Texas Stars at Night, Rhode Island Lights, Last Stop in Carolina, Lost in Louisiana
Shoot, I just turned it on. I’m behind.
C. Duncan
Dude, check out the cut of that suit. if I were into men, Marcus would totally be my type
Brynn Riley
he gives me serial killer vibes. why is he always smiling like that?
Anika K. Wright
Oh! There’s our girl
Annie Kate
I really like Kendall and Shae. I still don’t get what Marcus sees in Jac.
C. Duncan
lmao don’t talk about Anika’s girl that way!
Anika K. Wright
LISTEN now that her book is selling, people found a list she did a few years ago recommending my book. Us authors got to stick together.
Brynn Riley
jac is always dressed like an evil bitch I love her commitment to aesthetic
C. Duncan
Her book was actually really smart
I read it, so sue me
I maintain not a romance, but romance adjacent. It actually broke my heart that they didn’t end up together, but it also felt really poignant? And the second one followed through on the idea that it was a different choice for every woman or whatever
Brynn Riley
homegirl’s going to be fine after all this. whoever said all publicity was good publicity was probably jac matthis’s publicist
Annie Kate
Shit, sorry, a bunch of messages just loaded!
Is it just me or does Jac seem drunk?
23
Sweet Talk 101
My overnight date with Marcus starts out as a walk-through of Paris that involves quite a bit of ferrying by car. We stop at the Arc de Triomphe, Marcus’s hands placed firmly and warmly on my hips as we look at it together. As soon we’ve had time to aww appropriately, we are taken to the Louvre (but not into the museum itself; Priya said we should get the “vibes” from the Mona Lisa just from walking around outside. None of that footage ever airs anyway). Then we stop over for some wine at an outdoor café (a conveniently placed couple who looks well over seventy drops in for a quick conversation on the secrets on a long-lasting relationship). Even with everything else, the café is the first time I get to imagine what Paris might be like in my real life. Sitting with a coffee, watching mopeds go back and forth, small cars taking the loops of roads with stunning architecture. The Parisians at the café all chain-smoking, drinking wine, and watching us with derision. I try to imagine myself with Henry instead, but seeing him there, just off-camera, watching us in his ratty T-shirt, makes it feel impossible. I’ve noticed throughout the day how much Henry tries not to look at me, knowing what it will do to Marcus’s ego. I hate watching him work.
But then when we’re sitting in the car together, going back to the production hotel so I can change before dinner, I feel Henry’s fingers brush over my exposed back like reassurance.
The dress I have on for dinner is one Rikki left for me, and it feels like both solidarity and betrayal to wear it on the date. It’s midnight blue with a high neck and the back completely cut out (“Business in the front, party in the back,” she’d said with a laugh).
