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I started gnawing at my lower lip. “He already updated his social media.”
Harley’s brows shot upward. “He did?”
I nodded. “Yeah. Apparently, he has personal and professional accounts, and while his personal accounts are all set to private, his professional ones are public, and he changed his statuses on all of them to show that he’s in a relationship.”
“Well, he must not have tagged or mentioned you, or else I would have gotten notifications.”
“Yeah, I begged him not to mention me by name,” I told him. “Still, it’s not like it’ll be hard to figure out. I don’t know how those internet people do it, but people be finding out the weirdest things.”
Harley snorted. “You’re not wrong.”
“That’s another reason that I declined his invitation to watch the game with him,” I went on. “The cameras are going to be all over that skybox, and I do not need my face plastered all over the place in connection with The Loyal Five.”
Harley’s eyes narrowed a bit as he grabbed his phone off the coffee table. I watched silently as his fingers flew over his screen. While the game was about to start soon, it was still too early for the good commercials, so we had time.
“’Another one bites the dust, ladies and gentlemen.’” I rolled my eyes as Harley read from whichever article that he pulled up. “’Orion Knight is taken, leaving only two of The Loyal Five up for grabs now. Last year, Raven King got engaged to Esme Daley after a trainwreck of a courtship that had played out in the media. This past December, Sebastian Havoc married Nova Knight, turning their lifelong friendship into a romance of the ages.’” I listened, noting how stupid the media was. “’Next up? Orion Knight has officially announced that he is off the market, and we all know that if it’s social media official, then it’s serious. Who is the mystery woman? Right now, it’s a secret. However, as we all know, nothing stays a secret for long these days.’”
I rolled my eyes. “People are so ridiculous.”
“You do realize that this is going to get out, right?”
“Yeah, I know,” I sighed. “I just…if I can put it off as long as possible, that’d be great.”
“C’mon, Sin,” he chided. “You’re letting your distaste for all things professional basketball taint what could be a great thing.”
“I just don’t want cameras or strangers in my face,” I told him. “That’s not the life I signed up for.”
He arched a brow. “Then be honest with Orion about it and call things off, Sin. That’s not fair to him. If the publicity is a hard limit for you, then he needs to know that.”
I dropped my head back on the couch dramatically. “I know.”
“Isit really a hard limit for you, or are you looking for excuses because you really like the guy, and you’re scared that you do?”
Gotta love a friend that wasn’t afraid to call you out on your bullshit.
I eyed him. “I hate you sometimes.”
“I hate you all during football season,” he retorted. “So, I’d say that we’re even.”
“I just…I just need some breathing room before the public makes it hard to draw in a breath,” I said. “Know what I mean?”
Harley nodded. “I get it,” he replied softly. “It can’t be easy living in the public eye.”
“If I really am Orion’s girlfriend-”
“I’m pretty sure that you are.”
“-then I want to be one that lives in the background,” I went on, ignoring his truth. “I don’t have dreams of being followed on social media or becoming some sort of half-ass influencer entrepreneur.”
“Then let Orion know that,” he suggested. “I’m sure that he’ll understand.”
“Yeah, you’re right.”
“Looks like we both got some grownup conversations that we need to have,” he sighed.
Shaking off the seriousness, I said, “Okay, enough of the heavy. The commercials are going to start.”
“The commercials are the only reason I suffer through watching the game with you,” he huffed.
