Page 6 of The Pump Fake

His jaw drops when he asks, “You do?”

“Of course, you’re my best friend,” I tell him, shrugging my shoulders.

“Thiswillwork,” he mutters under his breath like he’s trying to convince himself.

“How are we going to tell our families?” I ask him.

Cliff flinches at my question like he doesn’t want to tell our families, but he doesn’t have a choice. They will find out and will call constantly if we don’t give them a heads up.

“They have to believe this is real, too. We can’t have them accidentally revealing anything if they get questioned. We will just tell them we’ve become close over the last two years and started dating. Maybe we’ll FaceTime them and tell them together.”

I let out a breath that I didn’t realize I was holding. Telling my family is the one thing I’m not so sure about, especially my sister, Mya, and his brother Taylor. I hug my arms around my middle at the thought. But when I look up at Cliff, I know this will be ok; he’s always been there for me. How could I ever doubt him? He’s my rock.Maybe it won’t be too bad if Cliff is with me when we tell them.

“Mya and Taylor will be the most difficult,” Cliff says as if he’s reading my mind.

“Totally. How long should we ‘date’ for?” I ask him.

He pulls out his phone, looking at something that I assume is his calendar. He confirms it when he asks, “How about right after playoffs?”

“That works. Maybe we can do something like under the radar and just release a statement saying we’ve gone our separate ways.” Sadness wells up inside me as I think about him not being in my life. Who would I talk to? The need to make sure that we’re on the same page takes over. “Cliff?”

“Yes?”

“Promise me one thing. No matter what happens, we stay friends.”

He contemplates what I’ve said then replies, “I promise.”

5

Cliff

“Let’s get out of here and get you home,” I tell her, squeezing her hand.

“Okay,” she breathes out, pulling her hand back and I already feel the loss of her touch. This whole thing is going to be a fucking nightmare.

We simultaneously scoot out of the booth. I stop to open my wallet and place some cash down on the table. We both head out to the parking lot, stopping in front of her car. She looks up at me from through her long black lashes, and all I can think about is how gorgeous she looks. “Are you sure about this, Cliff?” she mumbles.

A knot forms in my throat and I don’t know what to say, because no, I’m not sure. Fighting the urge to hold her and tellher that everything is going to be okay, I say, “Hunter swears this will be good for your reputation. I don’t trust many people, but I trust him.”

She nods her head. Her mouth opens as if she’s about to say something, but instead she mumbles, “Good night.”

“Good night, Jade,” I reply as I watch her walk a few spots down and get into her own car. Once she’s pulled out and on the main road, I finally open the door to my car, get in and head home.

Ten minutes later, I’m walking into my apartment and call the only person who would understand exactly what kind of predicament I just put myself in.

“Hey, man. How did it go?” Hunter asks me as soon as he picks up.

“She wantsmeto be the one she fakes date,” I breathe out, throwing my keys onto the table as I close the front door.

“Oh shit,” he says, and I can hear shuffling on the other side of the phone, then a click of a door.

“Yeah,” I breathe out, plopping down on my couch.

“What are you going to do?” he asks.

“I’m going to do what anyone else would do in my position,” I say flatly.

“You’re going to do it, aren’t you?” he asks with disbelief in his voice.

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