Page 58 of Miami Ice

“What?”

“Just … interesting,” she repeats, shifting her attention to slicing up a loaf of crusty bread.

I feel my cheeks and neck grow warm. Is she noticing how I look at Beckham? How the lines are already blurring between pretend and reality in my head?

Aaron joins us to help Sofia finish up dinner. Before long, we’re all seated at the farmhouse table in the kitchen, digging into our food.

“Oh, would you like some wine, Georgie?” Aaron asks, picking up a bottle of red.

“No, thank you, I’ll stay with water.”

“I’ll do the same,” Beckham says.

He nods and sets the bottle back down.

“Aaron, my love, you’ll have to forgive me, but I need to talk business at the table tonight. I have to lay out the plans for Georgie and Beckham next week.”

Aaron shakes his head.

“What?” Sofia asks, staring at him.

“Fake dating. I didn’t even know that was a thing until you hatched this crazy scheme.”

“You obviously aren’t on BookTok,” Beckham quips, taking a bite of his lasagna.

I grin as I break off a crispy edge with my fork.

“What is BookTok?” Aaron asks, a crease forming in his brow.

“Never mind. That’s not the point,” Sofia says. She shifts her attention to cutting up lasagna for the twins, but she talks to me and Beckham at the same time. She’s truly a mommy multitasker.

“I’m thinking a hard launch instead of a soft one. We go hard on Thanksgiving Day with posts of you two as a couple on both your social media pages. Georgie, be prepared for a lot of new followers, which is going to be fantastic for Georgie’s Jars. But you also need to be prepared for trolls.”

My stomach sinks a bit at that thought. I haven’t been trolled for my jars, but I suppose that could start happening now.

Or worse, being trolled for just being me.

“She can turn off her comments,” Beckham says firmly. “I don’t want Georgie dealing with that bull—stuff.”

Sofia twists her lips in thought. “Georgie, I’ll leave that up to you.”

“Do it,” Beckham urges. “I don’t want anyone upsetting you.”

Why is my heart fluttering from his protectiveness?

“Okay,” I say.

“We need to make sure we get some cute pictures of you two together on Thanksgiving Day,” Sofia continues. “Then I need for you to blast them across your social media platforms. I can even write copy ideas for you.”

“Copy ideas?” Beckham asks, an incredulous look passing over his face. Then he scowls. “God,no. I can announce my girlfriend in my own words and not from a copy point.”

My girlfriend.My heart is doing a dance inside my chest at how easily those words came out of his mouth.

It’s part of the script, Georgie,my brain suddenly reminds me.What else is he supposed to call you?

“Fair enough,” Sofia says. “Now, looking ahead, Beckham has a home game that Friday night. Can you make that, Georgie?”

I nod. “Yes. I can be there.”

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