CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
BREAKING THE INTERNET
ELLE
Now
Rhodesand I drive over to Weston and Sadie’s place. I’d messaged the girls asking if we could meet up as soon as possible, and Rhodes was already in the middle of a group chat with the guys, so when Sadie invited us over, Weston invited the whole crew. Rhodes’ parents were happyto watch Levi. It’s nice that it’s a holiday week; otherwise, I’m not sure we could’ve all pulled this off on such short notice.
My inbox on every social media platform is growing by the minute, and I don't know what to say to any of them. My agent calls while we're on the way to Sadie's and tells me to just sit tight until we can come up with a public statement. I’ll call her when I get home later.
I’m all nerves as we pull into the driveway. When Rhodes stops the SUV, he reaches over and takes my hand.
“It's going to be okay. All of these people love you and they're going to be so excited. I'll be with you—if you want me—when we talk to your parents too. They’ll have to get through me first if they want to say anything negative.”
“I’m so glad you know. I would have beenmortifiedif you'd found out before we had worked through our feelings, but keeping this from you has been so hard.” I grin at him. “And not sharing why I can suddenly pay for things. Last month I made more than I’ve ever made in all my jobs put together…in one month! Granted, I’ve never had jobs that paid great, but still!”
He’s laughing as he opens the door.
“And here I’ve been so worried about your finances and frustrated that you never let me help,” he says.
Weston opens the door and lets us inside.
Caleb runs over and looks around. “Wheh’s Yevi?” he asks.
Levi adores the way Caleb says his name.
“He stayed with his grandparents this time, buddy,” Rhodes says. “You’ll see him soon though, I promise.”
We walk back into the living room, where it’s quiet, when suddenly I’m assaulted with colorful silly string spray coming from every direction.
I gasp and try to duck, but they’re relentless. The girlsare all aiming their bottles at me and laughing their heads off.
“Zoey Archer,” Sadie yells. “How in the world did you keep that from us?”
Tru is bent over, laughing too hard to grab another can fast enough. I run around the room and they chase me with it. Calista and Stephanie are in on it too, and the guys laugh at us from the sidelines.
“Your meetings are more fun than the Single Dad Players,” Penn says. “I think I want to join your group.”
“Not so fast,” Henley says. “You wormed your way into our group. You are not getting out of it that easily.”
“Tell us everything,” Sadie says, coming over to hug me.
She pulls silly string out of my hair and I pull it out of hers. I hug her and then Tru and Stephanie.
“I saw it on TikTok right before I came,” Stephanie says, “and asked Tru if she’d known all along.”
“No idea,” Tru says, pretending to glare at me.
“I didn’t even know until she accidentally emailed me from the wrong account,” Calista says.
“I felt so bad for keeping it a secret from you guys, especially when you were talking about how much you loved the book. First of all, I’m still in shock that it’s been so well received, so to know that it found its way into your bookstore, Calista, and that you all read it…I still can’t get over that! If I could have kept it contained to only you guys knowing forever, I would have.”
“Have you talked to your parents yet?” Calista asks.
“No. I just told Rhodes a little while ago. When you let me know that word had gotten out, I told him, and his parents know now too.”
“What do you think about having a superstar girlfriend, Rhodes?” Calista asks.
