Page 65 of PR Stunt

I don’t even register the crowd’s reaction because I’m too busy staring at him, willing him to spontaneously combust.

The host practically vibrates with excitement. “o.m.g. I must hear the tea! It’s piping hot!” He leans in, eyes sparkling. “Tell us everything!”

My fingers twitch at my sides, my media-trained smile barely holding. I let out a soft laugh, shaking my head. “Oh, you know how these things go.” I wave a hand, keeping my tone light. “It’s all a blur at this point.”

A blur because it never happened.

The host gasps, clutching his chest. “No. You’re being so modest right now.” He swings to Grayson. “Grayson, spill—how did she make the first move?”

I swear I feel my soul leave my body. I glance at Grayson, already begging him with my eyes not to make this worse.

“She dmed me on Instagram.”

My stomach drops. The host shrieks. The crowd erupts.

I whip my head toward him so fast that I nearly give myself whiplash. Excuse me? Not even something original or creative?

The host is practically bouncing now. “Wait. What did she say? O.M.G. Was it flirty? Tell us everything!”

“Oh, it was flirty.”

The words hang in the air, electrifying the crowd. The host gasps, clutching his chest like this is the most scandalous revelation of the century. The cameras zoom in on my face, searching for my reaction. The crowd erupts, and somewhere in the distance, I swear I hear a shriek of pure, unfiltered fangirl hysteria.

I force a soft laugh, tilting my head to respond.

But the host leans in, grinning like a madman. “C’mon! You can’t leave us hanging like that!”

Grayson glances at me, his eyes wicked and full of revenge, before turning back to the host.

I go still.

“She told me…” He pauses just long enough to be dangerous. “That she wanted to go for a ride on my…”

The crowd leans in.

“…bike.”

The audience gasps, and laughter erupts. I freeze, pulse stuttering. This bastard.

The host screeches, actually clapping his hands. “Oh. My. God. That totally explains those hot photos of you two ripping around Malibu!”

Grayson chuckles, low and easy, as if he’s completely in control of this moment. Fine. I’ll give him that one. The crowd loved it.

The host finally moves on, laughing as he shifts attention to the other competitors. “Alright, folks, you saw it here first—Hollywood’s most captivating couple. But let’s not forget our runners-up! Give it up for Savannah and Kole!”

I seize the opportunity to nod, so ready to be done with this. I turn toward Savannah and Kole, forcing a smile. “Good race,” I say, my voice perfectly even.

Savannah grins, giving me a quick hug. “You killed it out there.”

“Thanks,” I say, somehow managing to keep my tone light, despite the absolute furnace of rage burning inside me.

Grayson, still riding the high of his chaos, clasps Kole’s shoulder. “Hell of a run, man.”

Kole laughs. “I cannot wait to watch that interview back. That was hilarious.”

I shoot Grayson a look. He winks. Oh, I am going to bury him. We wave bye to the other teams. I exhale, keeping my smile in place as we weave through the set, cameras still catching the tail end of our exit. And because the nightmare isn’t quite over yet, we still have to keep our arms around each other.

Crew members clap us on the back as we pass. One of them unclips my mic with a cheery nice work while I’m one deep breath away from unraveling. The second we step up into the trailer and the door clicks shut behind us…I explode.