Page 39 of Sharing Shadow Secrets (High Five Novella #6)

“ N o way,” Morgan exhales, staring at her laptop, sitting on the couch in our living room.

“What?” I ask, and Gwen looks up from swiping on her phone, curious too.

“Your vampire …” she trails off, turning her laptop toward us.

“He’s gay?” I ask, seeing a photo of him kissing a guy.

“Now I’m going full FBI-mode. I need to know the answer,” Morgan says. “This might be a headphones task … yeah.” She nods to herself and gets up. She refills her whiskey, then picks up her laptop. “Time me. I’ll be presenting my dossier in one hour.”

With that, she shuts her bedroom door. She’s such a nerd, but in moments like this, it truly is the best.

“Remember when she gave us a presentation about why cottage cheese is the next it food?”

“I will never get those forty-five minutes back,” Gwen muses, then looks down at her phone. “Are you going to swipe or what?”

“No.” I lean back on the couch, feeling the urge to text Brandon, but I’ve been drinking. I’m buzzed. So I can’t. Boundaries.

“Want another one?” Gwen asks, leaning to grab the whiskey bottle from the coffee table, pouring herself another drink.

“No, thanks.”

I open TikTok and scroll and scroll until Morgan skips out of her room. “Are you ready?” she asks, casting her laptop to our TV screen.

Gwen and I laugh because for Morgan to be this excited, it must be good.

“Kyle Rathbone. Stage name. Government name: Andrew Thomas.”

“That’s not that juicy. A lot of people trying to be famous have stage names.”

“Well, Andrew Thomas has quite the digital footprint.”

She shows us some photos that look like they were taken around 2010 with the way people are dressed. He has flippy hair and is skinny. Not the chiseled guy he is now.

“He graduated high school in 2009, is thirty-three, and grew up in Elkhorn, Wisconsin. How random. It’s the town next to where I grew up, which is fifteen minutes from Lake Geneva.”

“He told me where he grew up,” I share. “I think that’s why he accepted the gig.”

“He went to Columbia Chicago for college, but I think he dropped out. He and his friends were active on Tumblr, but then he stopped appearing in the photos in 2012. He’s not on LinkedIn, and there is a bit of a gap in his digital footprint, but it looks like he started the Kyle Rathbone persona in 2019.

” Morgan smirks, and I know she’s excited about whatever she’s about to say. “He tried out OnlyFans in 2020 …”

“Please tell me you were able to find some of that content,” Gwen says.

“It’s locked down. If I had more time, I could figure it out,” Morgan says, confident. “Now to answer the most burning question: Does he fuck boys or girls? I think the answer is boys. Sorry, Taylor.”

“Why are you saying sorry?” I giggle.

“Because you think he’s hot.”

I furrow my brows. “Everyone thinks he’s good looking. That’s why he has a million followers.”

“If this man asked you out on a date, would you say no?” she asks, tilting her head.

“You just said he wouldn’t ask me out on a date.”

“Hypothetically.”

“Yes, hypothetically.”

If Brandon were not in the picture, I would absolutely go out on a date with Kyle. Aside from being gorgeous, he’s funny … but he doesn’t like girls.

Thursday, September 18th

I should set expectations with Kyle about what is and is not allowed at High Five.

I’ve never had to have this conversation since Nicholas and the manager Aaron have been my previous models, and they are just the sweetest guys.

I’m actually a little relieved he might not be into girls because the majority of people getting photos will be women.

Taylor

Hey, I’m thinking through how we should do the photo line.

Please ask each person if they want to be bitten, but don’t actually bite them, obvi.

Also, ask if it’s okay for you to touch them.

If they just want to stand next to you in the photo, then do the Keanu Reeves arm thing where you don’t touch them.

Kyle

Verbal consent required. Understood.

Why does that make me laugh?

Taylor

Also, please don’t drink before or during the event.

Kyle

Should I read your pleases in a cute voice or a stern voice?

My eyes go wide reading that.

Taylor

The voice of a nice person who can be scary when they’re mad.

Kyle

I think it would be impossible for you to look scary.

What the fuck is going on? Staring at my phone, I don’t know how to respond. The bubbles appear again.

Kyle

I don’t drink so all good there.

Hmm. My mind goes back to the timeline Morgan presented. I wonder if he had an issue … But plenty of people don’t drink.

I tap the thumbs up reaction and refocus on my day.