Page 3 of Finally Home

“Well.” I lift the glass to take another sip, only to realize it’s empty. But the bartender quickly retrieves the glass and begins refilling it. “I was on my way, and I just wasn’t ready to be there, and I don’t know.” I hang my head in my hands. “Maybe I stopped here—I’ve got a room down at the B and B—to gather strength to face my family and my ex with the typical scrutiny. Part of me honestly has doubts about attending. How awful is that? It’s not like they’ll truly miss me, but my mother has been playing the guilt card that my brother only gets marriedonce…well, hopefully. In fact, today alone, she’s left me three voicemails.”

“Damn, that’s rough.”

“Yeah, at one point, I even considered maybe hiring an escort or something like in one of my favorite movies to be my date. That way, I’d have someone to spend time with instead of being forced to listen to everyone saying, ‘Oh, why couldn’t you be more like your brother’ or ‘Oh, that’s interesting’ when I talk about my life and career.” I give my best impression of things I’ve heard over the years when I make it home. “But that’s the movies and not real life, so I guess I’m just here to give myself a pep talk before heading that way in a few days.”

“Hmm,” he hums while nodding. Of course, he doesn’t know what to say. As I replay the story in my head, it sounds absolutely absurd, and I’m sure he’s wishing he had never even asked.

“What about me?” he asks, placing his palms along the wood of the bar.

“What about you?”

“Let me do it. Let me be your fake boyfriend for the weekend.”

My mouth gapes open, wondering if I fell and hit my head and this is all a dream because there’s no way he’s offering what I think he’s offering, could he?

Chapter 2

Hollie

“Let me do it. Let me be your fake boyfriend for the weekend.” The bartender repeats himself as I stare blankly at him.

Seriously, though, did I fall on the sidewalk on the way here?

“That’s sweet, but I don’t even know your name.” Or anything else about him, like maybe he’s a serial killer or a psychopath or, worse, doesn’t like pineapple on pizza.

He wipes his hand on his jeans before holding it out in front of him. “Oliver Mosby, but my friends call me Ollie.”

I stare at it for just a moment before placing my hand in his. “Holland Armstrong.”

“But your friends call you Hollie? Because that would be adorable having our names rhyme, Hollie and Ollie.” He does a little dance with his hands as he says our names.

I don’t really have that many friends, but admitting that would make me sound even more like a loser, so I just shrug. “People really just call me Holland.”

“But you don’t like it,” he states matter-of-factly.

“How do you know that?”

“Because you made a cute, frowny face with your eyebrows bunched when you said Holland.” He drags his pointer finger in the air, forming a circle in front of my face. “You made that same expression when you were telling your story earlier, when you were clearly uncomfortable.”

I bring my fingers to my forehead, not realizing I made that face, and smooth my fingers along the space between my eyebrows.

“You know, as your boyfriend, I think I should have a nickname for you. Something like sweetie, honey, baby.”

My stomach drops when he says the word “boyfriend.”Am I actually entertaining this idea?

“And you think Hollie fits in with those? I mean, it’s just a shortened version of my first name, so I’m not sure it really fits as a nickname like that.”

Oliver shrugs. “If you don’t like it, then I can come up with something different. Those were just the first things I thought of.”

“What should I call you, then?”

“How about tomorrow?” He laughs at his own joke before stopping when he notices I don’t join in.

I stir the straw in small circles and focus on the whirlpool of liquid that forms in the glass. Nibbling on my bottom lip, I think this crazy plan over.Could we actually pull this off? Would people believe that this man was my boyfriend?

“So, how did we meet?”

“What do you mean?” Oliver asks while picking up the glasses left behind from the folks who had just left.

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