Page 40 of Below The Surface
I blink back. My brain doesn’t compute. “Like…romance?” I whisper the word as if it’s taboo.
“Yeah, romance. Date. Fuckobviously.”
“I mean yeah, if you’re romancing me, fucking isdefinitelyhappening.”
“So what do you say?” Dallas leans in close again.
“It’s a weird thing to ask in a stairwell? Why now? Why here?”
Dallas shakes his head and pulls me in again. “You’re chaos, and that’s just what I need right now to shake things up. Do you know how boring my life is? Schedules and plans and social media and trying to keep a perfect face for my audience. You’re a breath of fresh air. And your tight little ass doesn’t hurt. But Kay, you’re fun and I wouldn’t mind being together without our dicks involved.”
I fan my face and exaggerate my expression a bit. “No one has ever said anything so romantic to me.” It’s the truth, though. No one’s ever said they were remotely interested in anything other than getting freaky in the sheets. But I’ve never really given it much thought, either. I have my weekly Friday plans that I absolutely will not change for anyone. Unless, of course, I get bored, but who the hell would get bored with torturing pedos and rapists? Not I. Nope.
“I’m being serious, Kay.” He drags his knuckles down my cheek while keeping eye contact. I can’t take the intensity and when he grazes his thumb across my bottom lip, I nibble it, making him laugh.
“I should have known better. You’re a biter.”
I make chompy noises with my teeth, then give him a real answer, “We’ll give it a trial run until Influencer Con. That’ll giveus almost three weeks to test things out. If you hate me by then, we’ll break things off and go our separate ways.”
“I don’t think I’ll hate you, but that works for me.” There’s that soft smile again.
“Or I’ll get so obsessed with you that I tie you up in the basement and never let you go.” I flip the donut box open again and grab another. “But…”
“Yeah?” Dallas asks when I don’t say anything else.
“Are you ready to lose followers?”
His brow crinkles. “Why would I lose followers?”
I throw my head back and sigh at the same time I stuff the donut in my mouth. “Ifwe’redating. Like…realdating. Out in public and all that, you’ll lose followers for dating a guy. Everyone sees you as this straight-laced straight guy. Parasocial relationships are fucking wild. You’re going to get hate messages for dating me in the open and, honestly, I won’t be hidden.”
“I’dneverask you to hide.”
“But are you ready for the backlash? I’ve always been open about myself because I want people to see me and think if he can be his true self, so can I. My fans will be ecstatic. Well, most of them. Like I said, parasocial relationships are fucking wild and I’m sure there will be plenty that’ll want to rip your eyes out for stealing me away.” I bat my lashes and make a ridiculously sweet face. “So, are you prepared for what happens when openly dating a guy? I’ve snooped. You’ve never openly datedanyonein the entire time you’ve been an influencer. ”
“Neither have you.” He grabs my hand with his free one and kisses my knuckles. “I’m willing to give this a go. I’m willing to make it social media official with a photoshoot and everything when we pass the three-week trial. We can even do it at Influencer Con.”
I grin. “Oh, that could be fun. Run around to all the photo booths together and get cute pics, then share them and tag eachother. And be all cute during the entire con. I could get into this.” I try not to let my face fall. I have a job to do at Influencer Con. Take out mother fucking Charles. Avenge Dorian. But… we can have romance at the same time, right?
11
DALLAS
It’s not a long walk now that we’re on Hayden’s floor and out of the stairwell. Kay’s eating another donut, but there’s still plenty to share with Hayden. I knock on his door and he opens it with a sigh.
“Hey.” He moves out of the way and lets us in.
“Donut?” Kay offers as he takes the box from my hands. “Dallas is a beast with his fingers and his tongue.” Of course, he licks his fingers as he’s saying this.
Hayden goes red. “Yeah, don’t need to know. And by the way, I’m straight?”
Kay cocks a brow and finishes his last bite. “Is that a question?”
“No?” He looks to me and back at Kay.
Kay just shrugs and moves on. “So show me the rose. Was there a note?”
“Yeah, one sec.” Hayden rushes to his kitchen, then back to the living room. He holds the vase with the single blue rose and its note in a grocery bag. “I touched it and my fingers felt tingly, so I put it in the bag.”
