Total pages in book: 162
Estimated words: 158872 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 794(@200wpm)___ 635(@250wpm)___ 530(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 158872 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 794(@200wpm)___ 635(@250wpm)___ 530(@300wpm)
My heart’s not in it. “Honestly, I’m really tired.” I touch my forehead. “I think I got sunstroke out in the heat all afternoon.”
Remy cups my cheek and frowns. “You are really red.”
“Juliet already lectured me about sunscreen,” I warn, too tired for a scolding.
He chuckles and pushes me toward the kitchen. “Drink a glass of water, then I’ll let you go upstairs and sleep.”
“Thanks, Dad.” I smirk.
Hydrated, moisturized, and in my pajamas, I finally settle under the covers and stare at my phone. It buzzes in my hand and I drop it, the hard edge smacking my chin.
“Ow, dammit,” I grumble, picking it up and flicking open the message.
G: Congratulations, baby.
Me: I miss you!
G: Miss you too.
I stare and wait but nothing else comes through. I’d give anything to hear Griff’s voice tonight.
Did someone catch him texting on an unapproved phone? From the show, it looks like there are cameras stashed all over the house—even in the bedrooms.
Exhausted and sad, I set the phone down and close my eyes.
I’m finally done with school. I had friends and family there to see me walk the stage. More than some of my classmates had. I’m grateful. I am.
But the one person I needed the most wasn’t there. I know Griff said he was doing this show for our future. That it was what was best for us.
Without him here, alone in the dark stillness of night, I’m finding that harder and harder to believe.
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
Molly
“All right!” Kyla punches her fist in the air. “Let’s watch Griff kick some butt!”
“Woo!” Darcy and Hayden answer.
“Or watch him embarrass himself more thoroughly,” Eraser says in a dry tone.
“Hush,” Ella teases, snuggling close to him on our couch.
Remy glares at the television. “This show is such bullshit.”
I agree but don’t want to criticize Griff. Especially to my brother. Remy’s been livid since the show aired the footage of me. Every week, they’ve flashed my face on the screen at some point—no doubt to remind the audience of Griff’s poor, pathetic teenage girlfriend pining away for him in our small, sheltered, upstate town. They got a lot of mileage making fun of the photo I sent with Griff. He didn’t seem to care what anyone said, though, and left it right on his nightstand. At least that was something.
I understand it’s a television show. I can’t even call it a reality show because so far, nothing that’s aired has anything to do with the real Griff or our relationship.
I miss him so much.
I graduated near the top of my class, but the way this show portrays me, I look like I don’t have two brain cells to rub together. Sweet, naive, virginal, and dumb.
Some of the charming comments I’ve read online scroll through my head. He probably cheats on her all the time. How pathetic. She’s the kind of girl you marry, not fuck. Bet she’s a starfish in the sack. She’s kinda cute but probably dumber than a bag of hair. If it’s not the too-stupid-to-live narrative, other people say I’m probably a whore, sleeping my way through town while Griff’s “working hard” to earn money for us. I can’t win.
Remy's threatened to lock up my phone in the gun safe in his room at night so I don’t stay up until dawn, doom scrolling for shitty comments about myself.
Worse, I know everyone in this room has read that stuff. Even if they don’t believe it, and they’re on my side, I want to claw my way out of my own skin from the humiliation.
I don’t want to watch this week’s episode. But I can’t not watch it, either. And I don’t want to be alone when I do.
I sit on the floor with my back to the couch. Kyla drops down next to me. Hayden sits above me, absently weaving her fingers through my hair. It’s oddly comforting.
“How about a French braid?” Hayden asks in a chipper tone.
As if a different hair style could cheer me up.
“Sure,” I mumble.
Darcy takes up the old love seat, farthest from the television, and scrolls through her phone. I hope she’s not going to read out every crappy thing that gets posted about me again. Remy’s in his usual recliner, but he turns to stare at me for a minute.
“You sure you want to watch this?” he asks. “We can catch it later.” Sounds like he wants to watch the episode first to make sure nothing in it will upset me.
“I’m not a baby.” I pout, negating my words. I hug my knees to my chest and rest my chin on them.
“Stay still,” Hayden murmurs, tugging on my hair.
The opening begins with a recap of the previous episodes. The guy Griff seemed to be friends with who got booted in the second episode flashes on the screen. Griff’s scowl burns into the camera. God, he’s so handsome it hurts to look at him. Voice-overs explain past events. The show’s a mishmash mess. One week it seems to be focused on fighting. Venom spoke rather passionately about his martial arts training during the first episode. The next, it focused on the dramatic introduction of a bunch of ring bunnies to the show. Griff was hyped as “the bad boy trying to stay faithful to a good girl” back home. “Will he resist the tempting Kiki?” was flashed across the screen as she put her claws on his chest.