Page 71 of One Week Wingman

“This reunion…” I chuckle. “Is everyone in town pitching in?”

“Just about,” Evan says. “I can’t wait for it to be over, Nita is buzzing on a whole different frequency of stress, with all these old school memories around.” He gives a sigh. “What do you say? I’ve got breakfast burritos,” he adds, waving his diner bags.

I don’t have anything else planned for the morning, so I shrug. “Sure, I can lend a hand.”

I hop in Evan’s truck with him, and we head on over to the high school. There’s already a group inside the main auditorium. Jeremy and Colin, who I met at the bar, are busy constructing a lighting rig, and some other guys are building some kind of scaffolding structure for the decorations.

Led, of course, by the DIY king himself, Jason.

“Hey, man,” he greets me with a friendly smile. “Good to see you. Want to grab the other end of that board?”

“Sure thing.” I help him haul it into place. The guy looks like he just stepped out of some TV property show, in a brawny T-shirt and faded denim.

The fact he used to date Roxy shouldn’t bother me, but for some reason, I feel a stab of jealousy.

Did the two of them go park at the lake, and get up to all kinds of trouble in the backseat?

I grit my teeth and focus on lifting. When the board is in place, Jason steps back, taking a drink of water from the floral-print bottle I’m guessing belongs to Daisy. “So, I heard the two of you got in some trouble last night,” he says, shooting me a sideways glance.

“Ha, I guess the small town gossip tree really is working overtime.” I say.

“I was kind of surprised, to be honest,” Jason continues. “Roxy isn’t exactly a rule-breaker. At least, not when I knew her.”

“Well, that was a long time ago,” I reply, feeling that hint of jealousy again. “I guess she’s changed.”

“I guess so.” Jason pauses, getting a nostalgic smile. “Man, being here again really brings all the memories back. Big games… Dances… Did Roxy tell you we went to prom together?”

“Nope. Let me guess,” I reply, a little clipped. “You were King and Queen.”

Jason chuckles. “Nah, that wasn’t her style. She was too focused on studying to pay attention to the popularity contests. That was one of the things we all loved about her,” he adds. “She had this focus, you know? A drive. Like she had the world figured out, and she was going to make big things happen.”

There’s a look in his eyes that makes me wonder, are these just old memories talking, or does he still have a torch for her?

And why does that idea bug me so much?

“Roxy is a force of nature,” I say. “And the passion… Wow. We just had this immediate connection when we met. Couldn’t keep our hands off each other,” I can’t help continuing, playing up the whole Stefano story. “But hey, the whole town knows that by now. Was it like that for you and Daisy?” I add deliberately.

Jason clears his throat, looking bashful. “Uh, yeah. Daisy’s great. Obviously.”

“You guys seem a great match,” I add. “Like me and Roxy. Guess everything worked out the way it was supposed to, right?”

I meet his eyes dead-on, telegraphing one very simple message:

Hands off. She’s mine now.

“Hey… Less gossip, more heavy lifting.” Evan interrupts us, with a look like maybe he knows things could be getting tense.

“Fine with me.” I step outside to take a break and cool off from my uncharacteristic jealousy. I know it’s all part of our fake relationship, to make sure everyone thinks I’m crazy about the woman, but that wasn’t just for show with Jason back there.

I wanted him to know, Roxy’s off-limits and way out of his league now.

With me.

I ignore that thought, and check my phone instead, finding a missed call from Natalia. Damn. I quickly call her back.

“Sebastian, good news,” she answers. “I don’t know what you said to change his mind, but my father wants to meet again. We can hear your full pitch for partnership—if you’re still interested, of course.”

“Am I?” I echo, feeling a surge of excitement. “Absolutely! Name the date and time.”

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