As time ticked on, I tried to keep track of how many celebrities I recognised—more out of curiosity than anything else. However, with the dance floor crowded, and the darkness only lifting in quick bursts with the strobing lights, I ceased caring. A few people came over to say hi to Teddy, but the same challenges that prevented me from searching for celebrities also protected him from the equivalent fuss.
I loved clubs. I'd always loved clubs. In fact, my love of clubs was one of the reasons I'd stopped drinking—especially when I realised I could still enjoy myself without the influence of alcohol.
Something about the combination of near-total darkness, deafening music and flashing lights transported you to a parallel universe where you could pretend rules didn't exist and you could let off steam without being judged. It acted like a bubble, separate from reality. My body absorbed the vibrations of the thumping bass, each beat a shot of some euphoric substance that kept me high enough to forget the other worries in my life.
With every person who joined the dance floor, keeping a safe distance from Teddy proved harder and harder, and eventually it became more effort than it was worth. Instead, I allowed him into my bubble of fantasy, not playing hard to get when his hands slipped around my waist as we danced and allowing him to spin me so my back pressed up against his rock-solid front.
As his arms wound around my stomach, our hips rolling together in sync, I relaxed, riding on the high of music and arousal. Like earlier on at the sofas, perhaps I wouldn't have let the dancing become so intimate if I hadn't watched him with Lacey. But if he could dirty dance with her, despite trying to win me over, then what stopped me from dirty dancing with him if I had no intention of anything more happening?
So, instead of feeling guilty that I might lead him on, I enjoyed the sensation of his firm body unyielding against my back, his large hands strong on my hips, his warm breath tickling my ear and his soft lips grazing my neck whenever I tilted my head against his shoulder.
And when his thumbs eased beneath the floaty fabric of my top to rest on the bare skin of my stomach, pleasure churned in my gut. I ground back into that solid wall of muscle behind me, and it took masses of self-control not to turn and kiss him, not to give in to the growing tension between us.
Because that was the easy option—the one I would usually take in a club when I grew impatient with dancing. But with those other guys, the dancing had never been so hot, perhaps because I'd given in to the temptation to kiss them early on, so the chemistry hadn't reached such a compelling level.
Family-friendly Teddy Stone was giving me a seductive insight—just a peek—into how not family-friendly he could be. Unfortunately for him, I already knew that.
*
"My driver can take you home. It's late."
It was indeed late, and the club had exhausted me. Trying not to throw myself at Teddy all evening had been tiring work.
Although a private car home sounded perfect, I'd been half-expecting him to suggest we go back to his place. Did he know I wouldn't agree to it? Perhaps he didn't want to push his luck. Despite our flirtatious dancing, we'd settled straight into the friend zone again and, not for the first time, it made me wonder if he was playing just as many games as me.
"That's out of your way," I said, handing my ID and ticket to the cloakroom assistant.
"Doesn't matter. I'd rather that than you catch the Tube or a taxi. You probably get all sorts of weirdos at this time of night."
I rolled my eyes. "Like you'd ever know."
"Exactly. So just say yes and I can sleep easy tonight knowing you're safe."
"Fine." I smiled as the lady handed over my jacket through the hatch, then I stepped aside as Teddy collected his.
Becca and Gabby had each messaged me at points during the evening to check up. Maybe they thought they might get different answers. It had kept me on track, almost as much as the image of Lacey grinding against Teddy had. I sent a WhatsApp on our group chat to tell them I was leaving and should be home soon. It would settle Becca's nerves.
Stepping out of the club and straight into a waiting car was much better than hanging around for an Uber or trekking to the nearest Tube station. Teddy and I barely spoke during the journey to my flat; I fought to stay awake, and he gazed out of the window, his elbow propped against the glass to rest his head in his hand.
I wished I could read his mind.
Ten minutes later, his phone pinged. I glimpsed the name on the screen before he locked it and turned it facedown between us.
LH
Fantastic. Just friends or not, they couldn't fake that chemistry on stage. Not for such a spontaneous performance with no rehearsal. She might be an actor, but he wasn't. Or was he? Lots of singers had acting stints. Fuck, I really did not know the guy.
Closing my eyes, I thought about the article and let the words write themselves before sleep took over.
*
"Soph." A hand squeezed my knee. "We're here."
I blinked, the inside of the car coming into focus, Teddy to the side of me.
"Sorry. Must have fallen asleep."
With a lop-sided grin, Teddy tugged at the handle to his door. "At least you don't snore."
Groaning to myself, I checked I had everything and reached to grab my own handle, only for Teddy to run around the back of the car and beat me to it. He walked me to my flat in much higher spirits than at the beginning of the journey. Maybe he'd opened that text while I'd been sleeping.
"Thanks for tonight," I said when I'd pulled out my key. "It was fun."
"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself. Even if you did end the night being dropped off at your front door by some random singer rather than your favourite actor."
I rolled my eyes but smiled. "Only so you can sleep easy knowing I'm safe."
Returning my smile, Teddy reached for a hug, and for the final time that evening, my body relaxed into the hard contours of his.
"You're right," he said in a low voice down my ear. "I will definitely be thinking of you in bed tonight."
I held onto him for a couple of seconds longer, just enough to regain my composure at his unexpected line, before stepping out of his embrace.
"Night, Teddy."
"Ed."
"Ed," I said, forcing the unfamiliar name from my lips. "Feels weird. I know you as Teddy."
"You don't really know me as Teddy. Not unless you're going to admit this has been one big ruse and you're actually a superfan."
I laughed, even though he was scarily close to the truth with his joke about a ruse.
"Fine. I'll try harder."
He winked. "Night, Soph."
Gabby and Becca had already turned in for the night, which I was secretly thankful for. My body begged for sleep and wouldn't have appreciated a drawn-out debrief. One thing was for sure, though. When I finally made it to bed, it would be Teddy Stone I imagined—not Aaron Holland.
*
I re-wrote the piece nine times, and that was before Becca and Gabby got their hands on it. We'd all agreed that this would only work if I couldn't be linked to the article, and the fact that I knew next to nothing about Teddy Stone only helped to distance me from it.
While I set the scene, describing Teddy and Lacey's raunchy performance, the girls worked together on interspersing niche pieces of knowledge that weren't available online. Gabby's job at the arena granted her access to a lot of places and people that most of us would never get near to. Although she hadn't met Teddy herself, she'd been close enough to the action to know those you had to be there moments.
I might have been the person collecting the information, but we couldn't have done it without Gabby's connections. She had links to journalists who reviewed concerts at the arena. It was one of these journalists who would help us to earn the trust of the biggest gossip sites.
"Do you have any photos of you and Teddy together?" Gabby asked.
"Yes. Only one, though, taken just before we left the club. Aaron Holland took it." I shot the girls a knowing grin, and they simultaneously rolled their eyes, which was a tad hypocritical considering we were only doing this whole charade because of Becca's obsession with a celebrity.
"So it was taken last night?" Gabby pressed on.
"Yep."
"Perfect. Sammie will want to see it. It'll help to give you credibility if there's a non-disputable link between you and Teddy."
"And then what?" I asked.
"Then she'll auction it off to the highest bidder and it gets us an in with that site."
"But how does the highest bidder know it's authentic? Is she going to pass on the photo?"
"No," Gabby said, "but she's got trusted relationships with these sites. That's why she needs to know she can trust you, otherwise it's her reputation on the line."
"What's in it for Sammie?" Becca folded her arms. "Altruism?"
Gabby rose from the kitchen table and strolled over to flick on the kettle. "Nah. I just promised her six months' exclusivity on any backstage gossip."
With a roll of her eyes—she had never been convinced that Gabby saw much backstage gossip—Becca twisted the screen around to me and I scanned over the newly edited article, making sure all the key bits of information were in there.
"Not having second thoughts, are you?" Becca asked when I didn't say anything.
I shook my head and pushed the laptop towards her. "No. Go ahead. The guy is apparently pining after me whilst grinding on Lacey Holland. That's exactly the kind of behaviour that encouraged us to do this, right?"
"Right." Becca offered me a sympathetic smile as she pulled the laptop back to her side of the table.
I didn't want sympathy. I was doing this for a reason. She needed to remind me of that rather than feel sorry for me.
"Ready to press send?" Gabby asked.
"Do it," I said.
No turning back now.
*
Sammie worked quick. A day later, the article went live, spruced up by the site, of course, which only helped to disguise my identity further.
We tracked its engagement on social media, pleased to see how many people retweeted and commented on it. Other sites soon began sharing the same story, and within an hour, it was trending.
"This is insane," I said as I refreshed my Twitter feed.
"Not really," Gabby replied. "We told you they were hot gossip. It's great, Soph. Nice job."
Then something happened that none of us predicted.
Lacey Holland retweeted it.
Lacey Holland
@iamlaceyholland
I'm a lucky girl 😉
My mouth dropped open. She had guts, I'd give her that. And she was clever. Was she confirming the story or messing around? Whatever her reasoning, it went viral. More people shared it, and even more commented. Some tweets were excited and supportive, others not so much.
"People can be vile," I said after reading one particularly nasty tweet about Lacey. "Imagine being a celebrity and having to read this kind of shit about yourself?"
"I'd say most celebrities don't read it," Gabby said.
"Lacey saw the article. She's obviously keeping tabs."
"I think if you saw your name trending, then you'd find out why. Doesn't mean she's reading every comment on it," Becca said.
I nodded and clicked off Twitter for a break, wondering if Teddy ever received this kind of abuse or if Lacey got it worse because she was a woman.
The girls were thrilled that our first article had gone viral, and even I was quite proud of myself for pulling it off, so when Teddy messaged me later that afternoon, it really did feel like the pieces were slotting into place.
Teddy: Don't suppose you've got any writing that can only be done at a penthouse office? Need some sanity around me
"Do you think it's too risky to see him so soon after the article has come out?" I asked the girls. "Maybe he knows it's me?"
"There's no reason he'd think that," Becca said.
"There's every reason," I said. "I'm new in his life and then this comes out? Surely I'm the prime suspect?"
"I get what you're saying," Gabby said. "That's why you should see him, though. Don't give him any other reasons to be suspicious."
She had a point. And maybe it was better to judge first-hand how the story had gone down in case we needed to pull the plug. Gabby and Becca were less risk averse than me, but it wasn't them tied up in this.
Me: I'll be there soon
***
Thank you for reading :) xx