“Your undying friendship.” Ricki laughed at her own joke. “Oh, wait, I already have that, so no need to guess. Besides, it can’t be much more than what you told me twenty minutes ago.”
“You’re so full of it today.”
Ricki just grinned. It eased Blythe’s worries to see Ricki so cheerful. She’d been like a new person this week. Her boss being gone had done wonders for her personality.
“Smartass.” Blythe swiped her app closed. “Hey, we were in such a hurry to hit the road I forgot to tell you I talked to Cyn today.”
“Really?” Ricki shot her a look. “The entire time we loaded the car, you blathered on about your videos.”
“I was waiting until I had your undivided attention. Nothing but you, me, and the open road.”
“God, you’re getting cornier every day. Is that what happens when you become a famous content creator?”
Blythe took a picture of the road in front of them. She turned in her seat and held up her cellphone. “Road trip selfie?” she asked, hoping to catch Ricki off guard.
“No.”
Blythe shrugged and turned in her seat so her back faced the road before she took the picture. “People doubt that you’re real.”
“Good.”
“Let me post this, and then I’ll tell you about Cyn.” She opened her app and pounded out an announcement that she’d soon be with Abby. “Okay, that’s done. About Cyn.”
Ricki listened without interruption, and once Blythe finished, Ricki said, “I’m glad. I like her. I just hope she listens and gets out of it.”
Blythe bristled. “Or just learns to handle it better. Everyone always says walk away, but good comes from it, too.”
“I didn’t—” Ricki started to say.
“We wouldn’t have met Abby if it wasn’t for social media.”
“Whoa, relax. I didn’t say there wasn’t anything good about it. But for some, it’s not healthy. And Cyn may be one of them.”
Ricki was probably right, but Blythe wasn’t ready to concede yet. “This could be good for her. Teach her resiliency. How to stand up for herself. Sometimes it’s healthier to face your demons than run from them.”
“I surrender. It’s not my concern, and I’ve obviously hit a sore spot. We’ve got another hour and a half drive, and I don’t want to spend it arguing, so let’s talk about something more pleasant. How’s Dapper doing?”
Blythe groaned. “Don’t use Dapper and pleasant in the same sentence. Let me check.” Blythe searched Dapper’s page. “Wow, that’s weird. She hasn’t posted anything since yesterday morning.”
“An eternity in a creator’s life,” Ricki said, her voice laced with sarcasm.
“Shut up. Let me check her girlfriend’s page. “Holy fuck. Twelve hours ago, the ex posted a video. She’s crying in the arms of this big burly guy. He’s scowling into the camera like he’s gonna rip someone’s head off.”
Blythe dropped the phone onto her lap and stared at it.
“What’s wrong?” Ricki shifted her gaze from the road but, with the heavy traffic, looked back. “You’re pale.”
“I cannot believe she did that.”
“What?” Ricki’s tone was impatient.
Blythe picked up her phone and watched the video again. “She’s crying on this guy’s shoulder, and at the end, text pops up that says,Grooming is real. Watch out for the LGBTQ+ agenda.”
“Are you kidding me?”
“I wish I was. Hold on.” Blythe scrolled through thousands of comments on the post, reading a sampling. “Looks like the culture war has heated up. This is insane. Let me see what Agnes from Lesbian Street Talk is saying.” Agnes was one of Blythe’s favorite creators and always had a pulse on the community. “It looks like she’s made a video about it.”
“Play it.” Ricki merged into the right lane. “I’ll cruise right here, so I’m not fighting the traffic.”
