I give Trevor a small smile and wave as Bryce shuts me in. They each give a chin jerk, and it’s obvious that Trevor is extremely uncomfortable. Bryce folds into the car and is silent until he gets to the interstate.
“Why does it feel like we just stepped off a time machine and back into high school?”
“Really, it was a legitimate mistake. There are probably a lot of people who heard about the baby but didn’t get the whole story. Even though it’s a big city, it’s still a small community.”
“It was two years ago. Am I ever going to get away from it?”
“I have an idea,” Quinn pipes in. She reaches in my purse and takes out my phone.
“Whatever it is, that look on your face tells me it’s not a good idea.” Her fingers work rapidly as her grin widens.
Then she reaches for her own phone and types quickly.
“Here.” She hands it back. “All of your social media has been updated. You are now officially engaged to Bryce Randolph. Your Instagram also sent a photo of the two of you.”
“Did you caption it?”
“Yep.”
I scroll through my account and squeal when I see what she’s done. She’s taken one of the shots of us at the beach and posted for everyone to see with the title ‘7 years in the making but he’s finally mine’. Then she hash-tagged with #futuremrsrandolph.
“We have to get this down!” I try to remove all tags, but comments keep popping in.
We’re stopped at a red light when Bryce reaches over to take it out of my hand. His lips start to curl then he scrolls down, and his face goes hard.
“Quinn, tell me you didn’t put a fucking picture of Devon in her bikini for hundreds of people to see.”
“Technically, it’s thousands,” she practically sings, knowing he’s about to blow up.
“Get that shit down!”
“Too late. It’s been shared. I mean, we could pull it, but it’s getting the desired effect. Look at all the comments. Besides, thought you’d like the hashtag. That was all for you.”
“I do like it, but what I don’t like is her half-naked body floating over the Internet.”
“I don’t care about that! I care about the fact that she mentioned ‘7 years in the making’. Could I be more embarrassed? People are going to think I’m a loser.” I scowl at my ex-best friend.
“You’re both fucking duds. First of all, Devon, it’s not a secret. Anyone who had eyes could see the way you looked at Bryce. Second of all, Bryce, calm your shit. It’s not like no one’s ever seen her in a bathing suit. Jesus, you two are a fucking mess. You should be thanking me for my brilliant quick thinking.” Her face doesn’t flinch, waiting for me to argue.
I narrow my eyes at her but don’t say anything else. Bryce’s phone starts to ding along with mine as our feeds overload with comments. A text comes through from Nate.
Nate: Did you throw up online? I’m getting fucking bombarded.
Me: Quinn’s handiwork. She tagged you.
Nate: She’s a pain in the ass.
Me: I know.
“Well, regardless of her methods, it worked. Seems both local and college friends now know about us.” I grab Bryce’s hand.
He glares into the rearview mirror at Quinn, but his lips twitch, fighting a grin. She ignores him and plays on her phone. I turn to her, and she gives me a quick glance, winking. Now, I know—she loaded that picture on purpose to get a rise out of him.
God help me.
Chapter 6
I hiccup softly, trying to hold in the sobs clawing up my throat. Immediately, my phone rings, and I look out the small airplane window to see Bryce watching me.