Page 99 of Patrick

I nod. “Time to face the music.”

“Let’s have coffee first. Anyone back from Pammy’s?”

“Nope. I’ll get the coffee. You chill and put yourself together.”

She obliges, and when I bring two cups of coffee into the bedroom, I close the door behind me in case the roommates return sooner rather than later.

I sit on the side of the bed next to her and hand her a cup. “You know our families are going to find out.”

She nods, and I notice her hand shake, almost spilling the coffee.

“When he finds out, Dad will insist that I can’t see you again or he’ll cut me off.”

I flinch. She looks miserable. “If…” I clear my throat and gather every ounce of courage to tell her what she needs to hear. “If you need to promise you won’t see me⁠—”

“Why would I do that? Trick, I have no intentions⁠—”

“Are you sure? It’s a lot to ask you to give up for…” I still don’t know what I have to give her besides what we have right now.

“It’s what I signed up for. And, anyway, I need to stand on my own two feet. Carmela’s right. He may cut me off financially like he did with her, but he won’t disown me. He’ll come around. Mom will make sure of it.”

I nod. “If we don’t tell them soon, they’ll find out from Vincent.”

“We should be the ones to tell them,” she says.

I nod. “Today. Together.” Because there’s no way I’m letting her face Leo alone, even if I have to take a hit—I mean a literal punch in the nose—knowing I can’t hit back. I stroke my cheekbone where Vincent hit me. It’s sore, but okay. It’s sore, but I’m an expert at ignoring minor dings.

“But we’ll tell my family first. They’ll be easier.” Not by much, but they’ll be easier on her for sure.

Fifi nods. “In the meantime, we should probably check social media.”

It’s my turn to nod.

She swallows hard before turning on her phone. It lights up with a clamor, and I watch her scroll in silence for a full minute.

Then she shakes her head and tosses the phone aside. “It’s crazy. You’re trending.”

“Is that a bad thing?”

She shakes her head and smiles. “No. Not anymore, now that we’re not hiding our relationship. The media-verse has decided Vincent is the bad guy. Most of them.”

“That’s something. Not sure what coach or the UNH administration will think.”

“You’re not worried, are you? The fight wasn’t your fault.”

“Maybe we can get out ahead of it.” It’s not like I have anything to lose, and I might get some positives from leaning into it while I’m trending. “So according to Dart—you remember him?—the bigger my following on social media, the more money my NIL deals will be worth.”

Fifi sits up straighter. “What do you have in mind?”

I lie on the bed in sweats and a t-shirt, unshaven and my hair messy while Fifi sets up my phone on a tripod.

“You might want to lose the shirt for the video. I hear shirtless will maximize views and follows.”

I laugh. “You’re not above pandering to the masses by using my sex appeal, I see? I should feel like I’m being used.”

She arches a brow. “Do you?”

“No. I should have thought of it myself.” I lift the shirt over my head and toss it. “We need this to work because we need the money, sweet lips.” I feel responsible for the possibility that she might be cut off financially.