Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 66511 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 333(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66511 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 333(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
“It’s the number one video on Secret?” Felicia gasped excitedly. All the sorrow she pretended to have vanished into thin air. She gave a happy little giggle before bringing her phone forward, working her thumbs furiously over the screen. “I put it on TikTok too.”
“Is it a real kiss, Chad?” Chloe asked. Ducky couldn’t tell by her tone what she thought of the idea. Chad came to stand directly in front of Ducky, lowering the phone between them where he could see Chloe as the primary caller, but Cate was bent over Chloe’s shoulder. Cate and Chad had always been the two closer siblings.
“Chad, you don’t have to answer that,” Cate called out, bending closer to the screen, reaching for Chloe’s phone. “Is that Ducky with you?”
“What?” Chloe shrieked, moving the phone out of Cate’s reach. Neither of the sisters were now on screen. “He does too have to answer that. I wanna know.” He couldn’t see much except there seemed to be a struggle for the phone. These two accomplished young women were now in a row for the cell phone, reverting to that unique place where siblings fought regardless of the situation.
“No matter what you think, Chad’s allowed to have his privacy,” Cate reprimanded.
“Our brother’s possibly bisexual. It’s kind of important to know,” Chloe countered as if Cate was the dumbest person on the planet.
“It’s none of your business,” Cate said. This time, when she reached for the phone, she managed to pluck it from Chloe’s hand.
Cate darted away, the phone capturing video of the walls, floor, and ceiling before a door slammed, plunging the video into darkness. Chloe’s outrage became muted at the same time as a light came on and Cate’s face reappeared on the screen.
“I’m sorry about her. I tried to call you several times since last night to warn you. The video went viral on Secret and on StreamTrainer’s platform. You were live streamed with you two kissing pretty hot and heavy then leaving together. Dad didn’t see the post until this morning. Somehow Mom and Tristan both knew about you and Ducky before Dad. I think his feelings were hurt.”
As self-focused as Ducky became on this trip, all that faded away as Chad’s usual smile morphed into a deep-set frown. He stayed quiet, waiting for Chad’s reaction. Ava tugged at Felicia’s arm, pulling her off the porch, seeming to understand the privacy they needed.
“I only told Mom a few days before we came to Hawaii.” Chad lifted his sad expression to Ducky. “I talked to her about it when you weren’t talking to me. She’s the one who urged me to come see you at your office that night.”
“I wasn’t purposefully not talking to you,” Ducky said, wanting to provide some sort of comfort, but Chad cut him off.
“I know, but I didn’t tell you that I told her I was into you. That’s how she knows.”
“How does Tristan know and not Dad?” Cate asked. A really good question. “You don’t have to answer. Call Dad. He’s in protection mode. He’s broken his rule on allowing free speech to dictate the news feed on Secret. He’s tried to suppress the video until he could talk to you but the buzz around Ducky’s ad campaign and the way StreamTrainer is going nuts over it all means Dad hasn’t been successful. I guess Ducky’s the one in StreamTrainer to make the decision to mute the post. His brother’s been trying to call him too.”
Well shit. Ducky pushed off the railing, going in search of his phone. The complete technology reprieve of the last twenty or so hours now felt more like a nightmare than the peace it had offered at the time. He went to his bedroom, pushing open the door only to remember he hadn’t been in there since he left last night for the bar. He pivoted around, bumping against Chad’s chest.
“Do you know where my phone is?”
“I’m sorry,” Chad said by way of an answer.
“What’re you sorry for?” Ducky asked, bypassing Chad. Maybe three steps into the living room, the fairytale of minutes ago took a hard, plunging nosedive. “Did you want us to keep this a secret?”
Emotionally, he hadn’t gotten too far into what a relationship with Chad might mean, but he didn’t see himself as willing to be a side piece or a hidden secret.
“No,” Chad said firmly, trailing after him. “I just have daddy issues.”
Ducky let those words bounce around his head before he stopped in the doorway of Chad’s bedroom. Only then did he remember he’d dropped his phone to the floor on the other side of the bed. It had no charge. But that took second place to the reality of Chad’s response. He swiveled around, walking backward to the nightstand, saying, “Your dad’s crazy about you. He only helped us with StreamTrainer because of you.”