Page 13 of The Fake Dating Plan

“All of the above.”

“And I’m supposed to say yes to what exactly?”

“Whatever she asks.”

“And if I say no?”

“We made a deal, remember?”

My eyes narrowed. What was he getting me into?

“Don’t worry about it. It’s nothing you can’t handle.” He stood up as if this meeting was over and went to the door.

“That’s it? You make some vague request…”

“This isn’t a request.”

“And you think I’ll say yes to it even though I have nothing to go on. What if she asks me to, I don’t know, take drugs!”

“She won’t.”

“Then what’s the ask?”

“You’ll find out.” And with that, he was out. Asshole.

Everything progressed fast soon after that. Two more meetings were held. This time including lawyers nitpicking the contracts. Negotiations were made and further adjustments to the deal were done before we could sign off. I was so busy, I even forgot about Ax’s strange request. When the signing was done, Ax and I both shook hands on it.

“We should celebrate,” he said.

“Now?”

He checked his phone. “Why not? The day is almost over?” I glanced at Laura and Dylan. They looked beat from all the running around they had to do over the past few weeks. We all could do with a little break.

I nodded.

“Great.”

A few moments later everyone else was getting into town cars and I ended up standing alone with Ax. He gestured to an open car. I got in and he came to sit beside me.

“I thought you’d have your own ride.”

“This is it.”

“Then I’ll get into another car,” I said, my hand on the door handle.

“They’re all gone unless you want to catch a taxi.” I sat back and crossed my arms against my chest. He smirked. “Don’t worry, I won’t bite.”

We sat in awkward silence for the entire trip. I was sure part of it was some ploy to unnerve me, and it was working. I was constantly thinking of topics that were safe and weren’t too banal, like asking him about the weather. I turned to him and saw that his attention was on his phone and felt like a fool for bothering to want to chat. I took out mine. There were five missed calls. All from Heron. I had put my phone on silent, and it still was. There was a message from him as well.

Heron:Where are you?

I’m pretty sure Kira hadn’t told him we had gone to KMVH, and I was grateful for her forward-thinking. Whatever excuse she had given him must not have worked if he was bothering me like this. Had he heard? Had Ax said something? I glanced at him. I couldn’t see him doing something like it before signing. He was that cautious. Plus, we had both agreed to keep it confidential until everything was done.

My finger hovered on the reply button. What would I say to him? The truth? He would blow a fuse. I will deal with him later. Instead, I opened my second favorite app. Things had progressed nicely since I was gone. I even got a reward for my absence. I smiled. I spent a few more minutes on it, my surroundings disappearing as I concentrated on the task at hand.

“What are you doing over there?” I felt his presence and when I looked up, I saw him staring down at my phone. “You’re playing a game?”

I felt a blush creep up. I’m usually good at hiding my mobile gaming addiction unless the person is as nosy as Mr. Gossip Girl over here. “What? You had some pressing matter you wanted to discuss with me?”

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