Page 19 of Going Viral for Christmas
“You were a good sport out there,” he offers.
“Thanks,” I manage, voice an octave too high. “You were…tolerable.”
While my lungs fight to breathe, my brain crashes out like someone dumped my hot cider into its wiring.
Who uses tolerable anymore? Literally no one.
I want to crawl into a pile of signed paperbacks and disappear forever.
Soren’s head tilts as if trying to decide whether I’m adorable or unwell.
I’ll save him the trouble. I’m unwell. Very much unwell.
“You know, the crowd ate us up out there.” He moves toward me. I retreat backward. “We make a good team.”
“We…are not a team.” My back hits the wall. “That...that was strategic opposition. Nothing else.”
He’s standing right in front of me now. “Funny how strategy looks a lot like chemistry.”
His gaze dips to my mouth. Before I can reply, my publicist barrels backstage, waving her phone at us. She’s either discovered a new planet or a disaster.
Renata’s not alone. Another woman is with her—tall, severe, and wearing the shade of dark lipstick that means business, and holding a tablet. Both of them are grinning in a way that makes me deeply worried.
“You two?”Renata points at us both. “Viral gold.”
“They’re calling it enemies-to-lovers in real time,” the other womanadds, flipping the screen to show us ShelfSpace flooding with clips. “Bell and The Bladeis trending.”
“I’m sorry,” I say. “Who are you?”
“Camille,” Soren answers, “My manager.”
Camille taps a pen against the tablet. #BellandtheBlade is in bold. In italics. In stitched-on-a-throw-pillow font.
“It’s not just a hashtag,” she says. “It's a generational movement. A siren call to the masses. A viral juggernaut rolling through ShelfSpace with reckless abandon, taking no prisoners.”
Confused, my brow furrows. Soren cranes his neck to look at the chaos on the screen.
“So,” Renata takes over. “We have an idea.”
Soren crosses his arms. “Should I be scared?"
Bracing for the worst, I swallow.
They glance around to ensure nobody’s listening.
Then, in a hushed tone, they say it.
Together.
“Fake. Dating.”
Four
SOREN
Today’s panel fucked me. Rammed me right in the feels. It’s the first time Ava and I have ever sat side by side. Semi-close. Same air. Real words instead of digital daggers.
I spent the entire time cataloging her, watching how her eyes lit up each time she was about to deliver a killing blow. I took every hit willingly. Except the fanservice one.Thatone lodged itself right in my ego.
