Follow Me Back (complete first draft of the published book)

Chapter 7: Unreal

Chapter 7: Unreal

Tessa tore her eyes away reluctantly from her new favorite picture of Eric Thorn. Her phone once again displayed the account that first tweeted it. Whoever this Taylor person was, she clearly intended for that image to hurt Eric. Not a fan. Someone with an axe to grind. Maybe a fan he'd passed over in the follow spree this morning?

Tessa's eyes narrowed as she studied the nearly empty profile. Apparently, she wasn't the only one whose curiosity had been piqued. She was interrupted a moment later by another new DM.

Naomi: Do you know a Taylor? Is there a fan I don't know called Taylor?

Tessa wracked her mind, wishing she could come up with a bit of useful gossip to impress the other girl.

Tessa: No, don't know her. Maybe it's not a fan? Maybe it's one of his exes or something!

Her eyes widened as she thought of the possibilities. Eric hadn't had a confirmed girlfriend for as long she'd followed him. Whenever interviewers asked him about his relationship status, he always insisted he was simply too busy to date. But that didn't stop the rumors from flying. Anyone that gorgeous had to be getting some action somewhere. Could it be someone famous? Someone named Taylor. . . .

She began tapping again as a new idea struck her.

Tessa: OMG do you think it could be Taylor Swift?

Naomi: Hahahah NO WAY! ARE U CRAZY!!

Tessa: You never know

Naomi: LMAO kinda doubt Taylor Swift has the photoshop chops

Tessa: You think it's photoshop?

Naomi: Obviously. No way that's real. Fakety fake fake. Still sexy as hell tho!!

***

That should do it, Eric thought with a smirk as his eyes lingered on the tweet he'd just sent. He couldn't wait to see the response.

Minutes rolled by as he waited. "Come on, people," he muttered at his phone. "Retweet it."

Why weren't they retweeting it?

Nothing. Dead silence.

Was it possible no one had seen it yet? Maybe he should he try directing it @ some of the fan accounts. He closed his eyes, straining to dredge up some likely usernames from his memory. They all ran together in his head:

@EricThornFan . . . @EricThornLuv . . . @MrsEricThorn . . . @EricThornifed. . . @ErictHorny . . . @EricThornPorn . . . .

He hesitated. Where to begin? There was that one that Maury wanted him to follow. The one who started the whole Obsessed trend. He'd purposely passed her over during the follow spree, but she might just be the perfect person for his purposes now. Eric quickly tapped in her username to bring up her account: @TessaHeartsEric

His eyebrows rose in surprise at what he saw.

There it was at the top of her recent tweets. A retweet, but not from his account. Somehow she'd retweeted the same picture from a different fan.

Naomi @EricTFan

WHYYY IS THIS SO HOTTT???? #EricThornObsessed

751 retweets 1327 favorites

"What the hell?"

Seriously? Another Obsessed tweet? Did they even look at that picture? He buried his head in his hands.