Page 4 of The Last Love Story
“Yes,” I say, then click the button.
And as soon as I do, another notification pops up.
A message. From him. It must have been in my requests.
“Oh mygod.”
“What?” Zoey yells, crawling over the couch to me.
“He sent me a message.”
“Open it!” Trish shrieks.
I quickly go to his profile, double checking it’s not a scam.
No. It’s really him. Which means… Justin Ayers really sentmea message.
Okay, be cool.
Navigating over to my messages, I open them and find severalin a row from Justin.
Justin Ayers: Hey, Jade. This might come off totally random, but I’m reading your Mariano Family series, and I’m… a little obsessed. With your writing. Not trying to be pervy in your inbox, I swear. I just wanted to tell you how amazing it is. I know I’m falling into your world ass backward and there’s a bunch of series I’ll need to catch up on when I finish this one, but once I started, I couldn’t stop. You’ve got me in a chokehold. I just started the seventh book, and I’m just curious how far you are on the eighth?
Justin Ayers: Okay, now I sound creepy again. Let me start over…
Justin Ayers: Hi, Jade. I’ve become a huge fan of your writing, and I know how hard this industry is, so I just wanted to let you know that. I can’t wait to read more.
Justin Ayers: Does your fan club have a president? Because I volunteer as tribute.
Justin Ayers: And now that I’ve thoroughly embarrassed myself, I’m going to go. Feel free to message me back… if this doesn’t make you block me. Okay. Bye.
I blink at my phone in disbelief. That is not what I was expecting.
Trish paws at my leg. “What does it say?”
“He’s reading the Mariano Family series, and he’s loving it.”
Trish squeaks and claps her hands.
“That’s amazing,” Zoey says. “And he should be loving it because that series is incredible. I’m glad I get to read book eight before everyone else,” she teases.
“He asked when it was going to be done… oh my gosh. This is crazy.”
“Maybe you should ask him to narrate it,” Trish says.
“Like I could afford him. And I’m not going to use his love of the series to my advantage. That’s not cool.”
“Fine,” Trish says as I set my phone to the side. “You’re not going to respond to him?”
“Not right now. This is girl time.” Plus, I need to be alone to figure out what to say without the writing and reading devils in my ears. They’d be suggesting I send direct lines from my books.
We’ve definitely had enough wine.
“Let her be,” Zoey says with a laugh.
“As long as we get details,” Trish says.
“You’re nosy,” Zoey says, shoving Trish’s arm.
