Page 126 of Booked on You
This makes me laugh.
Millie
Honey, there are pictures of you two on the beach.
Millie
Just text me back as soon as you’ve read this. I just realized how early it was. No need to call before your coffee.
I scroll through the rest and see a few messages from my friend group, to whom I haven’t talked in a few months. The three of us own businesses in town and are around the same age, but lately, life has happened.
“Fuck,” I mutter under my breath. I know this means whatever’s out there is bad enough that people who don’t normally reach out about my life are concerned. I search my name online and wait for the page to load. Each second feels like an hour.
When the results finally appear on the screen, my blood runs cold.
Scarlett Collins: PR Stunt Queen with Famous Artist Ezra Reed?
Ezra Reed in a Fake Relationship with Scarlett Collins
Will Ezra Reed Survive the Wrath of Romance Author Scarlett Collins?
The headlines make me want to throw my phone across the room, but it’s the photos that nearly suffocate me.
We’re walking along the beach, holding hands. And there are photos of us kissing, then of us removing our clothes. That moment should’ve just been ours. In my mind, it is.
In the same article, they’ve posted photos of Scarlett and Jason at red-carpet events. Scarlett looks gorgeous in a designer dress, and the man who tried to break her is holding her tight. The candid shots of them looking so damn happy together make me fucking sick. Somehow, the articles weave together their love story, painting it as the perfect relationship, and showing how badly it ends. They compare me to him, and plant seeds implying that Scarlett is using me to become richer.
Then I see a picture of my mother and Scarlett together, and I think I stop breathing. I click on the link, and it takes me directly to my mother’s Instagram account. It’s a photo of them at that book signing from years ago.
The caption saysWish my son would marry this girl.
The internet loses their shit over the love story they build in their minds.
For a moment, I stare at the photo, unsure how this is possible.
Scarlett was much younger, and this was before her heart was broken. This is hard for me to believe, but then again, none of it surprises me. My mother constantly tried to set me up like this, and it never worked. Or did it? Against my better judgment, I scroll to the comments section. My thumb moves on its own even though I know I shouldn’t look.
She’s using him to fix her image after Jason.
Gold digger. He has way more money, connections, and fame than she ever will.
Poor guy doesn’t even realize he’s just a PR stunt to sell more books. The photo of his mom and her is proof.
Ezra Reed deserves better than some clout-chasing author.
My hands tighten around my phone, and my nostrils flare. Many of these people are also my followers, those who’ve supported my work for years and bought my pieces. They’ve shown up to gallery openings, and they’re tearing apart the woman I’m falling in love with on my mother’s account.
Then I see Jason’s fans in the mix, and it only gets worse.
She did the same thing to Jason, and she’ll do it to you too.
Ezra run! She’s going to use you and throw you away.
Hope he realizes she’s going to tell the world all their secrets when this is over.
She will exaggerate all of your bad qualities.
Victim story coming in one year.
