Page 11 of The Emerson Effect
My eyebrows lower as my forehead scrunches. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. How could I get hurt?”
“You like her. We could see it on your face yesterday while you were trying to convince us you were just fucking with her as some kind of inside joke. You’ve had one short message exchange, and now, you’re obsessing,” Mason says, and I’m shaking my head before he even finishes speaking.
“I amnotobsessing.”
“Infatuated, then,” Ritchie says, and I roll my eyes as I heave a sigh.
“You guys are being ridiculous. It was a joke. A joke that had amazing results. I’m not obsessed with Twila. I don’t even know her. But…”
“But what?” Stone asks when my words trail off.
My mind is spinning, so it takes me a few moments to answer. “What if we can capitalize off of this?”
“What do you mean?” Mason asks, and I shake my head slowly.
“I’m not sure, exactly,” I say. “But the views and engagement don’t lie. This is just what I’ve needed to boost myself to the next level. I could put Kennedy through college if this luck continues, and I get some influencer deals.”
Thinking of helping my little sister and, of course, our mom sends excitement rushing through me. Kennedy got some financial aid to attend community college, but she dreams of transferring to a state university. I could make that happen for her.
The guys just stare at me with matching narrowed expressions, but I can’t afford to be cautious right now.
Iliterallycan’t afford it.
I need the money, and the risk is worth the reward here. For both Twila and me.
I’ve kept track of her account. I have to in order to find videos to which I want to react. It’s nothing you’d notice if you weren’t looking for it, but her numbers are slipping. Her reach is down. Her engagement is less than it was this time last year. She may not be struggling yet, but if her account continues on this trajectory, she’s going to have problems.
Maybe we can help each other.
“I’m not sure I like the look on your face right now, brother,” Mason says, and I shake my head to clear it.
“I’m fine. I promise. This is all about work and earning money.”
“Okay,” Ritchie says like he doesn’t actually believe me.
“I’m serious, guys,” I say, looking at each of them. “My heart isn’t involved, and it’s never going to be.”
I honestly love the close relationship we all have and how much these guys care about me, but damn, I’m twenty-six years old. I can handle myself.
I’m not going to fall in love with Twila Greene.
If she agrees to the scheme I’m putting together in my head, and she will, I’m sure of it, it’ll be nothing but a business arrangement. Something that will take us both to the next level.
And I need it. Ineedit to work. For my mom and Kennedy.
I can’t let anything, not even Twila Greene, herself, get in the way of our combined success.
SEVEN
Twila
It’s been well over twenty-four hours since Emerson posted the margarita video, and the furor has not died down. Not a single bit. I’m still being tagged in the comments several times an hour, and I ended up having to turn off my notifications for a while so I could get some work done.
It’s not just about posting content. I also have to engage with others, liking and commenting and sharing so the users and the app, itself, know I’m serious about being part of this community.
Now, I’m reading every comment on Emerson’s video, looking to see if he’s confirmed to anyone that it was me he was toasting in that damn tuxedo. It seems he only responded to a couple dozen of the near-thousand comments, but he kept his replies vague, teasing commenters with no real answers, hearts, and winky-face emojis. He’s being intentionally ambiguous, and the BingBang community is eating it up.
I can’t deny I’ve had an uptick in views on my own videos since he posted, but I’m having a hard time feeling the gratitudeI should be toward Emerson. I need to knowwhyhe did it before I can even consider enjoying the side effects. Was he mocking me? Or was it supposed to be some funny little inside joke just for me that blew up unexpectedly?
