Page 20 of The Pump Fake

“It’s a surprise,” Hunter says before Cliff can answer.

Looking back over my shoulder, I grin at him. “This better be good.”

“You’ll love it,” he says making me laugh.

Ten minutes later, we’re pulling up in front of Blazing Tacos. I can’t fight my smile, I look over at Jessica as we climb out of the car. “Have you ever eaten here before?” I ask her. She shakes her head. “You’re going to love it. This restaurant is one of my favorite places to eat. They have amazing tacos,” I tell her while jumping up and down in place. I can’t help but feel excited.

All four of us walk into the restaurant and make our way toward a table in the back room—one that I’ve never seen before. I raise my eyebrow at Cliff, and he answers my unspoken question out loud, “I requested this back table…after last time.”

Ahh, he means when we were photographed together, outing our relationship. We all sit down at the table and the server comes over.

“What can I get you to drink?” she asks. Thankfully, it’s not the same one from last time because she was hitting on Cliff like crazy and I’m not sure I would be able to handle that again.

“I’ll take whatever beer you have on tap and my girl here will have a margarita,” Cliff orders for us and then she asks Hunter and Jessica.

“What kind of tacos are you going to get?” Jessica asks me.

“I get the spicy cauliflower tacos every time,” I tell her.

“Those do sound good,” she says as she continues to scroll the menu.

Before we know it, our food is in front of us. Everything about tonight has just been so easy. If I squint just a little, I could see the future. One where Cliff and I are together, laughing, enjoying each other’s company along with friends. But the little voice in the back of my head reminds me that Cliff and I are fake. I try to bat them away, but they’re pretty fucking insistent.

“You must be like super woman,” Jessica says, pulling my attention back to the present.

“What do you mean?” I ask her.

“Well, you’re in the gym all the time, managing your basketball game, plus you have time to have a relationship.” She picks up her drink taking another sip, then continues, “Like I said…superwoman.”

Leaning into Cliff, who’s sitting next to me, he wraps his arm around my shoulder. He kisses the top of my head, and I look back at her. “I have a great support system.” Because I do, even before this whole thing, Cliff has been there for me the last couple of years.

Then I grab my own drink, taking a sip. I place it back down deciding it’s time to let down my guard some more and tell her, “Seriously, I only just recently started trying to have a relationship. I’ve been burnt in the past so it was easier to keep people at a distance for the most part. Then Cliff convinced me otherwise.”

“It did take a while to show her the error of her ways,” Cliff interjects.

His joke makes everyone laugh even if it’s partly true. The night goes on and it starts to get late. Yawning, I whisper in Cliff’s ear, “Can you take me home? I’m tired.”

Cliff squeezes my side and then looks up at Hunter. “Hey, we’re ready to get out of here. What about you guys?”

Hunter and Jessica look at each other and seem to be having some silent conversation, then look back to us. “We’ll catch an Uber.”

“Sounds good, man,” Cliff says as he begins to pull out his wallet, but Hunter stops him.

“I’ve got this, man,” Hunter tells him.

“Thank you,” I say, moving my gaze over to Jessica as I slide out of the booth. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t,” I tell her, winking.

“So, that’s about everything then?” she says laughing.

“Exactly,” I tell her.

Finally, Cliff and I leave and start heading toward the car. When we get in, he turns to me and asks, “Your home or mine?”

“Anywhere I can have you naked in bed…all night long,” I tell him.

“Your place it is then,” he says, making his way toward my apartment.

15

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