Page 38 of You Found Me
The sound that comes out of him is so rich and full of life that all I can do is stare as he throws his head back laughing. Our order is brought out to us, and he pushes the gooey cinnamon roll in front of me.
“Eat. It’ll make you feel better.”
“Someone sure is bossy,” I say with a small smile before relenting. “It looks too good to pretend that I don’t want it. Just know that I’m eating it becauseIwant it. Not because you told me too.”
“Whatever makes you eat the whole thing. Would you like to talk about what you do remember, or do you want me to fill you in on what you don’t?”
“How about neither?” I say quickly.
“I know this isn’t something you want to do. But Emmaline, I saw how upset you were last night. I saw the bruises and can see them even more clearly now. You brought up dating someone to get him off your back—even though you’re not actually ready to date someone. I know it was proposed as a joke in the moment, but I’m saying yes,” Spencer smiles. “I want to help you out and if you think dating someone is the way to get him to leave you alone, I’m going to be the one to do it.”
“Spencer, that’s crazy. It’s very sweet of you, but no.”
“You know you need help when it comes to him. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have come up with that idea. Besides, it wouldn’t just benefit you. You’d actually be helping me out.”
“So, it’s not just out of pity for me?”
“Nope,” he says, matter of factly. “I can be there at the end of your workdays in case he shows up outside again. Hell, I can even drive you to and from work. I’m always up early anyway. This will also help when I talk to my mom for more than two minutes and she asks if I’ve called Shiloh, or if I’ve gone on any more dates. Now I can tell her that it wouldn’t be appropriate because I have a girlfriend. We can do this for a few months, or until your ex gets the hint.”
He makes a really compelling argument. Which is the only reason why I say, “If you’re sure about this, then I would like it if you would be my fake boyfriend. As long as you know that fake is all it can be.”
Thankfully, Spencer nods in agreement, leading me to ask, “Should we shake on it or something?”
Something catches his eye behind me for a split second before he looks back at me. “Shaking hands doesn’t scream ‘hey we’re dating.’”
Spencer stands, moving next to me, and brushes a flyaway hair behind my ear before kissing my forehead. “That seems like the right move to make as a couple that just started dating,” he whispers. “Call me once you’ve discussed everything with your friends.”
When he walks off, I turn to watch. I mean all of him is extremely attractive, so it’s hard not to stare. That’s when I see Mia standing at the pickup counter looking very surprised and intrigued by what she just witnessed. Spencer wave to her, charming as ever, causing Mia to smirk. She grabs her tea and croissant, hightailing it to my table.
“I assume you saw that little exchange?”
“Sure did,” Mia answers, tilting her head to the side, cat-like smile still firmly in place. “Do tell what that was about.”
I can feel the flush creeping up my neck to my cheeks. But I ignore it and tell her everything about the night before, starting with Chance harassing me since the breakup, and ending with Spencer’s proposition. She’s understandably upset that I didn’t mention anything at dinner.
“Mia, it was your birthday dinner. I didn’t want to make the night about me and my problems. Spencer just happens to be annoyingly observant.”
“I wouldn’t have been upset if you’d brought it up,” she says, and I know she means it. “I noticed you were a little off but thought it was just because work was a doozy.”
“It was, Chance just made it worse. I agreed to dating Spencer, but before he walked away, he said to talk it over with you guys then let him know. Speaking of which, where are Lettie and Piper? Aren’t they usually with you for yoga?”
“They had other things going on today. Lettie said the youth center needed some TLC, so she and a few of the other women were planning on redecorating the bulletin boards. Piper senta text saying ‘the vibes are off this morning. Won’t be coming today.’ Typical Piper reasoning.”
That makes me laugh because if Pipes isn’t feeling 100% sold on something, she will bail on it. I’m sure some people would call her flaky, but the few times we got her to go against that feeling, nothing good came from it.
“So, are you really going to do this thing with him?”
I groan, putting my head in my hands. “I said yes, but I don’t know. If Colette were here, she’d tell me to make a pros and cons list. Maybe that’s what I should do.”
“Well, onemajorpro is that he’s hotter than sin with a butt you could bounce a quarter off of.”
The snort that comes out of me is loud enough that the people around us give me a dirty look. “Right? Even in some of the baggier pants I’ve seen him wear, you can clearly tell he’s got an ass.”
“Plus, if after last night he was still good to offer this, I think you’ve found a winner. Fake and real.”
Oh god, my memory gap from last night. “Was it bad? Did I say something dumb? Oh my god, I didn’t throw up on him, did I?” I ask in quick succession.
“It wasn’t bad, just entertaining. And no, you didn’t throw up on him.”
