Page 27 of The Emerson Effect
Daisy:I’d love to share a pitcher of margaritas with you, someday.
Yeah. You and me both, Daisy. You and me, both.
Me:We will.
Daisy:Can you see the future, now?
Me:I can see a future with you in it.
I cough as my throat clogs. We’re pretending. Playing a part.
And I need to make sure I never forget that.
FIFTEEN
Twila
“Beach day, bitches!”
Joey and I whoop at Raven’s shout as she and Callie make their way to the car. I picked Joey and Dallas up on my way here, and he plugs his ears with a laugh before climbing out of the backseat to join Royal and Linc in Linc’s truck. We’re headed to the harbor for some fun in the sun on this gorgeous Saturday morning.
I just hope the clouds have burned off at the beach by the time we get there.
We barely make it to the freeway before the girls start talking about Emerson and me. I’m shocked they held it in for the first ten minutes of the drive.
“Twila, did you see the video Emerson posted in that unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt? Good lord, have mercy,” Raven says, affecting a southern accent with that last bit.
“I saw it,” I say, fighting to temper my smile.
“It has, like, a gazillion likes and comments,” she goes on, and I lose the battle and grin.
As of this morning, it had over fifty-thousand likes and over half as many comments. A ton of people tagged me, but as of yet, no one has made the connection between his video and mine, which I posted at the same time on Thursday.
“What’s that smile about?” Joey asks, and I look over to see her eyeing me critically.
A quick glance in the rearview mirror proves I have Callie and Raven’s attention, too, so I shrug and say, “I may have told him to post that.”
“You did?” Callie asks.
I nod. “It was another Easter egg. I posted a video at the same exact time, and I was putting––”
“Coconut oil in your hair,” Joey cuts in. “Oh, my God. Coconut shirt and coconut oil. I totally missed it.”
“That’s pretty clever, T,” Raven says, and I see Callie nodding in the mirror.
“So far, no one has made the connection,” I say with a shrug. “But that’s okay. It’ll be good later, after we confirm, if people go back to find all the hints and discover it.”
“Well, whatever the plan was, he lookshot,” Raven says, and I fight to hold on to my smile this time as my stomach twists.
He looks stunning in that video, lip-syncing to a song of desire as he stares longingly at the camera. The colors in his shirt and the dark scruff on his jaw bring out the crystal blue of those eyes and…
Well, I might have watched it more than once.
More than twice.
Alotof times.
The girls’ conversation meanders down another path as Callie recounts her latest prank against Royal at school. I listen with half an ear as that video plays in my mind again. Eventhough I know it was meant for me, for some reason, it felt like it was reallymeantfor me. Like it wasn’t fake.
