Page 26 of Mr. Charming

I plop down on the couch in my short-term rental. The stark white walls and drab artwork make this place feel clinical. “This couch sucks.” I wiggle my ass, but it’s so stiff, there’s no way to relax on it.

“Buy a new one,” Saige says. “Fuck! I just cut myself.”

“Mom swore!” one of the girls says in the background.

“If I buy a new couch, I can’t suffer in order to grow.” I make fun of her, hearing a faucet running. “Is it bad?”

“No. Just annoying. Screw this. I’m ordering pizza. Aiden’s away tonight, and I’m calling it girl time.”

The girls shout in delight in the background.

I laugh because that’s totally my best friend. “Way to suffer. What was that? Two point two seconds when you were really drowning there.”

“Hey, leave me alone. You have bigger problems. Where are you going to find this boyfriend before your dinner in two nights?”

She’s right. I had hoped I had more time. Hopefully find some willing partner online and go on a few dates before asking him to do me a solid and go to a work meeting where he pretends to love me and acts as though he can’t live without me even if he knows barely anything about me. But then Candice, Bud’s assistant, emailed me and said dinner is in two days’ time at some fancy restaurant in a private room. So much for keeping it casual, Bud.

Throw me into Lake Michigan, why don’t you?

“I have no clue. I think I’m going to say he’s sick or had to work late. Surely a guy like Bud Caldron will understand a man who wants to work his way up the ladder.”

She scoffs. “God, you know he came to our house once? Kind of slimy. He was all over Aiden like some fanboy, telling him how great he was and how Jana didn’t see the player he could be. The minute Aiden told him that he was staying in Florida, he just went to Cory and said Aiden was a half-talented player who was screwing him over by not retiring.”

“Yeah, I figured he wasn’t exactly a good guy. First, he goes behind my back, and then he’s trying to take over my job. The only reason that locker room isn’t a mess is because of Coach Buford. He’s a great guy, I really like him.” I scoop from my quart of cookies and cream ice cream, scrolling through my streaming services to find something worth binging. I’m going to have a lot of quality time in my apartment these next few months.

“Regardless, he’s the GM, Tedi,” she says it in her “I hate to tell you this, but…” voice.

“I know.”

“And he knows Mr. Herington. It’s like a double whammy.”

I dig another scoop of my ice cream. “So you’re telling me to get off the phone with you and get on a dating app, hoping I can bribe someone to be my pretend boyfriend for a night?”

She giggles but sighs right away. “I’m sorry. But you figure it’s one night. After that, you can just mention him by name, and then you’ll be back in New York, or you can lie later and say it’s not working out. Once you’re really over Tweetie. If I knew anyone, I’d send them up to you. But you’re hot. You could go down to the coffee shop and pick someone up.”

“I’m afraid Tweetie will know. I mean, he’s still so fucking in tune with my feelings. I hate it.”

Like today when I was getting coffee. He knew I was upset and came over to help me. Why does he still do that shit?

“All the more reason why you need to do this. You need to put as much space as you can between the two of you. Oh!” she shouts. “I know who your pretend boyfriend can be.”

My forehead wrinkles as I spoon more ice cream into my mouth. “Who?”

“Decker Davis!”

“Unless you know another Decker Davis, that would be a hard no.” I shake my head.

My twin brothers’ best friend who was practically a third brother to me? No thanks.

“It’s perfect, and you know he’ll do it. Plus, it’s the offseason for him.”

“I don’t think he even stays in Chicago during the offseason.”

“Fine, take your chances on some serial killer through a dating app then.” Saige huffs.

I put her on speaker and search him on my socials.

Decker Davis, third baseman for the Chicago Colts. Honestly, I never would’ve thought he’d make it this far. Way to go, Decker, annoying little runt, although he’s not really little anymore. He’s kind of cute, in a clean-cut, not-my-type kind of way, but maybe Saige has a point.

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