Page 38 of My Fake Fiancé

“Hey, I was pretty good at these games,” I respond to her jab.

“Oh sure,” Merrin laughs and rolls her eyes. “Juliana, you come get me if you need some help kicking his butt.” Merrin winks at Juliana.

“We’ll come get you two when we’re ready to leave,” my mother tells us, giving us her approval to leave the table. I squeeze her shoulder and then gesture toward the arcade area. Juliana leads the way, still holding my hand in one of hers and the quarters in the other.

“You ready to get your butt kicked?” Juliana quips, hopping on a stool near one of the games and sliding quarters into the slot. I take my place beside her.

“Are you sure you can beat me without help?” I raise my eyebrows at her and settle into my seat as the game loads. Juliana leans over and smacks me but she’s laughing. Her laughing causes her to miss her first chance to score points, I take advantage of it and come out a few points ahead from the get-go.

“Hey! No fair, you distracted me!” Juliana complains, whining a bit. I laugh at her distress and she shoots me a pouting glare before getting into the game.

The game goes on for a few more minutes, Juliana keeps up pretty closely to my score but with a minute remaining I pull ahead with a big lead.

“Oh yeah! You’re not going to be able to catch up now!” I laugh and am about to win but my thumb starts cramping. “Nooo, ow, ow ow. Cramp!!” I cry out, trying to power through the pain but my thumb starts twitching, throwing off my game.

“Yes!” Juliana hunches over, getting more into the game, catching up to me. My thumb keeps cramping as Juliana’s score grows, minimizing my lead. “Ooo, this is gunna hurt you so badly when I make a huge comeback and win!” Juliana taunts me, showing no sympathy for my cramping thumb.

“Oh no! I’m still ahead by a few points. Don’t start celebrating yet.” I look at the countdown in the corner of the screen and see only a few seconds left. I am still ahead of Juliana but she’s gaining quickly. I haven’t scored any points since the cramp began. I throw around the idea of calling out for Merrin to take over but with ten seconds left, I power through. “Come on, come on…”

“Yes! I did it! I won!” Juliana pulls ahead with two seconds remaining and there is nothing my cramped thumb can do to beat her. She jumps off the stool and throws her arms in the air cheering. I laugh and notice Juliana is drawing the attention of some people in the restaurant. They’re all smiling at us though, no one seems bothered by her cheering. She cheers again and I hear a couple of people clapping for her. I roll my eyes, smiling.

“Alright, alright. Fine, I concede. You won, I’ll admit it.” I raise my hands in surrender right as Merrin and my mom walk over to us, followed by the rest of the group.

“You lost?” Merrin asks and I nod. Merrin holds her hand out to Juliana and she gives her a high five. “Not too surprising but still pretty impressive, Juliana.”

“Thanks,” Juliana says and smiles proudly. She looks so happy and it is cute, I can’t help but reach over and pull her to me. She looks up at me surprised right before I kiss her. It’s just a quick kiss but I know I shouldn’t have done it. We can’t get too attached, even though I want to, and each kiss brings us closer and closer together.

Juliana leans back in my arms and looks up at me. I don’t know what to say and she doesn’t seem to know what to say either.

“Alright, ladies!” My mother’s voice interrupts us and Juliana looks away from me. “Time to get going, we do have an appointment to get to.”

Juliana looks back at me, raising her eyebrows. I shrug, I still don’t know what’s going on. I release her from my arms and Merrin links her arm through Juliana’s, pulling her away from me.

“Don’t worry, we’ll have her back before dinner.” Merrin starts to pull Juliana away and all the women follow

“Maybe!” My mom calls out and hustles all the women out to the car. Juliana looks back at me and she looks a little scared. I laugh and wave to her. She waves back and then is whisked out the door. I look over at my dad who is still standing around talking to Juliana’s dad and grandfather. I walk over to them and Juliana’s dad pats me on the back.

“Does anyone know what they’re doing?” I ask the group of men and I am mostly met with shrugs and ‘no’s. “Great. Anyone want to come to our apartment for Sunday football?”

“Yes,” my dad agrees readily.

“Sure,” Juliana’s grandad replies, looking over at his son, Juliana’s dad.

“Okay, sounds good. I was just going to watch the games at home anyway.” Juliana’s dad shrugs. “I need to go home and change out of the church clothes first.”

“Good idea.” His dad responds, taking his car keys out of his pocket.

“Okay. Dad, I’ll swing by and pick you up, okay?” Juliana’s dad turns to talk to his father who nods, agreeing. They both nod at my dad and I then head out of the restaurant to their cars.

“You want me to swing by your house first for a change of clothes?” I ask my dad as we head out to the parking lot. My dad looks down at his polo shirt and jeans then back up at me. “Right, well some people actually dress up for church.” I tease him.

“Hey! This is my good polo.” My dad laughs and takes my making fun of him on the chin. “Looks like Juliana dressed you for church today.” He pokes fun at me now. I’m a bit embarrassed because she did in fact dress me but I don’t mind being dressed up for church.

“Actually, she did.” My dad gives me a look then we both start laughing.

“Well, you look good.” Dad gives me an approving nod as we get into the car. We chat more on the way back to mine and Juliana’s apartment, the whole time I am wondering what my mother dragged Juliana into doing for the day.

Chapter 37

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