Page 41 of Reeling in Love

“No. No. Don’t tell me you want to poach her. I won’t allow that man, and neither will Ryan.”

“What? No. Not work-related. It’s personal.”

“Ah. Go on. You guys have a fight or something? You have a new girlfriend and you want me to help find a place for her to stay so you can easily take your girlfriend home? She can stay with Lily and me if she’s okay with it. We have a spare room.”

“Will you just listen, man?”

“Hey, sorry bro. Go on.”

“We kissed.”

He lets out a low whistle and leans back in his chair, his hands interlocked behind his head.

I wait for him to react more but he doesn’t. “Now you don’t have anything to say?”

“You told me to listen. So I thought you have something more to say than two words.”

He closes his eyes to process the information. I know he’ll take his time to answer. That’s what he does, analyzes, assesses, and examines a situation before giving his views. And that’s why I trust his judgment.

Finally, he looks at me. “I’m assuming it was not a kiss on the forehead or the cheek or you wouldn’t be talking about it. So, the important thing is….” He leans forward again and locks his gaze with mine. “What does Nora think about it?”

“She doesn’t remember.”

“What? Did you kiss her in her sleep or what, man? How’s that even possible? How does one not remember kissing a friend?”

“She was drunk, so was I, though not as much as her. We were dancing and suddenly we started kissing. Nothing else happened, and I took her home. The next morning, she didn’t remember a thing.”

“Wow. That’s interesting.” He pauses again for a few moments. “So from your perspective, was it a one-off thing and you feel guilty about it and don’t know whether you should tell her what happened? Or was it an I-want-to-do-it-again kiss and you don’t know how to talk to her about it?”

“I don’t know, Alex. Seriously. I mean, y’know how I am with relationships, right? And Nora, well, she’s more important to me than any other person. And I can’t mess that up. I can’t lose her friendship. But…” A sigh escapes my lips. “I can’t get that kiss out of my head. Maybe it was the effect of alcohol, but I felt more alive in that kiss than I’ve ever felt in my life. More happy and complete.”

He continues staring at me. Even though I’ve averted my gaze, I can feel his eyes boring into my head, but he doesn’t say anything.

I raise my eyes a little. “I don’t know, man. What’s worse is that she’s told Mom she’s dating me.”

Alex’s eyes open wide. “What kind of melodrama have you going on in your life? Why did she do that?”

“Mom wants me to marry this girl from France, some daughter of a rich business family. To help me avoid that, Nora, in a sudden spurt of enthusiasm, told her we’re dating. Now we have to go home for dinner and pretend we’re a couple. And I don’t know what Nora is thinking or feeling. Maybe nothing. But I’m definitely feeling a lot more than nothing.”

“Dude, you’ve got yourself into some hot mess,” Alex says, then bursts into chuckles. “I’m sorry. I can’t help it. This is insane. But,” he says, getting serious again. “This is also an opportunity. While you’re doing this fake dating drama thing, it’ll give you a sense of what she feels and what it’ll be like if you’re together. It’s actually perfect. Go along with it and see where it leads. But next time you kiss her, make sure it’s good enough that she remembers it.” He chuckles again.

I push my chair back and stand up. “Stop it, man. I’m a great kisser. She was drunk, otherwise I’m sure she would’ve remembered it.”

“Yeah yeah, if you say so.”

“I can kiss you now and show you how good I am. Stop making fun, dude.”

He pretends to zip his lips as I leave his office. But what he said makes sense. We should get more serious about this fake dating game and see how we are together. If it doesn’t work out, we’ll know. If it does, well, I’ll be the luckiest man alive.

Chapter 17

Nora: #Quandry

I have to work late on Friday night to finish the digital marketing strategy for the new games we need to send out to the potential investor. Yeah, he’s that Dumas fellow because of whom Gabriel had to leave MooreGames. The one who said all those nasty things to him. Naturally, I can’t stand the guy. Actually, I hate him.

But work is work. It’s gotta get done, so I do it. And I do it well, even though I’m tempted to sabotage the whole thing out of spite.

By the time I finally get home, I’m exhausted. I head straight to my room—or more accurately, Gabs’ guest room. But it feels like my room now. That reminds me, I still need to find a place to stay. I can’t crash here forever. But that can wait, at least till this fake dating thing is still going on. Right now, I need sleep.

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