Page 33 of The Problem with Perfect

“No, I heard that part. I’m just…confused as to why.”

“Because we’re dating.”

I say it like it’s not a big deal, like it’s nothing to tell one of my closer friends I have a girlfriend for the first time in ten years, as if Jackson should just smile and say ‘That’s cool’ and move the conversation back to the wall paneling options we’ve been staring at for the past hour.

But itisa big deal. I know it is because it took me that entire hour of staring unseeing at different wood types and stains to work up the nerve to tell him.

I’ve never intentionally lied to anyone, and I’m quickly realizing this thing with Bellamy is going to require me to fudge the rules a bit. The way I’m getting around it is telling myself we actuallyaredating. We both agreed to it; it’s just there isn’t any romance involved, and to be honest, do other people really need that information? With this logic, telling Jackson I’m dating Bellamy is not an outright lie. It’s just omitting information that isn’t anyone’s business anyway.

Ignoring how all that sounds like bullshit even to me, I turn and look at the blueprint that’s laid out on the pop-up table.

“I feel like I’ve been hearing that shiplap is overdone. If wearegoing to use it, we should do it sparingly.”

Jackson laughs. “The guy tells me he’s dating someone and then starts talking about shiplap.”

When I glance back at him, I find him shaking his head with a smile on his face.

“Well, that’s why we’re here, isn’t it? I mean, we’ve been staring at this shit for an hour.”

He crosses his arms and clears his throat. “Alright. If you want to pretend it’s nothing, it’s nothing.” He kicks off the wall and walks to the other side of the table, staring down at the blueprint as well.

I sigh.

I guess it was foolish of me to think I could tell Jackson this kind of information and have it be a super quick, simple thing. I mean, the guy was there when I started dating Hailey, and even though he was still at school once I moved back to Cedar Point, he saw the hit I took when she called it quits. For Jackson, hearing that I’m dating someone, that I have a girlfriend, is a really big deal.

And this is where the lying part comes into play, because it feels horrible to talk to Jackson about someone I’m dating when, in reality, the whole thing is a farce. I feel like I’m manipulating my friend when that’s not the intention at all. If Bellamy and I are going to lean into this relationship—if we are really going to convince people it’s real—inviting her to a family dinner is a surefire way to prove a point, to prove things aren’t just real, they’re serious.

“Fine.” I cross my arms. “What do you want to know?”

Jackson laughs again and rubs at the back of his neck.

“What do I want to know?” he asks. “What do Inotwant to know? I mean, how did this even happen? When have the two of you been spending time together? How did I not know? How doesBoydfeel about it?”

I let out a long breath at his string of questions and remind myself to be careful about how I answer. The story we gave Connor and Stace about how we started dating won’t make as much sense to Jackson, who has quite a hand in our company’s finances, so I have to figure out how to give him the same story without making it sound too much different than what we said at dinner.

“Well, she just got her bachelor’s degree in accounting, and she asked if she could look at our budget and past tax documents so she could get an understanding of a real business’s finances, rather than a hypothetical one from her exam books. We just…started spending time together.”

“And you, what…realized she was the one to get Rusty Fuller to commit? To give up his playboy ways?”

I roll my eyes. “I guess.”

“And Boyd? You told him already, I’m assuming.”

“I did,” I reply, nodding. “He was a bit irritated at first, but he came around.” I lean across the table and poke Jackson in the chest. “Somebody else showed me the importance of talking to a friend when you’re going to start dating his sister, showed me it makes a big difference.”

Jackson smiles and shakes his head again.

“What?”

“Nothing, man. I’m just surprised is all.”

“Yeah, me too,” I answer honestly. “But it’s a good thing. For both of us, I think.”

“And it’s serious?”

I pause before I speak again. “Yeah.”

This time it’s Jackson who leans across the table. He slaps me on the shoulder twice, a wide grin across his face. “I’m stoked for you, man. Really, I am.”

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