Page 7 of Lost in You (Flirting with Forever 1)

I give myself a quick shake and nod my understanding.

She barrels on, and I can tell from the downward tilt of her lips that this whole situation has really gotten to her. “The pity party is the worst. I have no doubt I’ll be asked a ton of times about whether I’m seeing anyone, and the looks on their faces when I say, again, ‘No, no one special right now.’ Well, it gets freaking old, Shawn.”

Out of nowhere, my mouth opens, and I speak before I’ve actually had a chance to think things through. “Why don’t you let me go with you?” I clear my throat, which suddenly feels thick. “I mean, I could—if you wanted me to.” My gaze settles on her, and I wait for it to sink in what I’ve just offered. What the fuck did I just do? Oh, boy.

I just hate to see her so worked up over something like this because I get it. I truly do. I haven’t dated anyone seriously since Dana. Something in me makes me want to do whatever I can to protect Madison from the hurt of the situation. To some, it may not be a big deal to just go it alone. But for her it is, and that’s all that matters.

A wide range of emotions surge through her, showing on her face—confusion, embarrassment, and … hope? Yep, I’m pretty sure that’s what that is, and it makes me feel better for offering. Maybe it wasn’t such a crazy idea after all.

Her eyes flicker up to mine, the sheen of what I think are unshed tears in them making the green impossibly vibrant and beautiful. “You’d … you would go with me?”

I shrug and smile, trying to play it off as no big deal. “Sure. Why not? There probably won’t be any people I know. I love a little road trip. An adventure? Why not?”

“And you’d …” Her voice hitches, and she pauses, wetting her lips. “You’d pretend to be my boyfriend?” She looks down at the bar as she traces her fingers in the condensation left behind by her water glass.

I rub my hand over the stubble on my jaw, thinking. I nod. “You’ll have all the other girls jealous. I’ll be such a good fake boyfriend you’ll forget it’s not real.”

She swallows hard at that last statement, but ignores it in favor of responding to the first thing I said. “I’m not trying to make them jealous.”

“Doesn’t matter.” I wink at her. “They will be. Wait until you see my moves on the dance floor.” I shimmy my hips and do a little spin in front of her.

She shakes her head with a small chuckle and mumbles to herself, “This has got to be the most insane idea ever.”

I reach across the bar and touch a finger to her chin to get her to look at me. Mistake. Holy mistake. Energy shoots through my arm and zips along my spine, the room suddenly way too hot. I snatch my hand back and swallow hard, not quite understanding what’s just happened. Doing my best to shake the feeling off, I implore, “Come on—drinks, dancing, people watching, cake? How can we go wrong? And you’ll have your family and all the nosy people off your back because they’ll all think we’re together.” Tilting my head, I watch her for a reaction, pick up another glass, and wipe it dry.

“Okay.” Her acceptance of my offer is no more than a whisper swept away by the wind that has begun to howl outside. “Put your number into my phone for me, would you?” She pats herself down until she finds it and slides it across the bar to me.

I plug my number in and then text myself so I have hers. “Done. Now, how about we get you home?”

Chapter 3

Madison

When I wake in the morning with only a slight pounding in my head, I know I have Shawn to thank. He’d driven me home, then made sure I drank another bottle of water and had some ibuprofen before he left. I think I remember him saying something about how it would be a rough last day before vacation if I had to go to work hungover. My brain ticks around for a second as I lie in bed for the last few minutes before my alarm goes off. He’d said he’d text me about the details for this weekend.

Wait. This weekend! Had I imagined all that? Had I really agreed to have him attend this wedding with me … as my fake boyfriend? My throat goes dry as I scramble through the events of the previous evening in my head, trying to remember every little bit of our conversation after Sophia, Quinn, and Heath had left the bar.

It had been his idea, if I remember correctly. He’d seemed like he genuinely wanted to help. And now I can’t help but wonder—is he really going to follow through? It’s not like we knew each other that well before, and I haven’t spoken to him since I split with Chase.

Oh God, what was I thinking? We’re going to attempt to fake a relationship in front of my entire family. How would this possibly work?

I suddenly feel like I may throw up, and it’s not because of the drinking last night. I’m nervous.

My ex’s best friend. My ex’s very hot best friend. And I’ve agreed to let him pretend to love me this weekend. A swift rush of heat washes over me, warming parts of my body better left unmentioned.

No one—and I mean no one—knows this, but I’d totally had a little crush on him in high school. Nothing ever came of it. Of course it hadn’t because I hadn’t done anything about it. He was a cute, sweet guy, and always seemed just a little out of my reach. He was the nice person who’d help the music teacher after school. He’d held doors for people. He’d been the one who’d say hello to the new kid in the hallway. He was a kindhearted guy, if a little broody at times. I’d always just chalked that up to his musician’s heart because, man, had he played a mean guitar.

Then the next time Shawn and I’d circled in the same orbit, I’d been dating his best friend. A friend had introduced me to Chase, and I remember thinking it was funny I’d never really noticed him in high school. I’d been so into Shawn, Chase had paled in comparison. Imagine my surprise when my crush showed up at the bar to meet us and hang out. It was like the wind had been knocked straight out of me. Fate is cruel sometimes. I’d stuffed my schoolgirl feelings down, all lingering thoughts about Shawn buried deep.

I’d kept my distance as much as possible for a while. But when I’d heard Shawn was involved with a nice girl, I’d breathed a sigh of relief. At least there would be no more awkward outings with just the three of us. We’d even hung out as a foursome once or twice. I hadn’t been jealous of his sweetness with her. Nope, not at all. Liar.

I’d been shocked only a few months later when I’d found out Shawn had cheated on Dana. It had seemed so out of character, but I’d seen the evidence with my own eyes, and Chase had casually shrugged his shoulders, like it was a normal thing for a guy to do.

Who knows what causes people to cheat anyway; I’d certainly never thought Chase would do that to me, but eventually he had.

Men, they kind of suck. The whole situation made me overly cautious to date or get close to anyone.

I’ve even continued to live in the same town as Shawn for over two years now and have barely even seen him. Maybe in the back of my head, I’ve avoided him, not wanting to deal with what I knew he’d done.

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