Page 90 of The Emerson Effect
“I made that first video for Twila––you remember, the one with the tuxedo and the margarita––as a joke in response to a not-so-friendly DM she sent me. It doesn’t matter what she said, so don’t ask. I was only teasing her, and when it blew up the way it did, I devised a plan to fake a crush on her. It took some time, but I eventually convinced her to play along, and we set the foundation for an eventual fake relationship.”
The comments blow up with viewers saying things like “I knew it!” and “This can’t be real!” Emerson pauses to take a couple of deep breaths, then continues, his voice cracking with emotion.
“We planned it all. Twila’s reciprocal crush. Our tacks and duos. The trip to Vegas where we were supposed to fall in love. But here’s the part not even Twila knows…I started to fall for her, for real, before we even made that trip.”
Wait. What?
“Every phone conversation we had made me like her more. Every video, every comment, every text message…I was falling in love, and she never knew. I was too scared to tell her. Too scared to mess up our grand plan.”
My tears dry, and I sit up a bit straighter. Is this for real?
“When we got to Vegas, a very nice concierge upgraded us to a two-bedroom suite, and I was ecstatic. The time we spent together in person solidified my feelings, and when we finally kissed, I knew she was the one. We grew close romantically, and even though that quickie wedding was a drunken escapade, I never regretted it for even a second.”
The tears start pouring from my eyes again, and I’m having trouble breathing. My heart is racing, the blood beating against my eardrums, and I don’t know what to do with myself. Should I keep watching? Or go down there and face him?
“I know a lot of you are probably pissed at us right now,” he goes on, “but hopefully you’re still watching because I’m here to say I got caught in the trap of my own making. While pretending to fall in love with Twila Greene, Ireallyfell.”
He pauses for a beat and exhales harshly.
“Twila, I know you’re watching this. I just want you to know…I love you. I want to be with you, and I want to give this marriage a real shot. I’m waiting downstairs. If you want this, too, come down and kiss me in front of all these viewers so they’ll know––and so I’ll know––we’re the real deal.”
The hearts and gifts and comments are rolling in so fast, I can’t keep track, but I don’t really care what the viewers think of our scheme right now. I only care about the end results. Emerson loves me. He wants to be with me. To stay married and spend our lives together.
I’m up and on my feet in a split second. I rush downstairs to find him still sitting on the couch, his phone propped up by a stack of books as he stares at the screen, no doubt reading the comments and waiting for me to respond. I hurry into the room, and his head jerks up, his eyes locking with mine.
I’m smiling and crying at the same time, and his own mouth curves up into a beaming smile as I dart forward and tackle him. He stretches out on the couch beneath me, smiling up at me as Idip my head to press my lips to his. It’s a chaste kiss. His live is still filming us, after all.
When I lift up and grin down at him, he licks his lips and whispers, “I love you, Twila Greene-House.”
“I love you, too,” I whisper back.
We stare at each other, grinning like fools for the longest time, and then we both start to laugh. I climb off him, and he sits up, and we both face his phone.
“She loves me,” he says to the viewers, his voice cracked and his eyes swimming with unshed tears. “She really loves me.”
I nod, sniff loudly, and say, “I do,” before reaching out to end the live.
Then, we kiss, for real this time, and it’s the best kiss in the history of all kisses. It’s filled with desire for each other, excitement for our future, and the knowledge that we both feel the same way.
And maybe, justmaybe, I’ve given tequila a bad rap. I mean, it brought me Emerson, didn’t it?
I’ll never disparage a good margarita again, as long as we both shall live.
EPILOGUE
Emerson
It’s a beautiful day, and everyone Twila and I care about is here. Once we decided not to end our marriage, we planned this end-of-summer pool party to celebrate the new beginning with our friends and family. Twila’s whole crew is here, as are Ritchie, Mason, and Stone. My mom and Kennedy have been here for a few days already, enjoying the last of Kennedy’s break and exploring the area before she starts classes at the University of California in San Diego.
That’s right. I can now afford to send my baby sister to the school of her dreams. She’s going to be a doctor, and I couldn’t possibly be prouder of her than I am now. Plus, Mom is looking at houses in the area so she can be close to both of us.
Twila was able to pay off the debt accrued by her douchebag ex, and even better, we found out he went to jail for fraud after he tried the same scam on another woman and got caught. She somehow had proof it was him, and he’ll be rotting in prison for the next three years.
As for BingBang, Twila and I have officially retired our old accounts. We are now known as “The GreeneHouse Effect,” and our content focuses on our lives as accidental newlyweds who ended up being soulmates. We travel, go on local adventures, and start silly couples’ trends, as well as document our domestic lives. The viewers are obsessed with us, and most of them have forgiven us for the charade that started all of this.
I look around the patio at all of our family and friends, and I’m sure life can’t get any better than this. Well, maybe it can. Twila and I had the “baby” discussion last week, and we both agreed we want children…eventually. Right now, though, we just want to have fun being together before we expand our family.
My gaze stops on Raven, whose arms are crossed over her chest as she frowns down at the cheeseburger on her plate. I look to her left, where Linc sits two chairs down, and he’s staring at her with a thoughtful expression. When his eyes flick my way, and he sees me watching him, he coughs and focuses on his own food. I catch Twila’s eye and nod in their direction. She shrugs and shakes her head. I might need to take Linc out for a beer and figure out what’s going on with him and Raven. The contention between them has gotten worse since the day I first noticed it at the beach.
