Beefcakes by Katana Collins

Author:Katana Collins [Collins, Katana]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-03-23T18:30:00+00:00

The first episode was almost over, and I swear my heart had been in my throat for the entire fifty minutes. Even though I was only on screen a total of maybe four minutes so far… I was panicked every time I saw my face, especially when I opened my mouth, on national television. But so far, Elliott, Ash, and Jude had kept their promise. There was no unnecessary drama for drama’s sake. The town was filmed beautifully and shown as a picturesque vacationland, suitable for families. Even that first interview where I had taken the Benadryl, I came off as cute and funny and… sympathetic. If anything, that could help change how the world viewed me after the viral meme.

I was ahead of the other girls in the polls… but only by a small margin.

I chewed the edge of my pinky nail as the commercial ended and the show cut to our date at Greico’s. It was… painful. All of my charm from earlier went right out the window, and I looked weird and shy and kind of snobby, like I wouldn’t talk to Neil. The ticker at the bottom showed my lead in the votes dip, and by the time the two-minute footage was over, my lead in the polls had dropped behind Gretchen by eight percent.

Eight percent wasn’t a terrible drop. I could come back from that… except, there was nothing else. The show only had a few minutes left and there was no more footage. No more dates we had filmed, no more video diaries. That was it. That was my last shot to win people over and I blew it.

My face went hot as the blood rushed to my cheeks. I was going to lose. I was going to lose before Neil and I even had a chance to begin. And then I was going to have to watch him in the remaining episodes with freaking Gretchen. In my town.

I closed my eyes and breathed deep as I felt Neil’s hand brush my shin. “It’s okay,” he whispered up at me. “It’s going to be okay.”

I nodded at him and did my best to smile, but I was pretty sure it came out as a grimace.

Neil was being so sweet. In some ways, it was like old times. He was always so attentive. Everything from bringing me my favorite food to small touches on my arm and back to let me know he was there and thinking about me.

And yet, I couldn’t get the fear out of my head. Would he pack up and leave town again? Even though he claimed he wouldn’t… what’s to stop him from embracing an opportunity should it arise after the show ended?

I wanted to trust him. I wanted to be with him. But in order to do that, I had to let go of these past issues, and I wasn’t sure I could. But you should at least try, a little voice inside me pleaded.

My lungs squeezed as the camera followed me leaving the restaurant and getting into my car.

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