Page 15 of Just the Tipsy
FIVE
WAYLON
Wereallycan’t putthis fake relationship back in the bag.
I deeply underestimated how much people would give a shit about my dating life. My mom, I expected. She looks so thrilled even across the party. But my friends? My relatives? People I know from way back in high school? All of them have been gawking at us the whole time.
Maybe it’s also because Bianca is new in town and absurdly beautiful. Not a lot of brand new people drop into Jepsen.
“Okay. I should tell you about myself then.” She sighs softly, her stunning bright smile fading. “At least a little more.”
“Go for it.” I put my hand on her lower back and guide her to a set of seats somewhat far away from everyone else.
She starts to sit, but finds the chair is rickety as hell.
“Here, take my seat,” I say, starting to stand up.
She motions for me to sit down. “Should I sit on your lap? If we were dating for real, I’d probably do that.”
“Sure.” The idea of her pressed up against my body, her ass dangerously close to my cock, makes sweat bloom under my arms.
But she’s right - it would look couple-y.
I make space for her on my lap and she sits down, close enough to me so that we don’t look awkward. And unfortunately, her ass is just inches away from a place my body wants it to be, but my brain doesn’t.
After she adjusts, she leans against me a little bit. She smells so fucking good. What lotion or perfume or shampoo could she possibly be using, and can I get it by the gallon?
“So, my mom is Miss G, who had that song Fire like fifteen or so years ago,” she finally says.
The name sounds familiar, but I can’t think of what it sounds like.
“You’d know it if you heard it,” she fills in, tugging at her skirt. It exposes a lot of her long legs and it’s been hard to keep my eyes away from them. “And my dad is a music producer. There’s no way you haven’t heard a song he’s produced.”
“Okay…?” I’m not sure where she’s going with this. But I’m surprised her parents are famous. She’s pretty normal, considering the circumstances.
“Throw in the famous-ish parents, my modeling, and my musician ex, and there are more eyes on me than normal,” she says, pulling Sadie out of her bag by our feet. “And a lot of those folks don’t have the nicest things to say about me online.”
I frown. “What do you mean?”
She swallows, scratching Sadie between her ears. The dog’s little tail wags. “Basically, I have a reputation as being a bit of an ice queen. Kind of bitchy, really, even though I think the latter is more of a result of my ex’s fanbase. At least I think so.”
“Who’s your ex?” I ask. I hate that I even care.
She rolls her eyes. “Kyler. If you aren’t a young woman who likes a particular kind of pop music, you probably haven’t heard of him.”
“You’re right about that,” I say. I’ve literally never heard of him in my life, which pleases me more than it should. “And what about him? Your reputation shouldn’t affect this situation.”
“But…” She blinks, looking at me like I’m crazy. “You’re you.”
This time I’m the one looking at her like she’s nuts. “What is that supposed to mean?”
Her eyes soften a little bit. To be honest, there’s a little truth to the ice queen image, but only if you aren’t looking at her closely. Even just knowing her a little bit, I can pluck out the deeper emotions underneath. She seems more shy than icy, the kind of person who warms up once you get to know her more.
“You’re sogood. So clean cut,” she says. “You’ve been the best at a ton of stuff and save animals for a living, for fuck’s sake. I walk down runways in clothes no one would reasonably wear in public. Or in next to nothing. At least I used to.”
I consider her words. “But who cares if you were a model?”
“The point is that my image and your image are complete opposites,” she says with a sigh. “Kyler and I aren’tthatfamous but I wanted to give you a heads up before we get too deep.”
