“I did. Elliot comes from money, but he’s not a snobby rich guy or anything.” Most of us had money now. Those of us who started with Cord, moved on to Rinslet, and then bought into AcesPlayed when it became its own company, had stock options and the kind of tenured salary that kept us comfortable.
But Elliot came from old money.
“What about you?” I wasn’t sure what I was asking.
“I don’t have a guest house.”
I laughed. “I mean what about who you are? Where you’re from?”
“Oh.” With her sigh, she seemed to deflate. “Please don’t be offended by this, but I have to be really careful talking about the real details of my life.”
“Yeah. Of course.” I always forgot things like that—personal details were personal. For some reason, her shrug off hurt more than normal.
The conversation died after that. When Elliot rejoined us, I swallowed back athank Loki.
“Well?” I asked.
Elliot was still cradling the dog, but this time he had a blanket. “KingPuppinald is a boy dog. A mutt. And he’s fine except for a little head cold. I need to stop by the pet store on the way home, get him some food, puppy pads, the basics, and then take him home.”
“You’re keeping him?” Fallyn sounded hopeful.
“Like I have a choice?”
Elliot had me hold King while he settled the bill, then we headed to the pet store, filled a cart with everything we could think of, and went back to his house.
There was very little discussion about it. For some reason we’d all assumed we were part of this excursion tonight, and I was here for it.
We set up a sort of pen in the corner of Elliot’s bedroom, with bed, food, and all the essentials for King, and a dog crate went next to it all.
“What are you going to do with him while you’re working?” I asked. “RinCon, long hours… Not the best time for a new dog.”
“You think I didn’t think of that, but I did. I called Mrs. Ria while I was in the exam room, and she’s happy to watch him while I was working.” Of course Elliot had a plan. He always did. Mrs. Ria was his housekeeper, and she’d been with the house most of Elliot’s life. She was more of a mother to him than his own mom. That wasn’t her full name, but it was what Elliot called her, and I was always terrified of butchering her Greek name, so I did the same.
“I hate to interrupt, because the puppy issupercute.” Fallyn sounded hesitant, and snapped her jaw shut when we both looked at her. “I need to do a livestream. Check in. Tell my audience… something.”
I remembered that. “You promised us a big surprise.”
“You watch my show?” Pink spread across her cheeks.
I could almost hear Elliot behind me, rolling his eyes. But I didn’t have a problem with it. “I do. It’s… educational.”
“Thank you for that.” Her laugh was nervous. “And yeah, the surprise is RinCon.”
“Don’t let us stop you.” Elliot waved a dismissive hand. Some of his good cheer had faded.
“Um…” The nervousness radiating from Fallyn was contagious. “Unless you want me to do this someplace that identifies you, I need a neutral background. Neutral furniture. Things like that.
The reminder of who she was definitely put a damper on the evening.
Elliot picked up King further into the house. “Living room, probably. Come on.”
Those were about the only words we said while we set up a space where Fallyn could stream from. She grabbed her suitcase from by the back door, and vanished into a downstairs bathroom tomake herself camera ready.
When she emerged, my breath caught. She’d refreshed her makeup and pulled her hair into braids, which looked super adorable and tugable. The neckline of her top dipped low enough to show off generous cleavage, and the fabric should have been thin enough to show the outlines of a bra, but there wasn’t such an outline.
My mouth was instantly dry. Yes, this was how Fallyn dressed on camera, but seeing her in person this way, knowing this person was attached to the mind I’d been talking to for months…
“Wow.” My exclamation slipped out.