Page 43 of Romancing the Grump
“As the social media manager of a team full of gorgeous hockey players,” Parker says dryly, “I’ve asked myself that very question.”
I shake my head, lifting my hands to my face, finding it hard to believe we’re even having this conversation. I part my fingers so I can see Parker through the gap. “Are you really asking me to pretend to be Nathan’s girlfriend?”
“People love a love story,” she says. “If all these women think Nathan’s taken, maybe we can change the narrative. Instead of talking about how much they wish they couldtamehim, they’ll start talking about how much they love seeing him happy.”
“Have you askedhimyet?” I ask.
She quickly shakes her head no. “He has a lot more to gain from this than you do, so I wanted to check with you first.”
I drop my hands, even as heat climbs my cheeks at the thought of Nathan saying no. The truth is, I would have already said yes if we were talking about someone else. Idofeel like an Appie, and Parker has worked so hard to build the brand. If this hashtag keeps spiraling out of control, it’s her problem to manage, so I want to help if only to make her job easier.
But I also want to say yes because this isNathan.Pretending to date him isn’t dating him for real, but it’s close. And that’s incredibly tempting.
So tempting that it’s probably why I should sayno.
“Parker, I don’t know if I can,” I say. “I want to help, but this is slightly more complicated for me.”
She nods, her expression warm and open. “Okay. Talk me through what you’re feeling.”
I open my mouth to explain, but the words freeze in my throat, and I roll my eyes over how hard this feels. I’ve admitted my feelings to Lucy. I can admit them to Parker, too. But after the last twenty-four hours with Nathan, everything feels so much bigger. Like there’s somehow more at stake.
“I like Nathan,” I finally say. “Like, I like him for real.”
Parker eyes me curiously. “Okay. But…wouldn’t this be a good thing? A way to get to know him better?”
“Only if he werealsointerested inme,” I say, “and he’s not. Believe me. We’ve talked about it, and he’s made that perfectly clear.”
Her face falls. “So you’d be pretending, knowing that?—”
“It will onlyeverbe pretend.”
Even as I finish her sentence, a tiny part of me doubts my words. After the way Nathan got jealous when I was talking to Franklin last night, I have to wonder if there’s notsomethingthere.
But the truth that has to matter the most is the one Nathan is willing to own. Who cares if he feels attraction if he’s never willing to act on it?
“You don’t have to do it, Summer,” Parker says. “I wouldn’t have even asked had I known.”
“I know. I appreciate that.”
She’s quiet for a beat before she says, “Please don’t take this as me trying to convince you, because your real life is more important than anything that happens on social media, but…are yousureNathan isn’t interested? I mean, I’ve onlyseen the two of you together a few times, but I definitely feel like there’s chemistry.”
A tiny spark shoots through me at her words, but I quickly tamp it down. “I don’t think it’s that he isn’t into me so much as it’s just a general disinterest in relationships altogether,” I explain.
This makes Parker beam. “Then he can totally change his mind,” she says. “Once he gets to know you, realizes how amazing you are, he’ll come around.”
I almost contradict her. I joked about living in a rom-com, but it’s only in the books that men like Nathan actually change. It’s only in fiction that the man whoneverdates and never wants to settle down finally meets the right woman and turns into an instantly monogamous family man, ready to have children and adopt puppies and build white picket fences.
But that isn’t real life.
And yet, I can’t squelch the hope that this time, Parker is right.
It’s that hope that’s going to make me abandon all sense of logic and say yes.
“I’ll do it,” I say.
Parker’s eyes widen. “You’ll do it?”
I’ll almost definitely regret it.
