Page 18 of Can't Take My Eyes Off You

She flips the tabloid open to the article, holding a single finger in the air – hershut the hell upfinger. Clients approach and Liv scoots down the counter, tabloid and all, never once looking up.

‘Did you find everything you were looking for?’

‘We did,’ one of the young women says, setting half a dozen magazines onto the counter.

I ring them up one by one; each has Will’s gorgeous face staring back at me.PDX Royalsand the cast is the headline on all of them and each one pisses me off a little more. Two years of this won’t be annoying at all.

‘They didn’t even mention you!’ Liv says a little too loudly, startling the woman working the card reader. ‘Can you believe that?! They call themselves paparazzi, and they don’t know you’re in the background doing the star of the show?’

‘Liv…shh.’

She shakes her head. ‘I’m telling you, Berx, you two gotta use one of those free bones over at Will’s place, so the whole world won’t think he’ll eventually fornicate with “Princess” Felicity. Blech, I can’t believe they titled her that.’

‘Wait,’ one of the women in front of me says. ‘You twoknowthem?’ She points at the tabloid in Liv’s hand, her head flipping between us as she awaits our answer.

‘Uh, no?’ I keep my cool while lying, but Olivia doesn’t play along. She nods her head obnoxiously.

‘This one here’s been sleeping with Prince Willy for seven years, ladies. Spread the word. For all we care, Princess Felicity can be locked into a castle tower by an evil dragon.’

Prince Willy. When it was announced that a douchey video of Mike’s smug self was what attracted the network to them – episode one – he named himself King Mikey. You know, because of the show’s title,PDX Royals. Finn was quick to call himself Lord Finn, even applied to become one like Scott Disick did once. Stupid as fuck. But that meant by ridiculous rich-boy rules made up by the king himself, Will needed a title too, and by default of Mike being king, he proclaimed his little brother Prince Willy. A name he’s come to loathe but has developed a party boy personality for in front of the cameras in only three episodes.

‘Liv!’ I bark, lifting my hands palms up when our eyes meet.

‘What?’ She heaves a sigh, turning to the women. ‘Strike that, ladies. William Adler is a jobless liar and probably a future cheater, so trust me when I say you don’t want anything to do with him.’

‘Not better,’ I groan.

‘Maldito!’ Liv exclaims.

‘Forget you heard any of that,’ I tell the women. ‘Wedon’tknow them. We’re fans daydreaming, just like you. Thanks for coming in.’ I hand them their receipt and pray to the tabloid gods that they don’t know a single reporter.

As soon as the doors close, I shoot Olivia a glare. ‘No more public chatter about Will and me,’ I command. ‘I don’t want cameras up my ass or my name floating around in these magazines. God knows what they’ll say.’

‘The attention could be a free advertisement for the shop. Did you ever think of that?’

‘Yes, I did.Notworth it. We’re now known as the most popular bookstore in town because of our skills, not because my legs open like saloon doors for the city’s newest prince.’

She laughs. ‘Like you don’t enjoy it.’

‘We’re broken up,’ I remind her; it’s the only way to keep a leash on my heart. Remind myself we’re broken up. He’s free to date whoever he wants. As am I. And eventually, maybe we will. ‘You’re encouraging me to date, so if you want that to ever happen, I’d stop reminding me of the sex I occasionally have had with Prince Willy. It’s absolutely nothing; we’re just weaning apart.’

‘Seven years is a long time to go cold turkey from – I get it.’

The front door dings open. ‘To Be Read welcomes you!’ Liv and I say in unison. The little greeting Frank developed two decades ago lives on.

I glance over at the customer headed my way, dropping my head dramatically. He’s dressed in disguise, a dark oversized hoodie, the hood pulled over his head masking part of his face, and big sunglasses. The cherry on top is the fake mustache glued to his upper lip. It’s handlebar style so he fits right in with the hipsters around this neighborhood.

‘Speak of the devil and he pops right in!’ Liv says with a beaming smile. ‘How is it? Do they feed you caviar for breakfast and lobster for dessert?’

He laughs. ‘We buy our own groceries and this morning I had leftover Chinese for breakfast. And a mimosa, because I’m classy and my world is so weird Lis serves booze for breakfast.’

Lis. He has a nickname for her. Like the article said, they have a love-hate relationship. When Will’s drunk, which seems to be often, they get along just fine. He won’t touch her with a ten-foot pole but they have some laughs and seem like friends. I have no love for her so I’m just sporting hate in my heart watching it play out. Hate, or jealousy – the line is fine.

‘What are you doing here?’ I ask.

‘Snuck away from the cameras and we weren’t shooting far away so I thought I’d come say hello. I haven’t seen you in person in forever.’

‘Is she as good as you remember?’ Olivia asks.

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