Taylor: What’s up, 23? U like my comma usage?

Jamar: Very much appreciate the comma usage.…

Jamar: I know you had a bad experience going viral a few months ago, but something tells me you’re about to go viral again.

A chill that had nothing to do with the frozen yogurt she just ate raced down Taylor’s spine.

Taylor: Y? What happened?

Jamar: We’ve been outed.

A moment later, the link to a TikTok video appeared. Taylor clicked on it and waited for the video to open in the app. It started with an image of Jamar handing her a pineapple in Whole Foods. Whoever posted the video had added thought bubbles just above their heads. Taylor’s said “best couple ever” and Jamar’s had “couple envy”—as if either of them would ever think those words.

Taylor had to admit she was impressed by the editing, but as the nineteen-second clip played, she realized their covert videographer had followed them around the store, snapping pictures of them in the produce section, the deli, and at the checkout counter. It freaked her out a bit.

Taylor: Oh well. It was only a matter of time. At least I look cute in all the pics. :)

Jamar: Very cute.

Her stomach executed a perfect somersault. Before she could spend a single minute overanalyzing the meaning behind those two words, he followed up with another text she longed to overanalyze.

Jamar: Maybe we need to go on a date that isn’t at the grocery store. Give the public something to really talk about.

It wasn’t as if this was coming out of left field. She was the one who’d written “several pretend dates” in the playbook sitting right there on her countertop. So why did this suddenly feel too much like the real thing?

Taylor: I guess we should.

Jamar: What are you doing today?

Taylor: U mean besides kicking ur ass in the gym?

Jamar:  

Jamar: What are you doing after you’re finished with my ass?

She was smiling so much that her cheeks ached, but she couldn’t stop.

She wrote: this is starting to get dirty. But then she erased it. Maybe it was just her own dirty mind’s interpretation. Instead, she typed: Is this how u talk to all ur girlfriends? Then she erased that too. She meant it as a joke, but what if he didn’t read it that way?

Jamar: What?

Taylor: What?

Jamar: Those dots keep appearing like you’re trying to text, but then they disappear.

Shit. Technology could be a real son of a bitch at times.

Taylor: Yes. Time to take our fake relationship to the next level. Wine and dine me, 23.

Jamar: