Didhe see it, too?
Iremembered what Sebastian had said, about the hashtag—Chally—so I searched for it.There, in the results, were hundreds of pictures of Chad Wilcox and Molly Dyer,best friends and touring buddies. A warmth spread across my chest, as I clickedon one. I couldn’t say when it was taken or where, but I was looking to Kyliewith animated enthusiasm. Chad’s hand was on my waist—guarding, possessing—and when I looked to the expression on hisface, all I saw there was lust, affection, and appreciation. Had it always beenthis obvious?
Iclicked another. In this one, Chad and I were deep in conversation. Our eyesheld each other, oblivious to the crowd surrounding us on all sides, in our ownlittle world.
Another.We stood close, so close any onlooker might think we were about to kiss.Like last night.
Another.He was holding my hand, leading me through a dense crowd. This time, I read thecaption below the picture: “Oh my God,when are they going to announce that they’re together already?! My heart can’ttake it! #chally”
Idamn near choked as I began scrolling through the comments.
“I know, right?!”
“They’re so cute, I can’t stand it.”
“’bffs’ my ass.”
“They’re TOTALLY a thing. I mean, COME. ON.”
“Ship. Them. So. hard.”
Idropped my phone to the mattress and clapped my hands over my face. “Peopleshipus?”I moaned into my palms. God, I hardly knew what that even meant, but I knew ithad something to do with fantasizing about two celebrities hooking up, or wasit dating? Whatever. The fact remained, the world wanted this of us, and ifSebastian knew about the hashtag, who else did?
Ithrew the curtain back on the bunk and hurried down the hall to the sittingarea, where I found Sebastian, Greyson, and Ty all watchingWhen Harry Met Sally.
“Molly!You’re just in time!” Sebastian threw his arms wide. “They’re getting up tothat part where Meg Ryan fakes an—”
“What’sshippingmean?” I interrupted, looking for clarification.
“Oh,boy. She looked,” he muttered, and Ty grimaced.
“Itcomes from the word relationship,”Greyson explained, his voice suggested that he was bored with the question. Asthough I was so rude to interrupt his romantic comedy. “It’s like, when youwant two people or characters to get together. Like you’re rooting for them.”
“Theydo that with …” I pressed a hand to my chest, and the trio of guys nodded. “Oh,my God.”
“Itdoesn’t mean anything,” Ty assured me. “They do that with everything.”
“Buthe has agirlfriend,” I hissed,thrusting my arm toward the end of the hallway.
Sebastianwinced and gently mentioned, “But has anybodyseenthat girlfriend?”
“Weknow she exists,” Ty added pointedly,“but fans don’t. He doesn’t have any pictures of her on his Instagram account,but there sure as hell are tons of pictures ofyou.”
“Fromthetour!” I whispered loudly, my voice strained and shrill.
“Molly.”Ty paused the Blu-ray player and turned to me as Sebastian and Greyson groanedabout their movie being interrupted. “Look. This is life in the spotlight, okay?It’s intrusive, but it is what it is. Once something latches on, it’sreally hardto get it to die an unnatural death. But, sooneror later, they’ll forget about it and move on. For now, though, they’re rootingfor something that may or may not ever happen.”
Sebastianlifted a finger. “Like Jen Aniston and all of her five-hundred pregnancies thetabloids are alwaysgoin’ on about.”
Tyrolled his eyes tiredly and gave me a reassuring, kind smile. “Just ignore it,if you want to. Otherwise, let yourself get a little high on the attention.It’s part of being a star, and that doesn’t have to be a bad thing.”
18
Ridein an Ambulance
CHAD
WITH MYFOREHEADagainst the bathroom door, I listened to Ali prattle on about the things she’dseen on Instagram. The hashtags. The candid shots taken by the media and fans.And I cared about none of it. Icouldn’tcare. It was difficult tobreathe,let alone give a crap about what some random people thought they saw.
