“Okay. Tell me literally everything. Last I knew you basically told him to kick rocks at our reception and now you’re a couple.”

“Yeah, about that.” Amanda rehashed everything from the moment they met again in front of Delightly to the night before when Dru had essentially forced her to defend Sam’s honor and their new relationship. “He’s back from Bali on Sunday, but I can’t wait that long to talk to him. It’s the middle of the night there.”

“And you know for sure Dru did this?” Helene asked as Ignacio came into the room, his light brown skin also a bit darker due to their tropical honeymoon getaway. He greeted them both with kisses on the cheek and then settled in in his silent, supportive observer way that made him both an amazing friend and filmmaker.

“I mean, I don’t think anyone in his family would do this. They aren’t this bored or petty. And Sam would have told me.”

“He would have. He’s not about this life. Not like this,” Helene asserted. “And no one at the ranch?”

“I mean, it’s possible—” Amanda’s phone chimed in her purse. She looked down at it, her eyes springing wide. “That’s Dru’s alert tone.”

“Answer it,” Ignacio said, his voice deadly. Amanda appreciated that he was ready to fight Dru on her behalf. She pulled out her phone and looked at the text message.

See you locked your Instagram. Smart.

I wouldn’t check Twitter if I were you.

A lot of people are wondering the same thing I am. How someone so underwhelming could land Sam Pleasant. Somehow makes him seem less attractive. Weird. Anyway. Thanks for saving me from his horrible taste in literally everything. Byeeeeeeee!

Amanda slid her phone across the table so Helene and Ignacio could read it. She shouldn’t have been shocked by the painful way Dru had just implicated herself, but the dig about her impacting Sam’s appeal had really stung. She could only imagine what people were saying about her and Sam. What they were saying about her. Amanda knew exactly how cruel people could be online, especially over something that shouldn’t matter like someone’s looks. She knew she was beautiful and she loved every inch of her curvy body, but that didn’t matter to avatared masses who’d already decided the types of faces, bodies, and skin tones that were acceptable in certain circles. She knew all kinds of people pictured Sam with someone more like Helene. Hell, someone more like Dru. Not a plus-sized, now unemployed nobody.

“Oh, okay. So she wants to fight. Cool,” Helene said as she handed the phone to her husband.

“I’m trying really hard not to be sick right now. Like, I had this feeling in the back of my mind that Dru was going to be the one to ruin this—”