Page 29 of Hot Hearts
A slight reddish-tinge appears on Dylan’s cheeks. “They liked the alliteration, I guess.”
The girls laugh, but the guys groan.
“Dylan is always trying to steal the spotlight from us,” Graham complains. “You pull out the knitting to make us look like losers.”
“Speak for yourself. I’ve won a Super Bowl,” says Kaden. But then he turns to Dylan. “You could dial down the whole ‘I’m an enlightened man who creates clothes with two sticks’ thing.”
“I could, but where would the fun be in that?” Dylan counters.
That draws a laugh from me which, in turn, earns a growl from Brooks.
“I thought you were coming to plan a way to save Slater’s reputation,” he says to the big crowd.
“What about The Plate?” Graham asks.
“It will recover on its own.” He sounds confident as he passes out an extra set of glasses, pitchers of lemonade and iced tea, a carafe of coffee, and a banana and cocoa coffee cake.
The rest of them nod. It’s probably true. Brooks’s food is so good that people won’t be able to stay away.
“Tell us what you have been thinking.” Frankie says.
Nat and Frankie plate the cake up while Brooks and I explain everything that has happened up until now. The cheating story is embarrassing but draws disgusted looks from everyone, which makes me feel better. They’re even more disturbed about the way Felipe made me out to be the cheater. I end with the livestream that exposed Brooks’s violent threat.
“He didn’t mean it,” I say in Brooks’s defense.
“He did,” the three men say in unison.
“I did,” Brooks confirms.
“Brooks thinks that Felipe is stealing empty bottles from the restaurant where he works, that he pretends he’s bought and then he gives reviews of them. And he lives in a fancy condo he can’t afford.”
“The management agent told me Felipe is behind on his payments,” Brooks shares.
Everyone starts giving out ideas on how to expose Felipe. Kaden is chosen as the one who would be able to get Felipe on camera.
“Won’t he be suspicious because you’re friends?” I point to Kaden and Brooks.
Kaden shakes his head. “Brooks doesn’t have social media, and I don’t use it either. I’ve got a PR agency that maintains my Insta account.”
“This plan seems overly complicated.” Graham isn’t a fan.
There’s a small silence that falls in the room because he’s not wrong.
Frankie scrunches her nose. “We’re going about this all wrong. Instead of trying to show Felipe is faking his wine reviews, because let’s face it, that’s boring and won’t redeem your reputation, we need to show that Slater is the victim and you stood up for her.”
“What’s your suggestion?” Brooks leans forward.
“Kaden messages Felipe and asks for a wine recommendation. Felipe will be thrilled to do this. By way of thanks, Kaden invites Felipe for a stadium tour. He also invites Sara. We’ll think of a reason later. The two are in the same place and fireworks.” Frankie touches her fingertips together and then opens her fingers wide as if to mimic something exploding.
“And we’ll get both of them to agree to being recorded ahead of time. Kaden can tell Felipe that the footage will be forwarded to him to share on his socials,” Nat says.
“We will definitely share all this footage on our socials.” Kaden claps his hands together and grins widely.
Brooks and I share a look. Neither of us are convinced about this. “I’d rather cut his belly open,” Brooks says quietly.
I pat his arm. “It’ll be a metaphoric flaying.”
Chapter Eighteen
