Page 13 of The Wiener Across the Way

I rarely liked what she had in store for me when her tone went all perky like this. “I’m listening.”

“It’s about Kelsey Best.” Alexis let that hang in the air. “Her team reached out. They have a proposition.”

“Kelsey’s people have a proposition for me?” Wait, so I wasn’t in trouble? I was confused. Why would her people want anything from me? Maybe they wanted me to dog sit? I did like that little wiener dog. “I already got the tickets for the show on Friday.”

“Oh, interesting. They’re trying to court you. That’s good news for us.”

“What?” There was no way my dog rescuing and her offer of tickets to her show was a set up. I saw how worried she was about her dog. That wasn’t fake. I didn’t think there was anything fake about Kelsey. It was one of the reasons I liked her. But this was all sounding suspicious. Just because she seemed legitimate, it didn’t mean her people were. This was showbiz after all. “You’d better tell me what this proposition is.”

“Her team wants to set you two up on a date, or two, or... well, a showmance between the two of you.”

A date. With Kelsey Best?

What the fuck was a showmance?

“Just for a little while. It’s perfect timing, Deck. Being seen with her will soften your image. She’s beloved by the media, and they’re hoping to take the heat off her recent breakup. It’s a win-win. There’s no way Swoosh will be anything but pee their pants excited to sign this deal once they see the two of you together.”

“Hold up. You want me to fake date the most popular singer in the world?”

I didn’t say the part about it being so I could get a shoe deal. I was already shaking my head. I wasn’t fucking mean, and I wasn’t a fucking liar either. “You’re kidding, right?”

I was speechless. A fake romance, once all for show, with Kelsey Best? This was the sort of thing you read about in tabloids, not something that happened in real life. “They’ve got the wrong guy.”

The wrong Kingman. This had Everett written all over it. He was the one who charmed the pants off people left and right. He was a perfect match for her.

“No joke, and if I’m honest, it took me a bit by surprise too,” Alexis replied. “But this could be a game changer for you. Clean up your image, get the press on your side without having to say a word, and secure that shoe deal. All you have to do is attend a few high-profile events with Kelsey, maybe a couple of cozy-looking dinners. The press eats this stuff up.”

The idea was stupid and absurd. So why the hell was I considering saying yes? It had absolutely nothing to do with the benefits Alexis prattled off.

“Think about it, Deck,” Alexis urged. “This could be exactly what you need right now. Plus, it’s not like spending time with Kelsey Best is going to be a hardship. She seems like a genuinely lovely woman, and she’s been through hell in the media.”

“She has?”

Fucking press. I’d kill them. Who the fuck said anything bad about someone who brought such sunshine into the world?

“Yes. I’d ask what rock you’ve been hiding under, but I know the answer starts with an F and ends in ball. Maybe ask Jules about it. She’s a smart cookie.”

I was definitely asking Jules.

It was ludicrous. But knowing the media were assholes to her kind of made me want to do this, just so I could protect her fromthat kind of bullshit. Who would blame me for punching out a reporter if it was because they were being a dick to Kelsey?

A showmance with Kelsey Best. I hated lying liars. And this was completely deceptive.

“You don’t have very long to decide. They want to know before her show on Friday, preferably sooner than that if at all possible.”

I gave her a grunt as a reply, which she took as my goodbye.

“I’ll call you tomorrow after practice. Do not piss anyone off between now and then, got it?”

After we disconnected, I stood in the quiet of my kitchen, just leaning against the counter, and finished my beer. A showmance with Kelsey Best? It was like a plot straight out of some cheesy romantic comedy, not my life.

I didn’t get even a quiet minute to think about what the hell I was going to do before my front door flew open and Chris, Trixie, Jules, Everett, and Hayes practically fell into my house. I needed to remember to take Chris’s spare key away from him.

“What?” I narrowed my eyes at the bunch of them and did my best meanest player in the league impression.

Jules’s laughter filled the room. “I maybe accidentally spilled the beans about the Kelsey Best concert tickets.”

Hayes scoffed and jumped up to sit on the counter. “Good try, Bratty McBratterson. You didn’t maybe accidentally spill anything. You couldn’t wait to tell everyone on the planet you were going to the concert.”

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