Page 48 of Fake It 'til You Make It

Oh God, I’m staring, open mouthed. I’ve been doing it long enough to become conscious of it.

‘Sure,’ I croak, my mouth dry.

Reluctantly, I drag my eyes from his body but they meet his gaze and it would take a very dumb man to misunderstand the lust that just washed over me.

What do you know, it turns out weedyused to bemy thing. Or at least I convinced myself of that because Andrew’s physique is exactly that.Now, I’m pretty sure ball-player physique is my thing.

‘Abbey?’

‘The door! On it.’ I need to stop drinking around this man. My inhibitions have been lowered, my ogling has been upped and my memory of his self-importance has failed me.

Finally, my feet move in the direction of the door and I dragmy focus away from the semi-naked man on the balcony toward the reason I am here – food. After tipping the Uber Eats guy in cash, I go about finding plates and opening the chopsticks that came with the delivery.

‘This looks so good,’ I say to myself as I remove the lids from the cartons.

‘Precisely what the doctor ordered,’ Mike says, his hand gently grazing my back as he leans across the island and picks up a piece of salmon nigiri.

What doctor?I think.Because there is nothing wrong withyourbody.

When I turn around, Mike is taking a seat on a stool, thankfully now clothed in shorts and a T-shirt, and my sugar levels are about to return to normal. Ergo, our normal fractious relationship can resume.

I’ve just put a piece of California roll in my mouth when Mike asks, ‘I was thinking in the shower, if your family is still in Canada, then is your parents’ party going to be there, too?’

His question is out of the blue and I have a mouth full of food, but I nod.

‘And you need a date for it?’

‘Mmmhmm,’ I manage, still chewing.

‘How long would you be out of New York?’

I shrug, finally taking a drink and clearing my mouth. ‘A few days. A week, maybe.’ Where is he going with this?

‘Well, Andrew already thinks that you and I are dating, so wouldn’t it be strange for you to turn up with some guy from a dating app?’

My eyes narrow. He’s surely not offering? Is he?

‘I guess,’ I say, tentatively. Hopeful.

‘So why don’t I do it? No strings. No emotions. No funny business. Just a guy helping a girl out.’

Riiiiiiiight. The way pro ball players help out random girls they don’t really know or get along with. ‘What would be in it for you?’

His eyes narrow and I have the distinct impression I’m missing something. As if there’s something he wants to tell me. But all he offers is, ‘I’ve never been to Alberta.’

Oh. My. Gosh. Are we really going to do this? Are we really going to go to Canada? Michael Thomas of the San Francisco Giants and little old me, in a fake relationship?

He’s bound to change his mind. Rethink. Realize how crazy this is.

But what if he doesn’t? What if this is the answer to me saving face and keeping all my family and family friends off my case, questioning me about the split from Andrew, trying to get us back together? Mike’s right, Andrew hates that I have someone new. And he deserves to hate it, too.

I’m now lying in my bed, sinking into my mattress, my feet no longer throbbing from ill-fitting shoes, full of scrumptious sushi. My disastrous date with Adam is already forgotten.

Even though he has possibly provided the solution to all my problems, Mike agreeing to be my fake date wasn’t the onlyokaything about our impromptu dinner date – or fake date. The evening actually went really well, with Mike telling me about beach life in California – sleeping to the sound of waves, waking up to the smell of salt air. I really must visit San Francisco. The Bay Area sounds wonderful, not to mention I want to take a tram, like every couple in every movie ever set in San Francisco, and I’d like to take a boat out to Alcatraz, maybe snap a shot of the Golden Gate on the way, possibly head on up to the wine country.

We also played a couple of games on the VR and we were overall tied this time, so no forfeits required.

And I guess we’re going to have to be able to get along because we havea lotto learn about each other in a very short space of time if we’re going to pull off being a couple.

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