Page 15 of The Guy Who Fake Dated Me

“Maybe. Yes.”

I imagined reaching out to take her hand and squeezing it. I longed for her to understand how much I wanted to comfort her, but all I could do was say, “I’m here.”

Victoria pulled in a stuttering breath before she spoke. “Kyle and I have been tight our whole lives. When we were kids, we were the only chubby kids in the extended family. The other cousins made fun of us, which bonded us together.” She paused. “When we turned fourteen, Kyle decided he didn’t want to be fat anymore, so he spent the entire summer getting in shape. Ever since then, he’s been totally ripped. But he never treated me differently, and he hated that girls were suddenly interested in him. So he’d take me to his school dances, and he came to mine. We did everything together, even going through Stanford at the same time.”

Victoria and I had purposely not shared deep personal information with each other, because that’s not what flirting buddies did, but now I regretted not taking time to get to know Victoria better when she’d been here.

“I guess I’m freaking out because I’m going to be alone.”

I watched Sky chase a bird while I waited for her to go on.

“Kyle just told me they’re having a four-day long wedding, and they want me in the wedding party. They said it’s fine if I come without a plus one.”

I winced. “Okay, that’s not cool.”

“Right?”

Excitement thrummed through me as I thought about what it would be like to hang out with Victoria for four days. Even though I’d just told my parents how busy I was over the next few months, I found myself asking, “When is this big party?”

“It starts the Thursday before Thanksgiving.”

Of course it was the same weekend as my parents’ anniversary celebration.

The party they’d just asked to change the date of.

My eyes darted toward the house.

“Logan?” Victoria’s voice shook.

“What is it?”

“I might have told them that I had someone to bring.”

“Do you?”

“No.”

Several things swirled in my mind.

If I could move my parent’s party, then I might be able to leave town.

The big trade show was in Vegas that same week anyway, and that ended on Thursday.

I’d literally be within a few hours’ drive of Victoria if I went to it.

It would take a lot of phone calls and probably a great deal of begging, but if I managed it, I could be Victoria’s plus one.

The question was, did she want a plus one?

I swallowed hard before I spoke. I’d be fine if she rejected me.

Really.

Sky rushed by, and I used his enthusiasm to spur my mouth into action. “So, there’s a chance I might be in Vegas that week. Until Thursday.”

“Really?”

“Which means I could join you for the other three days of the wedding. Be your mysterious man. Fake dating and all that.”

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