Exes and O's (The Influencer #2)

by Amy Lea

Inspired, I grab my phone. It’s time to do what I do best. Internet stalk.

I’ve always been a bit of an anomaly, finding purpose not through what I do but through my relationships with friends and family.

“You like to talk to everyone, though.” He pauses, letting out a one-syllable laugh. “You’re gonna be the death of me, Chen.”

Womp, womp.

“You were right. I—have feelings for you.” The declaration knocks the wind out of my chest. I tamp down the urge to ask a million questions, letting him continue. “Big feelings. To the point where I don’t even know what to do with myself half the time. I’ve tried to get you out of my head for months, but your stubborn ass just won’t leave.”

“If there’s anyone in this world I want to try for, it’s you,” he whispers.

“I’m going to give this everything I have. I just . . . I might need to take things slow. Slower than you’re used to.”

My heart has now officially broken for the eleventh time. And strangely, I’m stronger than I’ve ever been.

Real life isn’t a ninety-minute movie or a three-hundred-page novel. It takes time to truly understand what someone else needs and how the other person communicates their love.”

“Tara, I’ve had it bad for you for months. You. Are. Everything. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I was scared because I couldn’t stop second-guessing whether you were real and whether you were going to leave too.

I needed to come home and tell you that I want all the things you want. That I’m capable of giving you everything. And I don’t want to go slow, because I can barely breathe when I think about living my life without you. I want to complain while you watch Disney movies. I want to alphabetize your books. I want to read with you at night. I want to tolerate your mess. I want . . .” He lets out a weak half laugh. “I want a family. One day. I want to do literally anything as long as it means being with you, because I am so in love with you, I don’t know what to do with myself.”

“I’m sorry. I’m not used to declarations of love like this.” “The fact that no one has realized how amazing you are is just . . . mind-blowing.”

“Trevor, you are a million times better than any trope I could ever dream up.”

He’s not just the hero of my dreams. He’s the hero beyond my wildest imagination. The best part? He’s nonfiction.