Page 94 of Ripped & Shipped
“Sounds nice.”
“It is. Sometimes it’s a little lonely, but you know how that goes.”
“I do.”
I think of Chris, night after night, alone in his house. I wonder what he does with himself. Most of his friends here in town are married, some have kids. I’m pretty sure they’re with their families or wives every night.
“Well,” he says, leaning forward and bracing his elbows on his knees. “I got my haircut today.”
“I know.”
“Yeah. Well, while I was there, Mabel, Memaw, and Esther came in.”
“Do they go there daily, or what?”
“I think it’s once a week for a wash and curl. It’s an old-fashioned tradition.”
“Leave it to them to keep that up.”
“Yeah, well, like I said, they came in and Mabel … Well, she asked how long we’d been dating.”
I should have thought of that. Mabel follows my every online movement. She’s so dedicated to her channel, and she treats me like I walk on virtual water.
Of course she saw our posts.
“What did you tell her?”
“I said, ‘It’s new.’ There was no use denying it. She saw the posts.”
“Sorry about that. About all this. You didn’t sign up for this level of crazy.”
“I’m here for it now.”
“You are?”
“Yeah. But you know what this means, don’t you?”
“It means we’ve got to act like we’re dating here. In Bordeaux.”
He just looks at me, not saying a word. If anyone could win a staring match, or go a whole day without saying a word, it’s Chris.
“What do you want to do?” I ask him.
“Whatever you want to do.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Really. That Beefy guy still isn’t backing down, so we ought to keep this farce up online. The way I see it, now that Mabel knows, we have to fake it here too.
“Laura nearly had a heart attack when Mabel asked me about you. You should have seen her. She dropped her scissors, and her mouth popped open. She didn’t even have the wherewithal to try to act like she wasn’t shocked.”
I laugh. “Man, I wish I had been there to see that!”
“Nah. You don’t. But anyway, I’m up for whatever you want to do. I’m in this, Ella Mae. I’m here for you.”
He’s here for me?
“You realize how weird this is,” I say.
