Page 55 of In the Net
She huffs. “Not this again.”
“It literally solves every one of your problems. You get a date for the wedding. It’s someone who will make your mean girl cousins jealous and impress the rest of your family enough for them to realize you have no problem finding a guy. All that, and without you having to put yourself through all these dates you don’t even want to go on.”
Plus, if I do this, I’ll feel less indebted to her. Pretending to be her boyfriend is nothing compared to the favor she did in pushing me to see Bryce, but at least it’s something. I’ll feel better if I can repay at least a fraction of what she did for me.
“I don’t know …”
There it is. A crack in her defenses.
“It makes all the sense in the world. You don’t have to string a whole relationship along for months when you only want it for one wedding date. We know enough about each other that it won’t be hard to fool your family into thinking we’ve been spending time together.”
Her mouth twists. “Yeah, but what we know about each other, we don’t like.”
Ouch. It’s only the truth, but why did those words feel like a punch to the gut?
“Maybe so. But we can fake it.”
She pulls her bottom lip between her teeth thoughtfully. That soft, wet lip. I felt it sliding across my own, but I haven’t felt my teeth scraping against it. Haven’t felt my tongue pushing past it to seek more of her taste …
“This is crazy. Stupid, even.”
I give her a wry wiggle of my brows. “It’s one of my ideas, after all.”
That actually earns me a reluctant smile. “Fine.”
I don’t know why my lips are tugging up so high and wide. “Next order of business. Pet names.”
Her expression drops, eyes becoming weary. “This is going to be a long month and a half.”
“Let’s meet tomorrow to discuss the details?”
Her chest expands on a deep breath before she lets it out in a heavy sigh. “Fine.” She looks at me, rolling her eyes preemptively like she can read my mind. “Please don’t say it …”
“It’s a date.”
22
HARPER
My roommates have been tittering like schoolgirls all evening.
“Are you and Sebastian going to his place or coming back here after your date?” Maddie asks from where the girls are sitting in the living room. “Because if it’s back here, let me know so I can buy a pair of earplugs.”
Scarlett and Jasmine erupt in laughter while my jaw pops open.
“Maddie,” I groan reproachfully, rolling my head back. “Not you, too.”
I can only expect that kind of joke from the other two, but not from her!
She’s such a sweetheart that her cheeks are rosy, wearing a guilty look when she answers, “Sorry, couldn’t resist.”
“She’s right, though,” Scarlett nods. “When those two finally hate-fuck after years of pent-up frustration, it’ll probably be heard all over town.”
My eyebrows elevator down. “There’s nothingpent-upbetween me and Sebastian, trust me.”
In response, Jasmine just wiggles her eyebrows to Scarlett and Maddie, and my three roommates start tittering again.
While they’re sitting nice and relaxed and deriving endless amusement from the fact that I’m waiting for Sebastian to pick me up for a fake date, I’m pacing up and down the hallway by the door, knotted up with nerves and anxiety.
