Page 48 of It's in the Contract
Mia squeals and does a little happy dance that warms me from head to toe. “YES!”
“I’ll have to check with Suzy and make sure that’s okay,” I say, looking at Caroline. “And you’ll have to be extra careful with her. Mr. Mochi is pregnant.”
Mia’s eyes go enormous, and she interlocks her little fingers together in a prayer. “Mama, Ineeda baby guinea pig!”
“Suzy is planning on giving one away . . .” I say, but then I wonder if I should’ve kept my mouth shut. Caroline might not want another squealing creature in the house.
Caroline smiles at her daughter. “I don’t know, sweetie. Your daddy and I will talk about it.”
Mia takes off down the sidewalk, screaming, “PARK!”
Caroline grabs a tiny puffy coat off the peg. “Mia needs to get out of the house.” She turns and yells, “Mia, COAT!” Caroline hurries after her daughter and closes the front door.
I walk down the entryway and take a right to Zeke’s room. I can hear Zeke moving around behind the door, which is slightly ajar. I peek through the doorway and watch him set up his phone on the film stand and place cushions on the loveseat in front of his TV just so.
I push open the door. “Zeke, I?—”
Zeke turns to me with a huge grin. “Callie! You came!” He sweeps me up in a hug that takes my breath away.
“Sorry,” he says. “I know I squeeze too tight sometimes.” He lets me go.
“No, it’s . . . it’s nice.” I blush. “Thanks for letting me go on your channel today.”
“My pleasure. My followers are going to love it.” Zeke gestures for me to sit on the couch, and I do. I pick up a black game controller.
Zeke takes a seat beside me. “You ready to start?” He looks at me shyly.
“I don’t know . . .” Oh wow. What am I doing? This is so far from my normal weekend activities it’s laughable. Me in some nerdy guy’s bedroom, holding a video game controller, in front of a camera that’s going to go live in a few moments. What is my life coming to?
Zeke uses the remote to turn on the TV, and a blonde elf wearing blue appears on the screen.
“What are we playing?” I ask.
Zeke grins. “I am introducing you to the best video game in the world. It’s in the contract, remember?”
“Oh, yeah. Zeke, I—I don’t know if this is really a good idea. And what . . .” I’m ashamed to admit how much my image matters to me. “What will people think? Will they really like it?”
Zeke meets my eyes, and his are warm and brown. “Does it matter?”
I want to look away, but I can’t. His stare is mesmerizing. “Yes. No. I don’t know.”
He smiles. “Do you want to do this? For you. Not for them.”
I swallow. “Yes.” The word comes out small.
“Say it again.”
“Yes.” I pause. “But I’m nervous. That’s a lot of people watching.”
Zeke scoots closer to me, an almost imperceptible amount. He’s close enough that I can feel the comfortable warmth radiating from his body. “Let me tell you a secret about hosting a channel about video game walk throughs: people don’t come for the games.”
My brows furrow. “They don’t?”
“Maybe at first. But then they get to know you and see your personality, and that’s what keeps them coming back. They want to feel a connection. They want to be genuinely seen.”
“That sounds like a lot of pressure.” I toy with the ends of the sleeves of my fluffy white sweater.
“It’s not, though,” Zeke says. “All you have to do is be yourself.”
