AllFreeNovel
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“I watch your videos!” the girl says, and she glances back to her mother with excitement.
“Aw, thank you so much!”
I see the way she steals a look at Weston and the confusion that follows. “Is Luca here too? You guys are the best!”
Our viewers are predominately female (well, were), and it was never lost on me that, naturally, Luca tended to be the favorite for obvious reasons. Whenever we bumped into viewers in public, theymeltedwhen talking to him. Always leaned slightly closer to him than me when we took photos. Maybe if Luca were to continue making content on his own, he’d do just fine, whereas I’m pretty sure I’d have to work harder.
Weston’s brows lift with smug curiosity, wondering how exactly I’m going to navigate this conversation. Lie? Come clean? Tell this poor girl that Luca has treated me like a doormat the past month? I avoid his gaze.
“Actually,” I say, tightening my smile, “Luca and I broke up. Ijustclosed down our accounts, so you’re the first person to know. It’s better for both of us.”
The girl’s face falls in horror. “What?”
“Yeah. But thank yousomuch for supporting us.” I don’t let my smile falter, because I’m determined to maintain a positive front. “Who knows, though? Maybe I’ll start my own channel!”
“Please do,” the girl says, but the joy in her voice has faded. Maybe I should have posted an explanation on our accounts before I removed them. Our followers will have no idea what the hell has happened. “I’ll leave you alone now, but do you mind .?.?. Can we?” She smiles sheepishly as she pulls out her phone.
We take a selfie together, and it’s probably my favorite photo I’ve ever taken with one of our followers. We have the Golden Gate Bridge directly behind us and the sun is shining. The girl thanks me several times and skips off to rejoin her parents.
“Does that happen a lot?” Weston asks, and I turn around to look at him. He’s still so unfamiliar with this whole influencer thing that it leaves him fascinated.
“Maybe once a month?” I guess. I tilt my sunglasses back down over my eyes and hold out my hands for him to take. “C’mon. We need nice photos to add to our new Instagrams, becauseyoustill haven’t posted anything yet.”
“Call me camera shy.”
I wiggle my fingers with urgency, and Weston sighs and places his hands in mine. As I pull him to his feet, he doesn’t put up much of a struggle. In fact, he’s smiling. Just a tiny bit.
“Stand right .?.?.” I guide him into position, angling him perfectly in front of the bridge. “ .?.?. Here.” I shuffle back a few steps and pull out my phone, adjusting my settings and squatting down low, much to Weston’s confusion. He for sure takes photos like a millennial. The old point and snap.Boring.
He stands there adorably awkward as though everyone else around us isn’t doing the exact same thing. “What do I do?”
“Nothing.”
“What?”
“It’s acandid,Weston. Be candid.” I take a couple shots, angling him differently in each one, but he still requires instructions. “Just move loosely. Look off to the side. Touch your sunglasses. Stick a hand in your pocket. Just .?.?. act natural.”
He lifts his sunglasses to glare at me. “Are you done?”
“Oooh. The seductive stare. Nice.” I keep snapping photos as he strides toward me, filled with laughter. Is it the sunshine? The fact I erased Luca and mine’s social media accounts? Weston? I’m so damn happy today.
“Show me how it’s done,” Weston says, nudging me forward.
I find a nice spot, flick out my hair, and start alternating between different poses as Weston holds up his phone and tries his best to capture different angles.
“Are you using square mode, though? Youhaveto be in square mode so they’ll definitely fit on Instagram. And you need to—”
“Gracie – respectfully – shut up.”
He takes a few more photos of me before we decide to get moving again. We hop back on our bikes and power our way up the remainder of the hill, finally reaching the south entrance of the bridge. As expected, the breeze is strong and we’re biking into a headwind. I’m glad I wore a sweater, because Weston seems a little chilly in his T-shirt. Cars whizz past, and the sidewalk is bustling with other cyclists, pedestrians and too many dogs on retractable leashes. We’re thousands of feet above the water, and the views are stunning. We pull over again halfway across.
“Worth the burning quads?” Weston asks.
“Definitely.”
We lean against the railing together, our arms touching. Even with the noise of the traffic, it’s peaceful looking out over the water. San Francisco rises on the right, the hills of Sausalito on the left. I had dreams of settling down in a lovely, quaint suburb somewhere in the Midwest with Luca in a few years’ time once we’d kickstarted our careers, but now .?.?. Now I have no idea what my future has in store for me. I don’t know where I’ll be five years from now, but I’m learning to be okay with that. I want to live in the moment, and this right here with Weston, looking out over a city I adore,thisis the moment.
“Thank you.”
