Page 60 of Betting on You

“No,” she said, still crying. “This is big-time. I’m seriously grounded formonths.”

“Noooooooo,” I groaned. It was too late for me to get out of the trip now, and I’d been so nice to Scott for letting Nekesa come along that he was totally going to push the whole I-want-to-be-your-pal agenda in her absence.

“Listen, I know you won’t want to,” she said, sniffling before loudly blowing her nose, “but what if you take Charlie?”

“Whaaat? What? WHAT!?No.” That was ridiculous.Right?It was ridiculous. I couldn’t takeCharlie, dear God. That was batshit bonkers. My voice was a little high-pitched when I asked, “Why would I do that?”

“Listen.” She cleared her throat and said, “I mentioned the idea to Theo, and he agrees that it could—”

“When did you talk to Theo?” I interrupted.She told Theo she was grounded before even telling me?

“I just got off the phone with him.”

Whoa.I tried to sound casual when I asked, “You guys talk on the phone now?”

“Sometimes, but it’s no big deal,” she said, brushing it off. “Aaron knows and he’s fine with it.”

Should he be? I wondered how to proceed, because even though it wasn’t my business and she didn’t sound concerned, it felt like my friendly duty was to intervene.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” I said, trying to keep my voice light and breezy. Though I was anything but.

I knew Charlie would tell me to butt out, but Nekesa’shappiness was more important to me. I needed her to slow down and think before she had regrets. I said, “Don’t you think Theo is rather flirty with you?”

“Nah, he’s just a playful guy,” she said, and I could tell she truly believed it. “So anyway. Back to the trip. Call Charlie.” Huh. That was a quick change of topic, but… okay. I decided to dismiss it and focus on the current tragedy at hand.

I let myself flop back onto my mattress, starting to freak out at the mere idea of Charlie and me in Breckenridge. “I cannot take him on this trip—comeon.”

“You don’t want to go alone, and he’s your other bestie. Whynot?”

There were a million reasons, starting with the fact that he wasCharlie Sampson.

Also—my other bestie?? Where. When. Why? How???

“Not only should you take Charlie,” she said, “but what do you think about pretending to date him?”

“What?Have you lost yourmind?” I said, a little too loudly, when my mom and Scott were asleep in the room next door. I lowered my voice and said, “Noway.”

I couldn’t evenimagineit. It was weird enough when Charlie asked me to go to his friend’s party with him for support in dealing with his ex. But this was different. Pretending to be into Charlie romantically? Exploring whatthatentailed? No. No way.

Just the thought of it filled my stomach with nervous stressful butterflies, but it didn’t matter because it wasn’t happening.

Noway.

“You two always say you’re only friends, right? Like, no chem whatsoever…?”

“Right. Absolutely no chemistry,” I said, which was true.For the most part.There might’ve been a small workplace flirtation that elevated my blood pressure, but it’d already been established in my mind that it was nothing. NOTHING. Two humans that happened to stand close together, and body temps naturally increase in moments like that. It was science. And NOT the chemistry kind of science.

Still, that didn’t mean I wanted to embark upon a weekend full of awkward false affections. No, no thank you. I added, “I’m actually feeling queasy at the mere thought of me and Charlie.”

“So who cares, then? Fake date the hell out of him. Do you realize the amount of tension that can be added to the Breckenridge weekend if you show up holding hands with Charlie?”

Holding hands?That felt… dangerous somehow.

“Nekesa, dear, this is real life,” I said. “Not a Hallmark movie.” Fake dating happened in movies, not in the normal world. It was wild that this behavior was even being suggested, and especially by my practical friend Nekesa.

“Just do it,” she said, sniffling. “What do you have to lose?”

God, Scottwouldabsolutely lose his shit. It could even ruin the whole trip for him, which the good part of me didn’t want but the desperate part of me did. “But couldn’t I add the tensionwithoutfake dating him? Not that I’m even considering this, but his presence alone would make things testy. I don’t think I’d need to pretend to be into him.”

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