Page 34 of The Emerson Effect
She looks back at the tablet in her hand, and I watch her through my phone’s screen. These cute little frown lines pop out between her eyebrows when she reads something negative, and I have the insane urge to smooth them away with my thumb. Then, I’d move that thumb down to her bottom lip to soothe the spot she’s nibbling with her teeth.
She looks up at her own phone, and I jerk my gaze away. I pretend to be reading the comments on my tablet while fervently praying she didn’t catch me staring at her.
If Twila were to figure out I’m starting to crush on her,for real, she might call this whole thing off.
“What’s next?” she asks, and her question gives me the perfect excuse to look at her again.
“I think we wait,” I say. “This video seems to be getting more eyes on it a hell of a lot faster than the others, so someone is bound to make a connection between us, eventually. If it doesn’t happen, I’ll think of something that’s a bit more obvious.”
Meaning, I want to move this “crush” into the mutual stage. I’m fucking ready to get to the “meet in real life” portion of this plan.
But I’m not going to tell Twila that.
“Sounds good,” she says, then clears her throat. “I should probably let you go.”
“Yeah,” I say, cringing when my voice cracks. In a clearer, deeper voice, I try again. “I mean, yeah. I’ve got…things to do.”
“Yeah,” she says, and apparently that’s the word of the hour. “Talk later?”
“Ye––I mean, yes. Of course. Talk soon.”
Twila nods before giving me a little wave through the screen. The call ends, and I take a long, deep breath before blowing it out harshly.
Smooth, Emerson. Real smooth.
“God,” I breathe, dropping the tablet and picking up my phone from the nightstand.
Rolling off the bed, I land on my feet and shove the phone into my pocket. I need something to drink. Or eat. Or both.
Anything to get my mind off that ridiculously viral video, my not-so-fake crush, and the flaring desire I just experienced to touch Twila Greene.
NINETEEN
Twila
I can’t stop staring at my phone. I got off the call with Emerson a while ago, but I’ve continued watching the comments pour in, one after another. I ignore the negative ones that proclaim no one gives a shit, because, well, they’re inevitable. People like to spread hate and negativity on every social platform, not just BingBang. Cackle is way worse, which is why I tend to steer clear of it for the most part. I don’t know why Joey loves it so much.
But, hey, she found love with her Cackle nemesis, so maybe it’s notallbad.
More comments roll in, and most of them are positive. Demands to know who Emerson’s crush is. Wishes that it was themselves. Crude comments from women about what they’d let Emerson do to them. That’s par for the course on this app, so I ignore them and look for more comments that tag me as their guess.
And then it happens.
He’s crushing on Twila Greene. I’ve thought so since the beginning, and this proves it. Look at her videos. She posted one last week in a dress the same color as Emerson’s shirt, and she used this sound. If we keep looking, I’m sure we’ll find more connections.
Oh, my God.Oh, my God.
Without hesitation, I call Emerson even though we just hung up a twenty minutes ago. He answers the video call with sparkling eyes and a wide smile.
“Did you see it?” I ask by way of a greeting.
“I did,” he says, and he sounds as breathless as I do.
“What should we do now?” I ask, my blood zipping through my veins.
“I don’t know. Maybe wait to see if people respond to her comment?”
I nod erratically. “I could give the comment a like. If the user tells people I did that, it’ll really get the ball rolling on this thing. Are we ready for that?”
