but I didn’t let that stop me from reaching for my phone. I barely even noticed what I was doing as I open the call app and pressed onBay’s contact. And I genuinely thought I might pass out when I immediately heard his phone start to ring.

I had not been talking toHudson freaking Shawfor the past few nights. The boy who asked me to share my secrets, who called me love, who thought I was cute… that couldn’t be the same boy who had spilled coffee on me, and asked me to be his guide. It just couldn’t… right?

Even as I thought that, though, the pieces were falling into place in my mind. The fact that he had just moved here. That he lived with four other boys in a mansion. That they were British, and cute, and rich… This was my own fault. Of course, it was him. How had I been so stupid? Bay was Hudson Shaw’s nickname, and I’d known it—hadn’t Grace once told me so? Not to mention that Hudson himself had told me who he was. I hadn’t believed them when they told me they were Take Five... And now I was paying the price for it.

fourteen

“I don’t thinkthis is that big of a deal,” Hudson said calmly. His eyes were following me as I paced back and forth in front of him, tucked away under the bleachers. I’d insisted we move somewhere more private to have this conversation, and this was where we ended up.

I snorted. “Easy for you to say, Mr. Celebrity.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You knew you were talking to a normal girl,” I said. “But me—I thought that I was talking to a normal boy! You told me you were just an average teenager, and now I come to find out that you’re—you’re—” I struggled to find the right word for what I was feeling.

“Hudson Shaw,” he supplied.

“Yeah!” I yelled. I was looking for something a little more insulting, but that would do. “You’re Hudson Shaw. I have been calling Hudson Shaw for the past week!”

“You know, this doesn’t change anything,” Hudson said. “I’m still the guy you’ve been talking to. I’m still Bay.”

“No.” I pressed my thumbs to the bridge of my nose, already feeling a pounding headache to come on. “No, you don’t understand. This changes everything.”

“But why?” He grabbed my arm, forcing me to stop pacing and face him. I did so, but still avoided looking at him. I couldn’t deal with this right now. This wasn’t what I’d meant to happen. “Why does it have to change everything?”

“Because you’re…” I gestured randomly in his direction. “Because you’re you, Hudson! Don’t you get it? You’re famous. And I’m not.”

Hudson’s eyebrows scrunched together as he frowned in confusion. “What does me being famous have to do with anything?”

“What does it have to…” I scoffed, and shook my head. “It justdoes, and if you can’t see why it’s a problem, then I don’t know how to explain it to you.”

“You’re spiraling,” Hudson said. He stood up and put his hands on my shoulders. I hated how comforting the gesture felt. “You just need some time to process this. Once you do, you’ll see that everything is fine.”

“Why aren’t you freaking out about this at all?” I asked. I frowned at him. “Aren’t you even the slightest bit surprised at who I am? ThatEggois also the girl you spilled coffee on and chose as your guide at school?”

Hudson looked a little bit uncomfortable. “To be honest… I’m not really surprised.”

“What?”

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