Page 44 of Finding You
“Our relationship. It’s fake. We are friends who are faking.”
“Why?” He looked totally confused.
“Because I want to get Mom off my back and show Dad I’m stable enough to run the company. It’s starting to really grate on me. I feel like shit most days that I’m not like everyone else. That I’m not some super friendly charming guy like you who can find a girlfriend effortlessly. That I’m not the settling down type. I just want everyone to leave me alone for a bit, so Astrid is pretending to be my girlfriend while she’s here.”
“I want to talk more about why you feel the need to fake a relationship instead of having an honest conversation with our parents, but first, what about Astrid? Is she just a really nice person?”
I did not want to have that conversation with him right now. I had already made myself vulnerable. “It’s not my story to tell, but she needs me too. I am going to be her date for some fancy law gala so she can network and find her next job.”
“Ah. Is there someone she wants to make jealous?”
“No, why?”
“No reason. I can just see that you are perfect for that.”
“Huh?” I grunted at him.
He punched me in the arm. “Dude, you are a tall, built veteran with long hair and tattoos. You will scare the shit out of whatever poindexter she used to date.”
“I never thought about it like that.”
“You are so clueless sometimes. I will never repeat this, but have some confidence, man. You are like an Irish Jason Momoa. You walk in a room and most of the women stare at you.” He gestured around the diner where there were definitely a few ladies checking me out. Including Nonna Riccio, Nora’s eighty-year-old grandmother who sat at the counter fully made up in a fancy pink suit. I wasn’t blind. I knew I got attention from women, but most of the time I didn’t care. It made me feel like a piece of meat sometimes.
“Do you have a tux?” Callum asked.
“Nope.”
“Okay, I got a guy.”
“Of course you do.”
“You will thank me when you look like James fucking Bond at this legal thing. If you are going to be her fake boyfriend then be the best goddamn fake boyfriend you can be.”
Just the thought of wearing a tux made my skin itch. “I hate you right now, but you have a point.” I sighed. “Fine. I’ll go to your tux guy.”
He smiled. I hated proving him right.
“But,” I continued, “promise you won’t tell anyone we’re fake dating.”
“Of course not. I’ll keep your secret. I think you guys are lying to yourselves, but that’s for you to figure out.”
He wasn’t wrong. Deep down I knew I was lying to myself, but it seemed preferable to confronting my complicated feelings. I couldn’t tell him that sometimes it felt real. I couldn’t admit that I was getting attached to her.
I hesitated. “And, it’s complicated. And it doesn’t help that Ginger is in love with her.”
“Wow.” He stroked his stubble and smiled at me. Asshole. He was clearly enjoying my anguish.
“And I kissed her, after the Christmas Tree Burn.”
“Really?” He smirked that irritating smirk, and I hated myself for telling him all this. “How was it?”
Now I was pissed. I stood up. “Fucking magical. Is that what you want to hear? It was the hottest kiss of my life, and I can’t stop thinking about it.”
Callum pointed to my chair. “Sit down, Dec, and take a breath. We can figure this out.”
“There’s nothing I can do. I dug my grave on this. I’m going to hold up my end of the bargain because I’m a man of my word. And I’m not going to upset or confuse her with my feelings.”
“But you have feelings?”
