Page 14 of Skating and Fake Dating
I squeeze my eyes shut. “Don’t worry, Mom. I’ll be there.”
Before we get off the phone, she makes a few more comments about me missing the rehearsal dinner, along with cautions for my safety after reading a social media post about a transit scam in a country I’ve never heard of.
No sooner do I hang up than the family chat blows up with speculation about me not showing up for the wedding, along with quips like,FiguresandThat’s so Bailey.
But it’s not, and I will be at my ex-boyfriend’s wedding to my cousin even if I have to rent an electric scooter to get home.
CHAPTER 8
BAILEY
Afew paces away on the other end of the sidewalk, Carson waits for his valet rental. Yes, I managed to arrange for him to have car delivery. After perusing transit options, it looks like buses are canceled for me, too.
My shoulders drop. I ought to ask if I can catch a ride with him, but for some reason, I malfunction around the man.
With how much my phone beeps, you’d think I were someone important. I prepare to tell my family that I WILL BE THERE. Yes, in all caps, but it’s Mabel this time. Having caught up on the situation, she grills me, which is decidedly better than having dumped a bucket of dirty laundry water on a guy during a live presser from a locker room. Yeah. No one messes with my girl Mabel. Except for her mother, who is none other than Mary-Ellen McCluskey. Hashtag relatable.
Mabel: Do you get adorably nervous around him?
Me: Nervous? Yes. Is it adorable? No. If you got tongue-tied around a man you had a super secret crush on, I’m sure it would be cute. I’m more in the hot mess category.
Mabel: So you have a super secret crush on him?
Me: No. Definitely not.
Mabel: It’s time for you to stop living in your head and start loving life again.
Me: I do love my life.
Mabel: But you also never know where your car keys are, lose track of days, and are on your fifth pair of sunglasses this year.
Me: Sixth, I left the last pair on the plane. But I like to think of myself as relatable.
Mabel: I say this with love, but what if you start living a little again? You know what they say, happiness is the best revenge.
Me: I was thinking success is the best revenge.
Mabel: But nothing will make Tagg and Tori regret doing you dirty more than seeing you with a huge smile on your face and a hottie on your arm. Just saying.
Wait. What is she saying?
Mabel: You could ask him to pretend to be your boyfriend for the wedding. Just one night. It couldn’t hurt.
Me: Oh, just my career, my pride, and the vestiges of a formal relationship with a professional hockey player.
Mabel: Ha! So you admit that you have a relationship with him.
Me: A professional one.
“Bailey?” Carson calls, punctuating the notion. Yes, a professional relationship that doesn’t cross boundaries like silly cowboy romance dreams of him tickling my ears with his deep accent or being pleasantly squished together in a small space or the way his gaze seems to melt me into a human puddle.
He asks, “Is your ride late?”
“Oh, um, no. I’m just figuring things out. Looks like buses were canceled.”
His brows pinch together. “But didn’t you arrange a rental for me?”
“Of course. I’m surprised they’re not here yet.” I open the We Drive You Ride app on my phone and then look up as a four-wheel-drive Jeep pulls to a stop. The valet gets out and dangles the keys for Carson to take.
