Page 42 of The Broposal

“I owe you one,” I said. There was no way I was giving Jackie the satisfaction of waiting on her. Unfortunately, I still had to wait on all the tables next to her. Which meant I needed to become an expert in avoiding eye contact, even though I could feel her glares whenever I passed by.

I put all my nervous energy into performing the relationship with Han to its fullest. Two could play at her game. I slipped Han goo-goo eyes every time I went to the kitchen to get a plate. Soon enough, I forgot all about Jackie and just focused on Han.

When I took a plate from him, I let my fingers linger on his gloved hand for a moment longer than necessary. Han bit back a grin, like he was trying not to laugh.

“Get a room,” Tatiana joked as she grabbed a plate next to the one I was getting. Han retracted his hand.

“S-sorry… We were just—” He stumbled over his words.

“Just being in looove?” Julia said from behind my shoulder.

“I didn’t—we weren’t—” Han started, the sudden tension confusing me.

“Relax, babe… What’s wrong?” I said, hoping he wasn’t about to have a panic attack or something.

Then Daniel walked by, giving Han—but not me—a warning glance. And it hit me. Han was afraid of getting in trouble. So I kept my hands to myself and made it a point not to flirt when Daniel was around. When I went back out, Jackie was gone.

Before we celebrated at the end of the day, I made it a point to carefully count the money, letting out a sigh of relief when nothing was missing. With that settled, I could focus on cake. Now that we were off the clock, Han loosened up with the flirting. He even held my hand without being prompted.

Surprisingly, Daniel was one of the people who stayed for cake and ice cream, and he was weirdly supportive now that our shifts were over. He discreetly pulled me aside, wrapping a casual arm around my shoulder.

“You sure you’re up for this?” His tone was hushed.

“What do you mean?” I asked, taken aback.

“I’m just going to be blunt here…” he said with a sigh. “I think Alejandro might be using you. He’s sure got a lot to gain from marrying you, doesn’t he?”

“He’s not using me,” I said firmly.

“Just trying to look out for you, buddy. That’s all,” he said, then took his arm off my shoulder and went back to the group like nothing happened. If Daniel was suspicious already, we really needed to be careful.

“So, how long have you two been together?” Julia asked, pulling me back into the conversation.

“Officially, a couple of weeks, but it’s been a lifetime in the making. When we both finally realized we felt the same about each other, how could we wait?” I looked over to Han, who reached for my hand and smiled.

“We’ve done enough waiting, that’s for sure.” Han laughed. “We’ve known each other since we were six.”

“Talk about a slow burn,” Tatiana said.

Han’s hand trembled in mine, so I gave it a supportive squeeze. Why was he so nervous? We had already performed our relationship for both our families; I would have thought our co-workers would have been no big deal.

After a bit of celebrating, Daniel kicked everyone out to lock up. When Han and I left, I almost jumped out of my skin at who was waiting on the bench outside, eating frozen yogurt. Had Jackie been waiting for me? I accidentally made eye contact with her, and she pulled Bryan in for a kiss. She kept her eyes open, staring at me through the kiss.

“Play along,” I whispered, then pulled Han in for a kiss of our own. Han let out a soft noise of surprise when our lips met, then relaxed and sank into it, moving his mouth on his own. I appreciated how convincingly Han kissed me. Like we were really into each other. He even rested his hand behind my neck once the initial surprise wore off. I put my hands on his hips and pulled him in as close as our bodies could go. After I was confident Jackie had seen enough, I pulled away.

“Don’t look, but Jackie’s behind you.”

“Wah!” Han jumped and immediately looked behind him to see Jackie staring at us, open-mouthed and wide-eyed.

Her date looked over and said under his breath, but loud enough for us to hear, “Babe, isn’t that your ex?”

“Oh, I didn’t notice. He doesn’t matter to me anymore.”

Despite all logic, my heart sank. I didn’t matter to her, and I hated that I even cared. Han must have overheard, too, because he took my hand and led me to the car. Quick footsteps rushed closer.

“What are you doing?” Bryan called out.

“Fuck you!” Jackie shouted from right behind us. I flinched, then Han put a protective hand on my chest, like his arm was a seat belt protecting me from getting totaled.

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