Page 38 of A Shot at Love
I don’t know why I’m repeating myself. Jadea was the one who sent me the link today. It wasn’t like we werePeople’s number one trending story or anything, but in their “What’s New” section, there was a small blurb with the headline “HBO’s Daniel Chan and WNBA player Annie Larger confirm relationship.”
Jadea shakes her head dismissively. “It’s the team. They’ve gotten sort of carried away, and I couldn’t nip it in the bud. And then they talked to marketing and the Arrows social team, and it just got…out of hand.”
“Marketing?” I croak. I’m getting goosebumps as I associate all these words with public speaking and another hellish interview. “What do you mean?”
The words flood out of Jadea. “They’re about to ambush you and Daniel into playing a game of Who Knows Who Better. They want to film it and put it on the team’s social media.”
I almost sag with relief. That doesn’t sound so bad, does it? “What’s wrong with that?” I ask curiously. You’d think Jadea would be jumping for joy—she lives for social media.
She gives me a bewildered look. “I know you two kind of knew each other at Stanford, but I don’t think you’ll be able to fool anyone into thinking you’ve been together forsix months.”
“Oh.” The lies that have swirled around Daniel and me are finally coming back to bite me. I try to reassure Jadea. “We’ve talked a lot this week. I think we can wing it convincingly.” I’ve seen these challenges before on social media and half the fun is when a couple gets an answer wrong and bickers charmingly. We could always lean into that, right?
Jadea’s face grows a bit suspicious. “You’re being very calm about this, Annie.”
I try to sound flippant. “Maybe I’m just getting better at this whole public speaking thing?” She narrows hereyes, but she can hardly disagree without insulting me. I keep my tone cheerful. “I’ll go warn Daniel about the ambush.”
I sidle over to him, and he smiles beautifully when he notices me. I struggle to keep my steps even. “Daniel!” I’m whispering like we’re undercover spies. “We’re about to be attacked.”
He leans towards me conspiratorially, eyes wide. “Where are the troops coming from, General?”
I stifle a snort. “The girls have convinced the Arrows social media team that we need to play a segment of Who Knows Each Other Better.”
Daniel nods gamely, as one who has seen these challenges in every form on social media and YouTube. “Like the newlywed game?”
I keep my expression dead serious. “I believe so.”
When all my teammates come over and explain their grand idea to us, Daniel and I try to act shy and surprised. Truthfully, I’m trying hard not to laugh. They force us into two chairs placed next to each other. Taherah has a stack of notecards so she can read off the questions. Olabisi is holding her phone up, entirely focused on getting our “best light”.
Once again, this fake relationship feels like the best relationship I’ve ever been in. I always imagined Daniel knowing and laughing with my friends, Jadea especially, but I could never explain either group to the other as well as I wanted. Despite my nerves about getting these questions right and acting like a true couple would, I’m also genuinely excited we’re all together. There’s a sortof warmth in my chest that I would not normally associate with being on camera.
Taherah orders everyone around behind the camera. I’m not surprised this is her brainchild. She’s always been the true romantic of the group, and she’s obsessed with game shows. “Social told me they’d put up a title at the beginning to introduce the game,” she tells us earnestly, a smile on her beautiful face. “So, we can just jump right into the questions! You get a point for each question you get right.”
Once she introduces the competitive element, it’s like Daniel and I both immediately sit up straighter. Daniel rubs his hands together gleefully. “You’re dead, Larger. I know you better than anyone.”
I squint at him. “I think you’re overconfident, Chan. We only got back together a few months ago. How well do you know the in between?” It’s a little snarky, but I can’t help it. He’s so confident.
The girls are giggling a bit behind the camera, signaling to me that our sassy interaction is being recorded. I roll my eyes at Daniel’s cutthroat expression and turn to give my attention to Taherah and the camera.
She clears her throat. “First question is easy. Daniel, you’ll answer first. What is your partner’s favorite color?”
His answer is quick and sure. “Hot pink.” My cheeks flush that same lovely color when he looks me in the eye. “Or rainbow, if that’s an option.” He smiles charmingly at the camera.
“Too easy!” I scoff. “My wardrobe is a dead giveaway.”
Taherah’s calm voice cuts through our squabbling. “Annie?”
I state my answer in the same confident manner he did. “Black if we’re talking clothes, green if we’re talking in general.”
Daniel nods slowly, as though pondering the merit of my answer. “Fair enough.”
Taherah reads the next one. “What is your partner’s go-to take-out order? You first, Annie.”
This is an interesting question. I really haven’t seen Daniel order take-out in years. And he lives in New York. His tastes could have changed. I decide to go with my gut, a taste of home. “Saara’s tandoori chicken with basmati rice. Dr. Pepper, extra ice.” I wink at the camera, surprising myself. This is even more fun than I thought it would be. “He loves to chew on it.” I grin victoriously as Daniel nods along.
“A bad habit, I’ll admit,” he says grimly. He then ponders my take-out order, his expression sweeping me up and down. I have something in mind, but he’ll never get it.
My jaw drops when I hear what he says. “Suzy’s Belgian waffles with sliced bananas and Nutella. Cold brew coffee.” It’s my usual cheat day meal from Suzy’s. He joined us there a few days ago, but we didn’t even get around to ordering.
