Page 47 of Wild Catch
“All right, I’ll start from the beginning.” I put both hands on the table. “The videos that have gone viral of the two of us have brought unprecedented traffic to our social media accounts, and it’s starting to reflect in the ticket and merchandising earnings.”
Logan pushes the sleeves of his shirt up his forearms and folds his arms. A second later I realize why that had to be the succession of actions. His forearms, corded with defined muscles and thick ropes of veins, seem to grow in size with his arms folded. I wonder if he’s torn his clothes before just from simple movements that no one else has to consider.
A second later, he lifts one eyebrow slowly. “Is that so?”
Somehow I resist the urge to squirm.
“Yes. Spoiler alert, your jersey’s the top bestseller right now. The next one is a very distant second.” And all of this is true, I did some research in preparation for this conversation.
“And how does this pertain to me dating you?” Why is a corner of his lips rising like that? “Or not.”
“That’s what I’m getting to.” Here I pause to rearrange myself on my seat. Logan must know I’m stalling, because he diverts his attention to turning on the grill on the table and taking utensils from the cup against the wall. He puts two chopsticks on his napkin, and a fork and knife on mine. “Erm…”
“I’m listening.” He leans back once more, tilting his head back in a way that makes his eyes half close. When he looks at me like that, my train of thought derails twice more before I figure out that the alcohol is hitting me.
Of course I know that Logan Kim is conventionallyveryattractive. There’s just no wayIam finding him attractive, though, not when I don’t care about guys who are out of my league.
I reach for more liquid courage and he stops me—by grabbing my hand with his much larger, hotter, calloused one, and prying mine away from the bottle. I watch as he pours me another shot.
“Drink slower this time.”
I don’t. I slam that shit like it’s my job, and he shakes his head at me.
After wiping my mouth with the back of my hand and finding that the third shot had less kick, I continue. “So anyway, the marketing team would like to make a series of videos with the two of us. We haven’t really defined the particulars—we’d prefer to have your okay before we think any further about this. But basically, we’d let the public think that there’s something between us to keep them hooked.”
“Fake dating?” He blinks hard. “That only happens in books.”
I reel back. “How do you know that?”
“What? I read books.” Logan frowns, fully offended.
“But… romance books?”
“I read everything. Even picture books.” He folds those thick arms again.
A waitress comes bearing an enormous tray packed with tiny round dishes that she starts loading onto our table. Logan helps her make space for more, and I’m distracted from the food by picturing Logan Kim reading a big romance tome with a straight face. Only when the big dishes come—bowls of rice, a pile of lettuce leaves, and a mountain of raw meat—do I finally snap out of it.
Wait, are those scissors? And a tong?
“Wait, wait.” I try to take it all in at once. “What do I do? How do I eat this?”
“I’ll show you,” he responds in that deep, slightly velvety voice of his. “First, we have to grill the meat.” Using the tongs, he grabs little mounds of the meat and spreads them evenly over the surface of the grill. He sets the tongs down on the plate with yet more raw meat, and tips his head at me. “So, fake dating.”
I shake my head hard. “Right, I guess that’s what it is. It would only have to be in front of the camera though, no big deal.”
“Is that what you think?” His lips pinch into an expression of pity. “The second a fan catches us being all…” He motions between us. “Like this to each other, that illusion will be shattered and that’ll be all social media talks about.”
I blow a raspberry. “So what are you suggesting? That we fake date twenty-four-seven?”
“Definitely not on rest days.” He picks up the tongs and starts flipping meat.
I open and close my mouth, flabbergasted. Like, I expected outright refusal but that’s not it. He’s proposing we go above and beyond.
And a potential promotion of my dreams awaits down the line. Doesn’t seem like a huge sacrifice to me.
“Fine, go big or go home, right?” I shrug like this is no biggie. “We fake date beyond the camera to be really convincing and get even more viral. Does this mean you’re in?”
“No.”
