Page 58 of If the Ring Fits

ROWENA

A nervous thrill runs through me as I open the door, revealing Hunter, Nina, Tristan, and Dylan waiting on the front step. I want them to like Adrian. Despite telling myself I shouldn’t, I am as anxious as if they were meeting my true boyfriend.

Adrian greets them warmly, but both him and my friends keep at a safe distance as if they are mutually studying each other.

I make the introductions. “Adrian, this is Hunter. Nina, her boyfriend, Tristan, and her brother, Dylan. Guys, this is Adrian.”

There’s an awkward pause as they size each other up. The air stills in my lungs as I pray for them to hit it off. After what feels like an eternity but is only seconds, Dylan breaks into an easy grin. “Great to meet you, man.”

They shake hands, a firm grip that seems to break the ice, and Adrian responds with equal enthusiasm. “Likewise.”

The initial tension dissolves into a round of handshakes and half-hugs that has me exhaling in relief as I usher everyone into the living room.

“The house looks amazing,” Nina remarks as we head inside.

“Thanks! I can’t really take credit, my designer did everything. But I’m happy with how it turned out.” Adrian is being the perfect host—gracious, charming, putting everyone at ease.

As the others move forward, Adrian gently tugs me back. He edges in, his lips grazing the shell of my ear. “You didn’t mention your friends are straight out of an NFL lineup,” he whispers teasingly.

I smirk. “Actually, Dylan and Tristan are only NCAA-basketball tall. No big deal. They won’t tackle you.”

Adrian shakes his head as he gestures for me to please proceed ahead. We join the others at the beautifully set table, and I hope the get-together will be as smooth as the place settings.

As we pass around the plates of appetizers, an awkward silence falls over the room. Nina and Tristan exchange a glance. Hunter drums her fingers against her wine glass. I rack my brain for a conversation starter.

Adrian wipes his mouth before asking, “So, how do you all know each other?”

“We met in college,” Hunter says. “On a tragic Halloween night where we all ended up ditched by our dates, soaked in a diner, and wearing the same Elle Woods costume.” She sighs, looking at us. “It was love at first sight.”

“I think I saw a picture.” Adrian smirks at me. “Nice costumes.”

I flush, remembering how I’d abandoned my office stuff in his car because I couldn’t cope yet. And how candidly he told me he’d snooped through it.

“We all used to live together,” Nina adds. “Until, well, recent events.”

I want to avoid the fake marriage topic, so I deflect. “You mean since you moved in with that guy.” I point at Tristan. “And Dylan leaped at the chance to turn my old room into a home office, right?”

Dylan grins. “Guilty as charged. And the company’s not bad either.” Dylan shoots a sly look at Hunter, who suddenly seems very interested in her salad. I hide a smile behind my glass of non-alcoholic cider. If Dylan only knew about Hunter’s not-so-secret crush on him. Nina’s brother turns to his old roommate. “Sure better than living with him.” Dylan throws bed crumbs at Tristan, who blocks the flying projectiles with his hand.

One flies straight at Adrian’s nose. Without flinching, Adrian picks it up and tosses it right back at Dylan.

Laughter erupts around the table, a welcome reprieve from the earlier tension. Dylan pretends to be outraged, his hand over his heart in mock hurt. “Man, you’ve got some arm there. Did you play any sports?”

Adrian grins and leans back in his chair. “Varsity baseball, but I gave that up in college because I didn’t have time for athletics.” He shoots me a look, and I know that he’s referring to him wanting a job to send money home.

Knowing I’m the only person in the room—probably the only person in his life—that can understand him from just that one look fills me up with rainbows.

Adrian smiles and turns back to Dylan. “Rowena told me you two played basketball in the NCAA?”

Once the topic is moved on to sports and Dylan and Tristan recount the epic tale of how they won the national championship their senior year, the conversation flows moreeasily. They move from sports to other topics. Tristan talks business with Adrian, while Hunter and I subtly interrogate Nina on how she finds living together with a boyfriend for the first time.

As we listen to her loved-up tale, I feel a twinge of… something. I wouldn’t call it envy, more like a wistful curiosity.

I glance subtly at Adrian, who’s now animatedly discussing some tech start-up with Tristan. He turns my way as if sensing my gaze on him and gives me a quick nod of encouragement.We’ve got this, he seems to say.

I nod back and he returns to his conversation, leaving me in a cozy tangle of emotions: warmed that the night is going so well, that he fits in my world, but still unsatisfied. Hopeful at the same time as doubtful. Reassured yet vulnerable. Comforted but also longing for more.

If this is what being his fake girlfriend feels like, I can’t imagine what the real thing would do to me. And in a moment of sudden clarity, it dawns on me that I’d be more excited than scared to find out.

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