Page 60 of Fake Game

Deer reaches out and places her right hand in the middle of my table briefly as she whispers loudly, “I’ll pay for it, just ignore him.” Her nose scrunches up like she is sharing a secret.

Suzy smiles back.

“Seriously, no,” I repeat.

It doesn’t stop Suzy from reaching into a fridge behind her and pulling out a small jar.

“No, thank you,” I say in Mandarin this time. My family is from the Guangdong province, so we primarily speak Cantonese,but I still learned some Mandarin back in high school to feel confident enough about getting my point across.

Except, maybe not, because Suzy ignores me.

She just unscrews the lid and uses a scooper to remove a large dollop of a light yellow cream. She smiles at me before using her free hand to grip my left hand.

“I only speak Filipino,” she muses before slapping the cold cream onto the top of my hand.

A stifled laugh escapes Deer as Suzy proceeds to massage the cream onto both hands.

Unbridled resignation sinks into my bones.

I don’t even bother stopping her from slipping a pair of warm cloth gloves on me.

She holds both hands together and gives them a soft pat. “Ten minutes.” Then she gets up and leaves me stranded. I can’t even use my phone with these damn things on.

Deer has no sympathy for my situation. She busies herself, switching hands as she aimlessly scrolls through her notifications and hearts comments.

I’m stuck watching a TV mounted on the wall that is showing some sort of home renovation show. There’s no sound and no subtitles. I just have to use my own deductive reasoning to decipher what is going on—which seems to be a man building what might be either a very small doghouse or an oddly large birdhouse.

I’m annoyed to admit that I get sucked into the show, trying to piece together everything going on and making my own assumptions. I still can’t tell whether the hosts are a married couple or brother and sister.

When Suzy returns to wash off the mask and begin my manicure, I let her work in silence. Even Deer just lets me be as she chatters away with her own nail technician. Though, I do see her glancing over every couple of minutes.

“How long have you been dating?” Amy asks her.

“We’ve been dating in secret for a while now. We have to keep it quiet for his family, ya know.”

“They don’t approve?” Amy’s brows crinkle.

Deer leans forward, and in a not-so-hushed whisper, she says, “He’s worried they won’t like me.”

Amy lets out a tsk, and I suddenly feel very judged for something I didn’t even do.

I regret ever opening this can of worms. It seemed like a great idea last night, but now I’m second-guessing everything. I told her it was a onetime thing, but here she is, milking it for all it’s worth, like I’m some prized cow she’s excited to show off.

“If my son brought you home, I’d be happy. You’re such a sweet girl.”

“Aw, thank you.” Deer looks at me out of the corner of her eye. “Did you hear that, babes? I’m sweet.”

“Mm. Yeah, you’re the sweetest girlfriend ever.” I give her a tight smile, but she just beams back at me.

When she looks at me like that, I start to second-guess my second-guessing. I start to find myself drawn into this game we are playing.

“Jackson?”

My abs contract at the familiar voice.

“Jackson?”

The repetition cements my fear.

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