Page 61 of As They Are
“Yeah.”
“So, you’re not really dating?”
“Nope.”
“Dale won all that money for nothing?”
I raised an eyebrow. “Is that your first thought here?”
“Well, no. My first thought is a bunch of confused exclamation points. But the second is that if he knows he didn’t really win, that’s gonna behuge.”
“The goal is for no one to know. We look like we’re dating and we have to.”
“When did Henry agree to this?”
I cleared my throat. “After I did it.”
Mollie gasped.“Wren!”
“I know, I know. Not my best decision. He wasn’t thrilled with me, but we worked it out. I owe him big-time, but he’s on board.”
“So, he’s dating you for show to get you out of everything with Jude, and what is he getting in return?”
“Nothing right now. He said he didn’t want me to do it either.”
“He’s saving your ass and asking for nothing?” She let out a laugh. “What a guy.”
“I’m gonna figure something out ... eventually. I have to tackle one problem at a time. And the next problem is gonna be my director.”
“Was she mad?”
“Furious.”
“Well, maybe she shouldn’t be pushing you with a guy like Jude. Or with anyone at all, for that matter.” Mollie crossed her arms. “Serves her right.”
“She’s not gonna take this lying down. She wants Jude and me to pretend to be together, but Ican’t.Now that I have an out, I have to use it. Seeing him today was miserable.”
Mollie narrowed her eyes at me. “You’ve been sad ever since you finished season one. What did he say to you to start all of this?”
“Nothing that’s worth mentioning.”
“Is it not worth mentioning, or are you not wanting to talk about it?”
I shrank into myself and looked out the window. “You’re gonna hate him when I tell you.”
“He’s already not my favorite person.”
“Okay, fine. He said he could never see himself being with someone so ... manly.”
Mollie’s jaw dropped. “He ...what?How dare he! You’re a fuckingcatch.”
“I know,” I lied. “I’m definitely a catch.”
Maybe if I said it enough, I would believe it. But deep down, I knew how off-putting I could be. It had happened many times before. To people important to me. People who should have loved me.
“I can’t believe him. No wonder you wanna get away.”
And I needed to. I didn’t know how I would get through this season if I hadn’t made up something to get me away from Jude.
