Page 60 of The Boyfriend List
“Hey, you should be grateful for our meddling!” Giorgio says. “Right, Reggie?”
Reginald walks into the break room. “What?”
He’s been milking his ‘heart attack’ for the past few weeks, since the only people who know that it was fake are me, London, and Giorgio. None of us told anyone, so he’s been working from home until today.
“I said that these two should be thankful that we meddled in their love lives.” Giorgio gestures between us with his plastic spork before taking his soup out of the microwave.
Reggie grumbles something like,I can’t take you seriously when you’re waving a spork.“I agree. You should name your firstborn child after me. And invite us to your wedding.”
London squeezes my hand, then says, “Let’s not take things that far.”
“Yeah, why would you curse a child with the nameReginald? You should name him Giorgio.”
“What if it’s a girl?” I try not to think about London’s unsure stance on having children.
“Giorgia, or Regina,” Reggie says. “Easy.”
London’s eyes widen. “I wouldn’t even give adogthose names, let alone a human being.”
The conversation devolves into more nonsensical chatter with Reginald and Giorgio exchanging money. Apparently, they bet on our relationship. But as I dig into my fried rice, I’m reminded of the bet I made with London.
After work, London and I get into his car. As we slog through L.A. traffic, I speak up. “So, does this mean I won the bet?”
He raises an eyebrow at me. “You mean our napkin contract?”
London, to my surprise, gestures for me to open the glove box of his car. When I do, I find the same napkin with his messy handwriting on it from the pottery painting cafe.
If London Young meets and dates a woman for longer than two months, Gloria Romero will go to his sister’s wedding with him.
If Gloria Romero meets and dates a man who fulfills all the qualities on her boyfriend list by August 1st, London Young will go to karaoke with her and sing one song of her choosing.
“Looks like you have to go to karaoke with me.”
“I think this actually meansyouhave to come to my sister’s wedding with me,” he says, smirking. My stomach performs a gymnastic feat of superhuman flexibility that can only be done by Simone Biles.
“No,” I say, rereading the terms. “When did you meet and date a woman for longer than two months?”
“You don’t think what we’ve been doing is dating?” He touches a hand to his chest. “I took you horseback riding.”
“You never said it was a date. You asked me to babysit your nieces.”
“I was trying to check off the ‘knows how to ride a horse’ box on your list.”
I sigh and pull out the slightly creased sheet of notebook paper from my bag. “Let’s see…”
He’s checked off the horseback riding, ice cream flavour, and cooking items.
“You still haven’t gone to karaoke with me. It’s on the list,” I say with a grin. “I win.”
“Okay, but if you’re going to be my girlfriend, you’d have to come to Savannah’s wedding with me anyway.”
My heart twists in my chest. “Girlfriend? You haven’t even asked me to be your girlfriend.”
He gasps. “You’re right. I haven’t.”
“Come to think of it, you haven’t even asked me on a date. So technically, we haven’t been dating for two months.”
“No, but I’d argue we were in a relationship.”
