Page 40 of Summer Shot
“Please don’t tell me you’re into me now.” She rolls her eyes, which is no surprise.
“Hell no.” The words fly out of my mouth. “You’re like the sister I never wanted.”
“And that you pretended to sleep with?” Her lip curls in disgust.
“Shut up,” I chuckle. “I want to know why you had me cover for you.”
Her shoulders rise and fall in a subtle shrug. “I didn’t want anyone to know the truth, and you must have sensed it. I didn’t really ask you to do it.”
She’s right. She didn’t flat out ask me with her words but her pleading eyes begged me to save her with a lie.
“I didn’t mind covering for you. I was just wondering.”
Silence falls between us, and pretty soon, the song ends.
“I want you to be my fake girlfriend,” I blurt out.
Libby blinks rapidly and her eyes widen.
“Let me explain,” I say. “One more dance.”
To my surprise, her arms stay wrapped around me. She’s willing to listen.
“You know I have a . . . certain reputation,” my pulse quickens with each word, “but I want to change that and I think having a fake girlfriend will help.”
“How?” Libby narrows her eyes.
“I think it’ll show that I can be serious. That I’m maturing.” I’m making this up as I go along. I do think it’ll help, but thehowhasn’t been thoroughly thought out. “Not being a fuck boy who gets into fights and who doesn’t put his team first. Maybe make alternate captain.”
“You really think having a fake relationship is going to do that for you?” she huffs.
My heart grows heavy knowing that it feels like an impossible feat, and I know there is a slim shot I would make alternate captain. But a slim shot is better than a fully blocked net.
“I’ve got to try.” I look down at my feet, wanting to avoid her eyes.
“Look, I know I owe you for being a good friend,” Libby says. “Can I think about it?”
Her response is better than I could hope for.
“Absolutely.” A grin spreads from ear to ear. “One more question though. Am I supposed to act like we are together?”
“Why? What do you mean?” Her eyes lock with mine.
A heavy sigh leaves me. “It seems like since the beach everyone expects that we are kind of together. I’m not sure how to act honestly.”
I feel lighter finally getting the words off my chest. I’ve been tiptoeing around unsure of how to respond to people or how to act around Libby.
“Can I think about that too?” There’s a gleam of something I can’t quite put my finger on in Libby’s eyes.
I nod my head. “Whatever works, I’ll just keep doing what I’ve been doing.”
The slow song ends again. Over the speaker, it’s announced that line dancing is going to start again. I have no interest in line dancing tonight, so I start to walk off the dance floor but Libby grabs my hand.
“Thank you again, Blaine. For covering for me,” her voice is filled with gratitude. “I really do appreciate it.”
Sydney comes running up behind Libby, grabbing her shoulders and bouncing with glee as the new fast past song starts.
“Can we please dance to two more songs before we leave?” Sydney pleads with eyes as big as the moon.
