Page 60 of Reality With You (Arden Beach #1)

D ylan slipped on a dark pair of jeans and a t-shirt before heading downstairs to answer the door. Lennon decided to hang back so Kelsey wouldn’t know she was there. She wanted to see what she would say without the awareness of an audience.

Lennon quickly squeezed more water from her hair with a towel and threw on her dress, then tiptoed barefoot to the edge of one of the archways overlooking the living room. From there, she could hear the echo of Dylan and Kelsey’s voices perfectly.

“Beautiful home. I looked in this neighborhood but decided it’s a bit too remote for me. I prefer to be in the city where there’s more culture and vibe,” Kelsey remarked.

“I prefer peace and privacy wherever I can get it,” Dylan replied blankly.

Peeking around the corner through the wrought iron railing, she watched Kelsey take a seat on the sofa. Dylan took the armchair adjacent to it, resting his elbows on his knees as if he was ready to spring up and lead her back to the door.

Kelsey, on the other hand, settled in, sitting back and crossing one smooth leg over the other.

The hem of her short sundress snaked upward as she angled her body, exposing the side of her thigh.

She rested an elbow on the arm of the sofa as she placed the other hand on her knee, pushing against the curve of her cleavage through the deep-cut neckline.

Lennon stifled a laugh at how painfully obvious she was, feeling a tad smug knowing none of it was going to work. She sat down on the wood floor, pressing her back against the wall, her side just beyond the edge of the railing so she could duck out of sight if Kelsey happened to look up.

“So. What is it you wanted to ask me?” Dylan asked, clasping his hands together.

“I heard you think your drink was spiked the night of the party,” Kelsey said.

Lennon’s stomach clenched. Why would she come all this way to bring that up?

He nodded, and she blew air through her lips.

“Wow. I’m sure it was an accident, but like, obviously, that doesn’t make it OK.

Especially since that’s going to affect your career when it comes out, right? ”

The tension in Dylan’s jaw carved a shadow across his face as he wrung his hands. “Yeah. Pretty much guarantees my career is over. At least for now.”

“Can’t you be drafted to another team?”

“The league’s making the decision, not the team.”

“What if they didn’t find out about it?”

Dylan released a humorless laugh. “Yeah, I just have to hope they don’t watch reality shows or read the news.”

Lennon furrowed her brow, wondering where Kelsey was going with this. She tilted closer, listening.

“You know my dad’s one of the producers?” Kelsey asked. Lennon’s brows lifted, eyes widening.

What?

“Uh … no. No, I didn’t know that.”

“Huey Donaldson. I’m technically Kelsey McCroy-Donaldson, but I go by McCroy, my mom’s maiden name. I don’t like people knowing I’m a nepo baby. There’s so much prejudice against us. Well, you know.”

Oh, my God.

Lennon’s head swam with all the potential implications of Kelsey being Huey’s daughter. The main being—Lennon was fucked.

“So, what are you saying? You can ask him not to air the footage?” Dylan asked.

“I already did after Avery told me what happened. At the time, I figured you were just shit-faced like the rest of us. I barely even remember anything from that night. But he said no,” Kelsey explained.

Dylan audibly sighed. “Obviously, what happened at the party will probably be one of the most explosive moments of the season. He doesn’t have a good argument for taking it out to tell the rest of the studio, especially when they want to make sure it gets picked up for a second season.

They want to keep the streaming platform happy.

The new owner of Versal is cutting projects left and right.

It doesn’t make sense from a business perspective, y’know?

He said you can clear the air in your confessionals. ”

Dylan slumped back in the chair. “Yeah, no one’s going to believe me without proof. I’m already the party boy in people’s minds. The damage will be done regardless.”

“Which is why I got creative and asked him if he’d be down for something else.”

A beat passed. Dylan said, “I’m listening.”

Kelsey’s lips gently curved. “This is show business. Their goal is to get as many people watching the show and talking about it as possible. They invited you to the cast because people are interested in your story. They want to root for you. You messing up again—or them thinking you’ve messed up—will get people talking for a little bit, but what will get people talking even more, for longer … is a love story.”

“Lennon and I—”

“I’m not talking about you and Lennon. I’m talking about you and me.”

Lennon’s head shot to the side. Was she fucking serious ?

“I’m … not following here,” Dylan said, breathing out another humorless laugh. “You understand there’s nothing between you and me, right?”

“ Obviously ,” Kelsey remarked, as though the question were ridiculous.

As though she hadn’t thrown him in Lennon’s face the night prior.

“If I’d known you were actually drugged and not just drunk, I never would’ve crawled into bed with you.

I was too fucked up that night to know the difference.

Maybe I got a little of whatever you got, too.

” She leaned forward. “I’m talking about a mutually beneficial PR relationship.

We say we’ve been hanging out off-camera and hooked up at the party.

It turned into something real and now we’re together.

There’s your cliffhanger for season two.

It secures us both lead spots, gets you back on the team, and everyone gets what they want. ”

“You want us to pretend we’re in a relationship? How’s that going to help?”

“You rebelling at the party will definitely be explosive, sure, but people love a love triangle even more. It’ll last longer.

They’ll get invested. They’re going to eat up Lennon’s reactions, her jealousy, the so-called beef between us that she’s already laid the groundwork for.

It can go back and forth for a while, all the way into the next season.

Then, down the line, she can give us her blessing, and boom—people will feel sorry for her, you’ve got your career back, I’ve got a boost for mine.

Everyone’s happy. We can quietly break up once it’s no longer beneficial. ”

Dylan went quiet for several seconds. “This is … a lot to take in.”

That was a fucking understatement.

“I get it. I grew up around this stuff, but it must sound a bit crazy to an outsider.”

Dylan uttered a small, clipped laugh. “A bit .” He stood up and began to pace in front of the fireplace.

“This is how the game works, though. You’ve got to learn to play it, or it’ll play you.”

“I don’t know that I want to be a part of a game like that.”

“You already are,” Kelsey said. “You’re a famous baseball star with a major PR problem who went on a reality show.

This is your game. It’s all of ours. Lennon’s, too, if she’s really serious about a music career.

Villains are some of the biggest stars in reality TV and she’s already got the victim thing down to a T.

They’re going to hate her and then fall in love with her, and record labels will be clamoring to give her a deal.

It’s actually going to work out well for her if she sticks with it.

Trust me, I’ve been doing her a favor playing into it. ”

“I don’t think Lennon sees it that way.”

Kelsey shrugged, arching an eyebrow. “She will.”

Dylan stopped, facing her. “You said a love story trumps everything. Why not Lennon, then? That’s why they asked us on the show in the first place. They were hoping we’d get back together.”

Kelsey pulled a doubtful expression. “Honestly … Lennon isn’t going to really help your case. I know how these things work. She’s definitely panning out to be the villain of the show.”

“Lennon isn’t a villain—”

“Right now, she seems like a two-faced, opportunistic gold digger. It’s not a good look.”

“That’s not true,” Dylan shot back, voice sharp. “She’s not like that.”

“It doesn’t matter what the truth is. It’s what the public perceives to be the truth. Like how they’ll perceive you as an entitled nepo baby party boy who’s never going to learn his lesson if the footage airs exactly as it happened.”

“It hasn’t aired yet,” he reminded her. “They can edit this all differently, so Lennon doesn’t come off the way you’re saying—which you pushed her into, by the way—and keep what happened at the party out of it.”

“But then there’s nothing in it for me,” Kelsey stated simply.

And there it was. “I’m the one brokering this deal for you.

Dating a baseball player with your level of fame will catapult me into a whole new level.

I’ll get better acting opportunities and sponsorships.

And look, you getting back with your ex-wife is cute, but it isn’t as interesting as a love triangle.

My dad won’t trade a relapse for a rom-com.

An interesting lie always sells better than a boring truth. ”

Dylan narrowed his eyes, jaw a little slack in disbelief. “You’re so callous and nonchalant about this.”

Kelsey shrugged again. “It’s business.”

“It’s our lives,” he corrected.

“You could say that about any job. We’re all selling pieces of ourselves for something.

” Kelsey lounged back, casually picking at her nails as though she hadn’t stated something profoundly disconcerting.

“You get what you need out of it. I get what I need out of it. It’s a business transaction.

Everyone in showbiz does it. Most of the relationships between celebrities aren’t real. ”

“And what if the truth comes out? A lot of people were there that night.”

“Everyone signs an NDA when filming. They can’t talk about anything that happened on the show without express permission.

They’ll edit it so it looks like we were hooking up and Lennon walked in on us.

The truth will be buried. All the public—and your team—will know is that you went to the party and got laid. End of story.”

Dylan shook his head. “I can’t do that to Lennon.”

“If she really cares about you, she’ll understand,” Kelsey said.

“And if you want to fuck her or anyone else off-camera, go for it. I don’t care what you do behind closed doors.

That’s the beauty of it. We’re only together in the public eye.

Outside of that, we’re totally free to do whatever we want.

Just keep it quiet. NDAs are our best friends. ” She winked.

Dylan went quiet again, a stunned look etched on his face as he processed everything she said.

Kelsey glanced at her phone, then stood. She slung her small bag over her shoulder. “I’ve got to go. Think about it. But don’t take too long—we need to act fast to film some extra scenes before the first season airs.”

Dylan didn’t say anything as he walked her to the door. It wasn’t until it was open that he posed a question to Kelsey. “You said Versal has a new owner. Do you know who it is?”

“Nolan Pierce.”

The air stilled around Lennon—no, evaporated—as if the hall had suddenly turned into a vacuum.

“Apparently, he’s some tech billionaire-genius-entrepreneur-dickhead.

He bought controlling shares in Versal recently and everyone’s scared their show will be on the chopping block.

” Kelsey pulled her keys from her bag. “That’s why we have to make sure ours isn’t.

” After a brief pause, she said, “Call me when you’re ready to discuss the details of my offer. ”

Once she heard the front door shut, Lennon expelled a jagged breath.

What. The. Fuck.