Page 13 of Kicking it with my Fake Fiancé
“Yeah,” I said. “I… um… sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you. I had to use the bathroom and I… I’ll just be right back, okay?”
“Ja, okei.” He sank back down onto the pillow and lay there, blue eyes blinking at the ceiling while I disappeared to do my business.
As I was washing my hands, I was startled by the rapping of knuckles on the front door of the apartment. I froze, wondering who it could possibly be at that hour.
“Hallo? Hvem er det?” Matty called. He padded across the wood floor barefoot a moment later.
My stomach ached distantly at the sound of his voice sleepily calling out in Norwegian. I washed my face and ran my damp fingers through my hair before opening the bathroom door, brow furrowed.
“Good morning,” Steve called from the vestibule as I opened the bathroom door, far too cheerfully. “Are you ready for another day?”
I groaned inwardly.Not especially.
“Good morning,” Matty said. “We were just waking.”
“Not a problem. We can duck outside and scope out some good spots for interviews, maybe walk around and get some B-roll footage of the area. Today will mostly be low-key, filming various interactions until the cookout, so we’ll get a few minutes of you doing whatever you’d like—walking to the park, or shopping together, anything you can think of that’s domestic or cozy—until your friends start to arrive.”
“Thanks. Good to see you guys again,” I said before ducking into the bedroom.
Matty came in and shut the door. He looked at me, eyebrows raised, and opened his mouth to speak, but before he could say anything, I jumped in.
“I’m sorry,” I blurted as quietly as possible, not wanting Steve and Brock to hear.
His brow furrowed. “For what?”
“The… snuggling with you in your sleep.”
“Oh,” he murmured. “I…” He shook his head and scrubbed his hands over his face before running his fingers through his blond hair, his cheeks growing pink. After a few moments, he exhaled sharply and nodded once. “We can discuss it later.”
I nodded, my stomach roiling in an entirely different way than before and rummaged through the shopping bags to find something comfortable to wear for the day. Once we were dressed and cleaned up, we made our way into the living room and Matty put on a pot of coffee to brew. Steve and Brock were nowhere to be seen, and I breathed a sigh of relief.
“What should we do today?” I asked brightly, trying to sound as casual as possible.
“I need to go shopping for the cookout this afternoon. I thought you could accompany me if you’d like. You could rest here instead if the jet lag is too bad. Maybe nap.”
As tempted as I was to hide from him and nap to avoid thinking about our impromptu cuddle session, I also wanted to spend as much time in his company as possible—and not just because of the cameras. Despite the awkwardness of waking up with my best friend in my arms, he was still my best friend, and I was still excited to spend time with him in his hometown, my first trip out of the country. “No, of course I’ll go with you.”
Matty handed me a cup of coffee. “Okay.” He paused to sip his coffee and then sighed quietly. “Listen…”
“I know,” I said. “I’m so sorry. It won’t happen again.”
“It was as much my fault as yours. I don’t know what happened.”
I nodded and looked down into my coffee cup. “We can just agree it won’t happen again and move on, right?”
Matty hesitated and when I looked back at him, he pressed his lips together firmly for a moment. “If that’s what you want.”
“I think it’s best for both of us. We don’t want to complicate things, right?”
“Right.” He sipped his coffee again. “Okay.”
“Okay,” I echoed.
Matty set his cup on the counter and let out one last little sigh. “Let’s make a grocery list.”
The day flew by. I helped Matty decide what to serve at the cookout, making several suggestions to Americanize it, as well as peppering him with questions about Norwegian food, and we spent the morning shopping before spending the afternoon preparing the meal together, reminiscing for the camera and laughing, as well as talking about his plans for my week-long visit. Matty wasn’t moving back with me right away—we had to wait until the visa came through—but we wanted to make the most of our time together. We were taking a trip to Kristiansand the next day, to visit his mom and brother. The whole time, Steve and Brock were close on our heels, Steve coaching us on what he’d like us to say or do, making us repeat things if they weren’t quite good enough for the camera.
As for the rest of the trip, he hadn’t made any concrete plans, but he did have a ton of suggestions. We could sightsee in Drammen, visit breweries, go swimming in the fjord or at the water park, see an incredible sculpture park in Oslo, or so many other things. I mostly wanted to relax, and assured Matty that I didn’t care what we did, as long as we got to spend time together.
