Page 17 of Can't Take My Eyes Off You

Six Months Later, December 2020

PDX ROYALSFANS – MEET THE STARS

HELLO,PDX ROYALS! Apparently, giant trust funds are all you need to be considered American royalty, and these four singles fit the bill. This brand new show has captured the heart of reality-television lovers all over the country and has secured four guaranteed seasons of chaos you can’t look away from. With only three episodes airing so far, the show has garnered the highest rankings on the E! since we started keeping up with the Kardashians.

Based in Portland, Oregon, the show follows the lives of siblings Mike and Will Adler along with Finn and Felicity Harper. All bets are off on future storylines as the cast find their way into adulthood – and possible love – while living life off trust funds their parents have rules on and partying at the most elite clubs in the city. Which of the four will grab your heart? Let’s meet our stars!

Finn Harper is the oldest at twenty-seven. As a gourmet food blogger and chef, he is focused on finding the best food in the city while looking for love in all the wrong places. Club bathrooms and fancy cars are the settings for his romantic shenanigans – careful googling that. Finn’s already made quite the name for himself online. Let’s just say that Kardashian sex tape is nothing compared to what we’ve dug up on Lord Finn of PDX.

Next up is self-proclaimed ‘King’ Mikey Adler, twenty-six. As a club promoter-slash-property investor, the ‘big dog on campus’ is on every VIP list in town and sees himself as the show’s star. After all, it’s one of his viral videos that caught the attention of the network to begin with. Swagger and charm are Mikey’s game, and women flock to this stunner – or maybe it’s the way he throws around that black card? Either way, watch out because money and power are the keys to his heart, and if you get in the way, you might find yourself at the mercy of his powerful parents, Jacob and Melinda Adler, who own half the city and protect their eldest son fiercely.

Felicity Harper is the lone princess of the group. At twenty-five, she’s already proved to be quite the fashion and makeup influencer. Felicity’s social media following dwarfs the guys’ many times over. Between clubbing almost nightly, working on her ever-expanding brands and posting to her dedicated social media followers hourly, she wears heart eyes for none other than Willy Adler. The two have a love-hate thing that we can’t wait to see play out.

Speaking of Willy Adler, he’s the youngest of the group at twenty-three and the most mysterious of the four. He hates the ‘prince’ title his brother has given him and seems reluctant to interact with the cast more than necessary. We dug into his background and discovered he graduated from PSU with a masters in business management last year but hasn’t yet put his newly acquired skills to work. Willy’s head appears to be somewhere else, and he drowns his sorrows with many alcoholic beverages. Do I smell a drinking problem on the way? Possibly. We’re here for the drama that will follow this cast twenty-four-seven while filming.

The show airs on E! every Sunday at 9:00p.m. PST. Who will you fall in love with?

* * *

Only three episodes have aired and just like I predicted, it’s an instant hit. His face is everywhere. Online. Social media. Tabloids. I’ve even seen promo billboards on the freeway. I will never get used to seeing him like this.

I throw the tabloid onto the front counter. Why’d they have to go and make him look like the lost-in-life loser of the bunch? How dare they make Felicity look like she has any chance with him, too. Though I am glad they nailed Mike and Finn’s douchey personalities, that only tells me they plan to focus on the two who have the potential for the most drama. Sigh. I have a feeling I’m up for some heartbreaking Sunday nights.

The rules between Will and I still stand. We’ve been broken up for six months now and had one relapse night (not counting the previous ‘freebie’). My phone still blows up with his texts and he tells me everything as it happens – so he says – so I’m not entirely in the dark, but we try to keep our interactions phone-based and not face to face. Too many chances to screw things up.

‘Ooh,’ Olivia says excitedly, approaching the counter where I’m working, her eyes on the magazine. ‘This issoweird! We know famous people! You’ve had sex with a famous person!’

I laugh. ‘Say it a little louder, would ya? I’m not sure Gunner’s reading group heard you.’

Olivia is my assistant manager and life-long best friend. We run To Be Read, the bookstore I fell in love with as a teen. Will, Olivia and I all worked here as teenagers. We’re far more professional now, mostly. She and I each run a section, and things run relatively smoothly.

Liv’s one year older than me and a chronic dater of all the wrong guys. Her natural dark-as-night hair flows down her back in big beach waves I’m jealous of. She’s tall, curvy, wears a lot of eyeliner on her big brown eyes and has the most beautiful dewy light-brown skin. She’s absolutely gorgeous. Her parents met when her mother was on a girls’ vacation in Mexico and claimed it was love at first sight. She swears in Spanish, has perfected the eye roll, and she’s not afraid of anything.

Her specialty within the store is mystery, thriller and crime. She loves a whodunit and is currently attempting to write her own. I’ve read what she has, and I’d buy the hell out of it. She’s a true-crime junkie whose knowledge of how that world works is so extensive I’m sometimes a little scared she might one day be able to carry out the perfect murder. And I’ll be the girl helping dispose of the body.

Originally, To Be Read was Frank’s shop (the owner). But after his last stroke, he retired, and Olivia and I took over. He allowed me to refurb my apartment upstairs and now To Be Read is my happy place. If only everywhere I looked I didn’t see a certain someone who helped design said apartment. I’m dealing. Kind of.

Liv rolls her eyes playfully. ‘I can’t believe they made the cover! But, ugh, why must they all be so picture-perfect?’

‘All their flaws are internal, remember?’

She laughs, nodding her head. ‘While our flaws are visible, and we’re perfect on the inside. Did you read it yet?’

‘Yep.’

‘And?’

‘They made it seem like a love story will be their main focus. One I will not be involved in.’

‘Eh.’ She grimaces. ‘That’s no good. I told you you should have been on camera some.’

I lower my chin, shooting her half a glare as I straighten up the front counter. ‘I’m not competing for him. I broke up with him so he wouldn’t expect me to do exactly that and so my name would stay out of articles—’

‘Exactly like this.’ She finishes my sentence for me. ‘So, you’re just going to continue a digital forbidden love affair when really, you’re madly in love, and fighting this break-up like nothing I’ve ever witnessed?’

‘It’s complicated, Liv. He’s my best friend, but I can’t be his girlfriend through this because I don’t know if I can trust him on the show. I’ve seen exactly three episodes and he’s already broken his record for how much he can drink; the award for stupidity isn’t that far a reach now.’

‘Yeah, yeah, he may as well have a double life. I know, we’ve had this conversation daily since it happened,’ she says like it all annoys her, but really, she asks for those daily updates.

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