Page 12 of Faking It with Mr. Uptight

I crept in, imagining some hook-handed pervert lurking out there waiting to make me the next subject of a true crime show. Hunched over, I slowly peeked around the corner through the glass door and saw Jake standing there, a serious look on his face. Curiosity replaced my fear and I righted myself to go let him in.

"Is this about naked fight club?"

"I thought we weren't supposed to talk about it," he said though his voice lacked amusement.

"Are you okay?" I asked, suddenly concerned.

"Someone sent me this." He handed his phone over to me. It was a photo of us. The angle was bad like through the living room window. I had been looking over my shoulder, so it was hard to make out my face, but it was obvious someone was trying to make it look like he and I were hooking up. Ironically, it was not from the day we were actually hooking up.

"What the hell is this? And where'd you get it?" I swiped left until I got to the end of the pictures and then swiped back. My mind raced wondering who could have taken the picture and why?

"Someone texted it to me. I was hoping you got one too. They also sent me this." He handed the phone back, and it was a simple text reading. Date Molly Sinclair or these go viral...

I stared at the menacing words, skin crawling. "What the actual fuck? Who did you manage to piss off this badly?" I finally managed, still processing.

Handing back the phone, I met his frantic eyes. I had never seen the always-composed Jake Kingsbury looking so vulnerable and desperate as he did in this moment. Jake's disheveled chestnut hair fell jaggedly over his tensed brow, and I had the urge to take his hand and say something comforting, but I swallowed it.

"No idea. I tried calling them, but I think they blocked me. Could you try calling them?"

I nodded, and he recited the number to me. After dialing, it rang a few times before an automated voice informed me that the person I was trying to call had a voicemail box that had not yet been set up.

"They blocked your call, and they aren't taking mine," I said with a sigh. "It rang a few times but then I think they rejected it. Do you know who could be behind it? Did you make any enemies recently?"

He shook his head. "Not that I know of." His phone buzzed in his hand, and he jumped. I laughed, and he shot me a dirty look before checking the screen.

"Shit," he cursed.

"What?" I said, stepping closer, heart racing.

"They texted me."

He held the phone up and showed me a new text and I read it aloud. "‘Announce tomorrow that you are dating or else.’ Who would do this?"

"You got me," he said, his tone flat. "What do we do? Go to the cops?"

"Yes, and we should probably talk to someone in HR just to be sure."

He nodded and scrubbed at his jaw, still agitated. "But we still need to pretend to date right? Or else they'll know and publish it. I can't let Hailey see that. What if Hailey sees it?"

I had no idea why he would even worry about dating. It was clearly a joke, but I couldn't blame him for the worry. "Why not just tell her about it? You don't have to show her the pictures but explain it in an age-appropriate way?" By the way his jaw worked as I spoke, I could tell he wasn't going for it.

I mean why should we pretend to date to satisfy some troll? It didn't make any sense. But at the same time, I understood his desperation.

"Maybe," he said and then looked at me, his eyes burning through me. "So, are you willing to do it? Just for show? For a little while." The plea in his blue eyes unnerved me. The Jake I knew was stone cold and cool headed. I wanted to agree to fake date him just to make him stop looking at me like that.

"Jake, people don’t just fake date. It isn’t the solution. Why not just go to the cops?"

"We will. But it would just be a few days, a week maybe, until I can get to the bottom of this. I mean whoever is doing this could be behind the dating profiles too. I just—" He paused taking in a deep lungful of air and said, "I realize what people at work think of me. I'm not Mr. Congeniality. I don't need anything else to put other peoples' backs up. This could make me lose my job."

"Jake, this is ridiculous. Why would people think those pictures are real? Who would believe that you and I would ever date, let alone have an affair?"

His mouth turned up at the corners. "Yeah, you're right. Sorry to have bothered you."

He turned to leave, and I felt guilty, but it didn't change the fact that his plan was ridiculous. "Wait."

He stopped and looked at me over his shoulder.

"I'm sorry. Look, if it would put you at ease, I'll do it."

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