She bit her lip. The waitress came to take drink orders and tell them about the specials. By the time she was gone, the Spoke’n Four had gone quiet, their heads bent over Ted’s phone. “Is that him?” she heard Ted rumble as Lou and Sue both shushed him, and Ed pulled his reading glasses out of his breast pocket.
“What?” Eileen asked, leaning toward them. “What’s going on?”
Sue beckoned to Abby. “Is this our Sebastian?” she whispered, and showed Abby her phone. Abby braced for the same TikTok Lizzie had sent her. She saw the by-now-familiar picture of Sebastian’s face in a WANTED poster… but this time it was attached to an article, not a video. Which meant that the story had jumped from social media to legacy media. She felt embarrassed on Sebastian’s behalf. And on her own.
“？‘The Internet is abuzz over the story of a Brooklyn Lothario who, social media sleuths determined, has slept his way through an entire sorority of women, many of whom are friends,’？” Ted declaimed in a voice loud enough to be audible to not just the Breakaway table but also all the diners nearby.
“Shh!” said Sue.
“Sorry,” said Ted, and continued at a slightly reduced volume. “？‘The saga began at a brunch in Williamsburg, when a group of eight friends realized that seven of them had gone on first—and last—dates with a freelance writer named Sebastian, a man they’d all met on dating apps within the same six weeks.’？”
Eileen frowned at her daughter. “Wait, Sebastian? That Sebastian?” She pointed, not even trying to be discreet. “Our Sebastian?”
Our Sebastian, Abby saw, was currently being glared at by his friend.
“Freelancer? Why did they say you’re a freelancer?” Lincoln was demanding. “Are you writing for other websites?” He pressed his hand against his shirt, right against his heart. “Are you cheating on me professionally?”
Abby was glad that Lincoln was attempting to lighten the mood. But it didn’t seem to be working. Sebastian pressed his lips together and ducked his head as Ted continued.
“？‘The eighth woman had matched with Sebastian, but hadn’t set up an in-person encounter. By the time the brunch was over, one of the women, Alyssa Frankel, had uploaded a video about the amatory overlap.’？”
“？‘Amatory overlap,’？” Sue repeated. “I like that.”
“？‘Within twenty-four hours, almost forty other women had chimed in to claim that they, too, had hooked up with Sebastian. “He was very clear that he wasn’t looking for a relationship,” Frankel told Page Six. “I wasn’t expecting to see him again. I also wasn’t expecting to find out he’d dated most of my friends, plus three of my sorority sisters. And my actual sister.”？’？”
Dale Presser whistled softly. Lily Mackenzie was staring at Sebastian, wide-eyed and horrified. Abby watched as Sebastian got up from the table and stalked off. Lincoln followed after him.
“Well,” Eileen said, and looked at her daughter, her expression sly and teasing. “Is there anything in the leader’s instruction manual about this kind of situation?”
Abby felt very tired, like all the miles she’d pedaled so far had decided to hit her thighs and calves at the same time.
“Let’s not give him a hard time,” Abby said, looking meaningfully at her mother, then at Ted and Sue, then Kayla and Dale. She lowered her voice. “It’s really none of our business. And he’s on vacation. He deserves to enjoy himself, as best he can.”
“Got it.” Sue nodded.
“That’s fair,” said Lou, who nudged Ted, speaking directly in his ear until he nodded, too. Then the waitress was there, and everyone opened their menus, preparing to order.
“It’s a shame,” Sue said to Abby. “He seemed like such a nice young man. And it looked like you two were really hitting it off.”
Abby felt her cheeks flushing… and what was she supposed to say to that? I have a boyfriend? Or, Sebastian and I hooked up once, and he isn’t the boyfriend kind of guy? She ended up closing her mouth, smiling weakly, and saying nothing; telling herself that if her mom was quietly making plans to see if Sebastian would be mentioned on the late-night talk shows, if the Presser parents were horrified, if Lily Mackenzie was especially disgusted and confirmed in every prejudice about the Godless East Coast liberals, and if she herself was feeling more than a little broken-hearted, Abby knew she could ignore it.