Page 7 of Dating Your Fake Fiance
I can’t hold back the smile. “I love you for saying that.”
“You love me?” He smiles.
“Wait, what? No, I didn’t mean it like that.”
"Nope." He shakes his head. "No take-backs. You love me."
“You’re an idiot.”
A waiter walks passed us with a tray of tiny sandwiches, and Charlie points at him. "Hey man, she loves me."
The waiter glances at me and then back at Charlie. “You’re a lucky man.”
“Damn right I am,” he says.
I start to roll my eyes, but Charlie loops his arm around my waist and pulls me close to him.
“I told you these two needed a room when I last saw them,” Buffy says, attempting to make it sound like she’s kidding, but there’s a definite hint of annoyance in her voice.
We both turn to see Buffy standing with an older-looking Chip Welling, the very same captain of the lacrosse team who hid out in the woods with his buddies to scare me. Although it does tickle me to see while his hairline has receded, his waistline has expanded.
“Buffy. Chip,” I say each of their names in a clipped tone, wanting to make it clear that I’m not looking to catch up with either of them. “It’s been a long time.”
“Ten years,” Chip says, glancing up from me to Charlie.
He’s clearly trying to size him up, but there’s no comparison between the two men. It’s no secret that Charlie has been getting a lot of attention from many of the women we passed on the way in here, and with good reason. He's taller than most of the guys here, he's got a full head of hair, and his self-worth isn’t tied to the size of his Daddy’s net worth.
Usually, if I were presented with these two blasts from my past, I'd revert to the unsure geek I was, but there's a confidence inside me that I’ve never felt before. It’s not just that Charlie is with me, but a realization that these people have had a control over me for too long, and I’m done allowing them to live rent-free in my mind.
I’m a grown woman with a business that I built all on my own. I didn’t go to my parents looking for a handout to start it, which would have been so easy. Instead, I saved and got a loan from a bank. Now my success level may not be where I’d hoped to be at this point, but I have to have faith that my hard work will pay off eventually.
“It seems like your desserts are a hit,” Buffy points to the crowd of people lined up at the table where I set everything up this afternoon when I dropped off the delivery.
“I’m not surprised.” Charlie beams proudly. “My girl knows her way around the kitchen.”
Buffy smiles like she was hoping he’d set her up for what she’s about to say next. And as a woman who has struggled with my weight my whole life, I can see a backhanded insult coming from a mile away.
“She certainly does. I guess all those sweets you used to pretend not to eat in class actually ended up helping you in the long run. You’ve been able to make a career out of it.”
Chip snorts under his breath, and I feel Charlie tense next to me. My grip on him tightens. I don't want him to make a scene or say anything in my defense, even if he wants to. I’m finally at a point in my life where I can be my own advocate and say just what I need to the bully whose negative voice has been in my ear most of my life.
“You caught me, Buffy. I did sneak snacks when we were younger. But not nearly as much as you’d sneak around with Chip’s teammates under the bleachers. I’m so glad your knees have held up after all that time you were down on them.”
Buffy's mouth drops open, and Chip's eyes widen in surprise.
“Oh shit,” Charlie mumbles under his breath.
“So good catching up with you both,” I say as sweetly as I can before pulling Charlie off with me.
I'm done trying to prove something to people whose opinions I couldn’t give two shits about. They haven’t changed in the decade since I last saw them, but I have. And I’m officially done caring about what they think. The only opinion I care about belongs to my grinning fake fiancé.
“Do you want to get out of here?” I ask him.
5
CHARLIE
There is a lightness in Dana the second we walk out of the reunion. It’s like a weight has been lifted off her shoulders for the first time in a decade.
