Page 10 of One Week in Paradise
‘Kind of,’ he says. ‘I have an account. A private account. I don’t really post or use it very much.’
‘Wow.’ I don’t know why this surprises me so much. ‘You know, I assumed you’d be like Dane and have zero social media presence.’
‘I might as well,’ he says with a soft chuckle. ‘Like I said, I don’t really post much.’
‘Can I see?’ I ask. I’m intrigued.
He hesitates for a beat too long.
‘Sorry,’ I say. For a moment, I let myself forget what this was. We’re not friends. Cash doesn’t like me. ‘You don’t have to share it with me if you don’t want to.’
‘No, no. It’s fine,’ he says, pulling out his phone. He launches Instagram and shows me his screen.
The username@CASHMONEY93jumps out at me, and I can’t turn my snort of laughter into a believable cough quickly enough.
‘Cash Money 93?’ I cackle. ‘That is hilarious.’
Cash’s cheeks are slightly redder than before. ‘Yeah. Didn’t think that one through.’
‘You know you can change it, right?’
His eyes widen slightly. ‘Seriously?’
My cackle turns into a full-blown laughing fit. ‘You didn’t know that your username isn’t permanent?’
‘No!’ Cash groans, running a hand down his face. ‘I assumed that it was a permanent kind of thing.’
‘Pretend I never told you,’ I say, still laughing. ‘Never change it. It’s maybe the funniest thing I’ve seen in weeks.’
Cash’s face splits into quite possibly the widest smile I’ve ever seen on him. I don’t know if it’s the way the sun is hitting him or what, but he’s mesmerising to look at in this moment.
‘Then I’ll keep it,’ he says. He meets and holds my gaze. ‘Just for you.’
My heart skips a beat, and I quickly look away. ‘Thanks.’
We spend the next half an hour discussing our plans to meet on Saturday, and I give him a rundown of what to expect when we meet Penelope and the others.
‘Others?’ Cash asks, looking slightly alarmed.
‘There will definitely be some other influencers and their partners coming on the trip,’ I explain.
‘I thought it would be just us,’ he says. For some reason, he looks a little deflated.
‘Very unlikely. There will probably be at least three other couples. The brand has to make sure they get the content they need on this trip. They can’t rely entirely on just us.’
Cash nods. ‘That makes sense.’
‘Just to warn you, the other influencers might seem surprised to see you. My break-up with Ethan was pretty public.’ And that’s putting it nicely.
‘That’s fine. I can handle that.’
I wait to see if he’s going to ask anything about Ethan, but nothing comes. His commitment to not caring about me at all is impressive in a weird, twisted way.
‘I’ll have to introduce you as my new boyfriend,’ I say, tentatively. Cash drops his gaze once again. ‘And they’ll expect us to look the part.’
‘What does that mean?’
I bite my lip. ‘Nothing you wouldn’t be comfortable with. Just play the part as best you can. I’m sure you’ve had plenty of practice.’
