Subscriber Wars: An Enemies-to-Lovers-Romantic Comedy
Page 24
I shake my head. “So I’ve heard. I’m on it.”
Heading outside, I find my mom with her purse and bag. “Hey, sweetie!” My mom wraps me in her arms as my very pregnant sister walks up.
“It took us a million years to get here.”
I shrug. “We like the solitude.” Especially since our new-found fandom. We might like to be on camera most days, but we certainly like our privacy.
My sister rolls her eyes but then kisses me on the cheek as she heads inside.
“Where’s Emmy?” I ask.
Calista nods to Vee’s father who has Emmy’s sleeping body over his shoulder while he grabs the bags his wife is trying to bring in.
“I got it,” I tell him, making my way over and taking the bags from him. He gives me a terse nod of approval.
“You are too sweet!”
I smile at Vee’s mom. If it weren’t for the height and the eyes, they could be twins. She gives me a squeeze. “And you wanted to kill him when he moved our little girl away from us,” she says to Tim, Vee’s dad.
I chuckle and let her go. I’m used to Milah’s ribbing and Vee’s father’s threatening stares. I’ve never done anything to piss him off. Except for the reason he’s here, but he gave me his blessing and that’s the only thing that matters to me. The fact is both of Vee’s parents have been good to me. Actually, Vee’s mom was an integral part of me rebuilding my relationship with my family. She referred me to this great therapist, where my parents join me on occasion, as I work through some of my issues. I don’t have to go very often anymore, but it’s still nice to know I have support when those demons try and worm their way back into my life.
Once all the family is out of their cars, Vee is a gracious host and gives everyone a tour, leaving me and my dad to put away enough groceries to feed a small country.
“I’m proud of you, Son,” he finally says when we get everything unloaded. I know he doesn’t mean he’s proud of me putting away the groceries.
He’s proud of what I’m doing tonight and why they are all here.
To celebrate.
“Come on,” I tell Vee. “I already have your iPad and blanket setup outside.”
She tugs on my hoodie and whispers, “What about our parents?”
I wave her off. “They’re all asleep. Don’t worry about it.” But I am worried about it. This isn’t exactly how I wanted things to go down. But alas, it’s out of my control. I’m just rolling with it.
Pulling Vee down the hall, we slip out the back door and I move one of the patio chairs in front of it, just in case someone decides to come out for a front row seat. We race through the evening air, holding in our laughter, until we get to the dock.
“Oh my gosh. I never thought I would be sneaking out of my own house at twenty-six,” she says through heaving bouts of laughter.
I take her hand and lead her to where we once laid and watched a scary movie on her phone. This time, it isn’t her Uncle Theo’s dock, but ours, and that makes this all the more special.
Vee gets to the blanket first and drops to her knees. “What are we watching? Did you decide?”
I’ve resorted to watching horror movies with her. They aren’t terrible and if I can cop a feel while she watches them… yeah, I definitely don’t mind the nightly movies.
“I thought we could watch The Ring,” I tell her, watching as she shines her phone’s light over to the iPad and stops.
I can just barely make out the quick intake of breath. “Sebastian.”
I kneel on one knee. “Open it.”
She picks the black box off the iPad, setting her phone down so the light shines around her. She hesitates. “I promise nothing is going to jump out at you.”
She grins and then looks at me on one knee and starts crying. “Is this why our families are here?”
I nod. “They were supposed to come tomorrow and celebrate with a dinner. At least Aspen and the guys followed directions.”
“Oh, Sebastian,” she says, crawling over to me and taking my hand. “You are the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
This woman.
“I think I’m supposed to say that,” I correct her.
She grins. “We both wear the pants in this relationship, bro.”
I grab the ring from her playfully and put my finger to my lips. “Shh. For once, just listen.”
She nods and the cool night air around us turns serious. “Valentina Lambros, aka Jacob ‘Tweener’ Whoever. You have the worst singing voice—” she play punches my shoulder, but I don’t stop, “—that I want to listen to for the rest of my life.”
A sob tears through her throat.
“You’re my best friend, my best dude, and the best fake and real girlfriend I could ever want. Marry me and spend the rest of our lives teaching me how to love you as much as you deserve.”
I crack open the little black box and wipe her tears with my thumb.
“Marry me, T? Make me a happy man?”
The woman, who occasionally still puts on that dreaded wig and waits for me to come to bed, pushes up on her knees and takes the ring from the box and slips it on her finger where it will never come off. “Yes,” she cries, kissing me on the mouth. “I’ll marry you, Bash-hole, and sing to you forever and ever.”
I wrap her in my arms and kiss her forehead just as our balcony lights come on, and we hear, “You want me to stab him, Lambros, or do you want to do the honors?”
Curious about Sebastian’s friend, Maverick? Check out my best-selling novel, IOU, and discover the mystery of Maverick’s infamous deck of cards.
Click here to read, IOU.
Want to know more about Aspen and Bennett? How about Vee’s father’s connection to their parents? Click here to read Vee’s father’s story, Interpreter.
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Love Subscriber Wars? Want to read more from me? All of my books are standalone and are free in Kindle Unlimited.
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It’s always a privilege to write to those who read my stories. I don’t take for granted that you have plenty of options to spend your hard-earned money and downtime on. It’s always my goal to give you a story you can fall in love with.
Subscriber Wars had been a plot I’ve had for years, and when I wrote IOU, I knew this was Sebastian’s story. It was wild and ridiculous and oh so fun. I hope you loved it. I hope you got to this page and wished there was one more epilogue or excerpt.
There isn’t, (insert sad face) but I will tell you Aspen and Bennett are next, so make sure you sign up for my newsletter and see when I finally decide to drop this moody boy’s and crazy girl’s book.
If you loved Tweener and Demon Douche, I’d love it if you would leave a review and share your love. Reviews mean the world to me.
Now, to the nitty-gritty of what really happened with the birth of this book.
I honestly didn’t think this book was going to make it to see a publish day. Whether it was a house full of kids (the husband counts too) or being a new homeschool teacher or slumming it braless for four months, I honestly couldn’t get my shit together to make this book turn out the way I wanted. Then in those last few weeks, the story hit me, and I was literally sending my editors new content days before arcs went out.
It was a shitshow, but
hey, at least my boobs were happy, right?
In no particular order, these are my heroes.
Jaime, good freaking heavens, I am so happy I finally got to meet you and hug your ass. Otherwise, I think you might have run screaming after dealing with me throughout this process. Why are you so good to me? Why is Dansby so fine? And why in the fresh hell do we live so far apart? You are my GIRL. Forever. And freaking ever. Thank you for being my shoulder to cry on and reading this book so many times that you could vomit out the words verbatim. You are a genuine soul that I hate sharing with your man. I love you like I love baseball. I’m also looking for you a house across the street. You know, just in case you’re feeling spontaneous.
Rebecca, I bet you think you should have just kept scrolling and have never read IOU. This is what you get when hop on the crazy train with me. Thank you for pushing me to be a better writer and then checking up on me when I completely fell apart and told you to delete everything. I’d like to promise I’ll do better next time, but let’s be honest, it’s not really my thing. All I can promise is to be timely, so we can let the crazy run its course without interrupting our timeline. But thank you for rolling with it and enduring. You indeed are a gem.
Sarah P.! Did I ever tell you that you’re my hero? Thank you for telling me Vee and Bash were shit so I would start over. I’m kidding—nobody sends her hate mail. You totally didn’t say that, but you know I’m crazy, and I took your comments and turned Subscriber Wars into something I could be proud of. Thank you for checking up on me and being so flexible and fast! You are spectacular, and I love you bunches!
Sarah S. Choo Choo! The hot mess train is pulling out, and we are the conductors. Thank you for always sending me the pretties and rolling with my lack of attention to dates and self-promotion. You are the shiz-nit, ma’am! I can’t wait to make more magic together.
Peanut butter, aka Jessica, I can’t remember if I’m jelly or you are. That should tell you how close we are. We’ve merged into that mixed shit in a jar. Thank you for being my external brain and my partner in everything. Without you, I wouldn’t remember even to post that I write books. You make me a better person and a better friend. I think I owe your ass a call now, right?
Autumn, can I just say that I love it when I have these epic meltdowns, and I start texting you saying, “This is garbage and we need to push the release back,” and then you text me with: “Shut up and go to bed.” I live for those texts because you know how to roll with my writing process. Thank you for enduring all my personality quirks and keeping me focused and organized. Another book down and endless more to go!
To my betas, we were a little unorthodox with this one, but I promise that Aspen and Bennett will be back to normal, God willing. Thank you for checking on me and being my sweetest critics and best supporters. I’m honored to call you my crew.
Bex, thank you for always keeping my website looking professional and like I’m a real author. You are the master!
Laura, you my boo and I love that you’re keeping our relationship spicy. Love you forever and I promise I’m stocking up on mint M&M’s to send you as soon as the borders open back up.
Letitia, of RBA designs! I think we can all say you are the cover wizard. You also have the patience of a saint. Thank you for not blocking me and still letting me hop onto your calendar with stupid ideas and crazy drawings. Oh, and also for letting me send you like eight thousand images only to say, Nah. Let’s find someone else. You are my one and only, and I cannot wait to annoy the shit out of you for these next three covers.
Stacey, of Champagne Formats, why are you always so unique and creative and so damn flexible? You bring my work to life, and I will always be eternally grateful for your art.
To the most remarkable reader group ever established: Kristy’s Commanders. You guys inspire me every day and keep me motivated to always give you the best storylines I can dream up. YOU. ARE. THE. REAL. DEAL.
And last, but certainly not least, to you, who’s reading this page. You are the reason I do this. Thank you for reading my words and purchasing this book. I owe you everything.