Page 38 of Accidental Fiancé

“Ah, I knew it.” He grinned. “Tell me about her. Didn’t you have your class reunion this weekend?”

“Yes and I don’t want to get into it.”

“Whatever you say. Drop and give me twenty.”

I cocked a brow at him. “What?”

“If you don’t want to talk, then you want to work. Twenty pushups, and if you don’t get on them quickly, I’m adding twenty burpees.”

“Her name is Maggie.”

He chuckled and put the plates back for me. “And is Maggie a blast from the past?”

I sighed. There was no way to get out of this without destroying my body or my pride, so I opted for pride and told him everything. “I’ve had a crush on her since high school and this weekend all of my fantasies came true. But now, in the coldlight of day, I’m not sure taking her to Yaya’s party is such a good idea.”

“You said it’s for three weeks, give or take, right?”

“Right, but three weeks of living together suddenly feels longer, you know? We were together most of the weekend, and this morning, I accidentally kissed her in front of Piper. That’s not what you do when it’s a temporary thing.”

“For sure. But you’re comfortable with her.”

I nodded.

“You like her.”

“Yeah.”

“So, why not move things to the next level when enough time has passed? What’s the big deal?”

“Because she’s my fantasy, I’m not hers.” The words hung in the air like the scent of rancid garbage. Heavy, oppressive. Horrible. All my insecurities in one sentence. Dix had seen me at my worst during my divorce but this was hitting differently. I felt more vulnerable and I hated it.

He took a beat to recalibrate. “I think you’re selling yourself short, man.”

“I’m not.” I moved to the dumbbells for curls to burn out the last of what I had in the tank. “She never thought of me like this in high school, and I’m not going to make things weird for her. If she brings it up, I’ll apologize and play it off. If she never brings it up, even better. But I’m not going to be a creep about it. The kiss this morning was a one-time thing.”

“Like the night of the reunion?”

I exhaled my disapproval loudly but kept going at my curls.

“And the following morning? That was a one-time thing too, right?”

“Must you continue?”

He chuckled. “Chin higher. Too much give in your back.”

I did as he instructed. “Better?”

“Yes. And another thing?—"

“Can we not? I’ve been overthinking this all day.”

“Whatever you say. Shoulders back.”

I made the adjustment and got a better burn in the bicep. “What do you mean by that?”

“I mean that if she didn’t want to be kissed this morning, she wouldn’t have climbed on you last night.”

“You don’t know Maggie.”

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