Page 24 of Playing it Country

She rolls her eyes and I swallow hard as I feel sweat start to line my brow. “That literally never leads to anything good.”

“Usually I’d agree, but this is a special circumstance.” Her eyes widen mockingly but I ignore it. “Remember when you pretended to be my girlfriend for, like, thirty seconds?”

“Which time?”

“You choose.”

“I did like the time you got a glass of water dumped in your face. But no, doesn’t ring a bell.”

“Hilarious. Also I’d like the record to show that I saved you from getting wet.”

“An unfortunate situation.”

I open my mouth, close it, and shake my head before trying again. I really wish I could tell her I’d rectify that for her at a later time but Ican’torshouldn’t;it’s all blending together at this point.

“Right now,”—I look up and see Joe and Rodney from Smokin’ Joes standing next to a pretty girl and trying to get my attention—“I need your help.”

“My help…”

“I need you to be my fake girlfriend again. I heard you might need a place to stay, and I can offer you that in exchange for you pretending to like me enough to be my girl.”

“You want me to fake date you?”

“Think of it more like a built-in date.”

“And why do you need a fake girlfriend? I’ve seen the movies—however begrudgingly—and it never works out like they intend.”

“Because suddenly, and I’m talking within the last, like, week alone, people have been comin’ out of the woodwork tryin’ to get me to meet the special girl that would be perfect for me.”

“And you don’t want to real date one of them?”

“I don’t want to feel like I’m on some weird dating game and be accosted every time I step out of the house by some do-gooder tryin’ to wife me up.”

“Wife you up…” She enunciates each word but we literally don’t have time for this. “So you want to hire me to be your escort?”

“Sure, but an escort without benefits because I’m great and I don’t want you to get your heart broken by my overwhelming charm and charisma.”

“I won’t be here long enough to catch feelings, Stud.”

I’ve never been one for nicknames, but for some reason I love the teasingly sexy way she says it.

“Great. It’s perfect then.” When she doesn’t respond I add, “Please?” I’m not above begging, not when Ella from The Poppy Seed is pointing at her friend who isjust a little younger than me but we, like, will have so much in common.Also why are all these random single girls here?

My brother is like the Oprah of plus ones—everyone gets one!

She must hear the desperation in my voice because she subtly scans the surrounding area and bites her bottom lip in a way I can’t think about right now.

“For how long?”

“I don’t know.”

“What are the rules?”

“To be determined,” I say with bated breath.

Shrugging, she takes a step into me and hooks her finger between the buttons in my shirt and pulls me toward her. Her smile is mischievous, and it feels like a record scratch with everyone’s eyes on us.

“You’re popular,” she whispers against my lips. “Better make it good.”

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