My X-Ray Vision Sees Right Through You novel · Chapter 12 of 24

Chapter 12: The Handle

The car window slid down, and Dax Koehler smiled at me through the rain.

"Get in," he said. "You'll catch cold."

"Go to hell."

"I came to be nice."

He held up his phone, screen out, and the glow lit the water on his face.

It was Vott's account, with a new post at the top.

*CATFISH QUEEN: Cecelia Garroway lied to a billionaire for six months. Full story soon.*

Under the post, a ticker was running.

It said I had lost eight hundred thousand followers since lunch.

As I watched, it dropped by another thousand.

"And Brooke Callahan is the new face of your handle," Dax said pleasantly. "She starts posting tonight. I did tell you, Cecelia. Read the contract."

My bare feet were numb in the mud.

"You can't take my name."

"I can post on it. That's what the contract says." He tilted his head. "Homecoming. Eight o'clock, the quad. Stand beside me and smile, and the Catfish Queen clip never airs."

"There's a clip?"

"There's always a clip."

The window slid up.

The black car backed out of the drive with its brake lights glowing, and then I was alone again with the storm.

I sat down on the cabin steps with the blanket around me.

The power came back on while I was sitting there, and the porch light buzzed above my head.

I thought about Laney's flour-covered apron and my mother's tired face, and Clark's back disappearing along the lake road.

I sat there for an hour or more, shivering, with the rain dripping off the eaves, and I did not cry.

Then I heard footsteps on the gravel.

Clark came out of the dark with his hair soaked flat and his gray coat black with water.

He stopped at the bottom of the steps.

I didn't get up.

"I walked to the end of the road," he said. "And back. Twice."

← Chapter 11 · All chapters · Chapter 13 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend