Page 25 of Kicking it with my Fake Fiancé
“Jared, good. I’m glad I caught you. How have you been?”
“Good. I’m in Norway right now.”
“Right, the show. How’s filming going?” I’d spoken to Paul before leaving the country to explain that I was going on the show with Matty, and when I mentioned how I thought it would help my career, he’d been all for it.
“It’s going really well, I think. We’re done filming for now. They’ll get more footage of me at the airport tomorrow, but the rest of the show will be recorded when Matty comes to the States. Assuming his visa gets approved, that is.”
“And when will that be?”
“Soon, we hope. Normally the visa can take several months to be approved, but with the show’s backing, it’s usually much quicker.”
“Good, good.” He was quiet for a moment, and the sound of his pen tapping against his notebook rattled through the line.
“Paul, did you need something?” It wasn’t like Paul to not be as direct and to the point as possible, and worry started gnawing at my gut.
“I wanted to let you know we’ve booked you a few shows. Now don’t get excited. It’s not a big tour or anything. You’ll be the opener for the opener, and only for a partial leg, but it’s something. The headliner is Young Spades.”
“Didn’t they tour with Boyfriend of the Loveless a while back? I wouldn’t say Young Spades isn’t a big one. That feels huge.”
“It’s a good shot to get yourself out there, that’s for sure. What have you been doing to show off your skills on the show?”
I cleared my throat. It felt like such a lie no matter how I sliced it. Telling him I’d done it for the show wasn’t true, not really. I’d wanted Matty to know how I was feeling. My gut felt twisted in knots over the way I was presenting the whole incident. “I had an impromptu solo performance for my fiancé. I grabbed a guitar from a street musician and played for Matty in the town square. It drew a good-sized crowd, I have to say.”
“Excellent job. I knew you’d do something fantastic for us while you were out there. This exceeds expectations, honestly, Jared. Well, I won’t keep you. I just wanted to let you know about the tour. We’ll hammer out the details when you get home, okay?”
“Thanks, Paul.”
The line disconnected and I stared at the silent phone in my hand for a second.
“The song wasn’t really for me, then, was it? It was just for the show?”
My blood ran cold. I turned to find Matty standing behind me, a forced smile on his face and hurt in his blue eyes.
“I—that’s not what I said.”
He shook his head. “It’s okay. I don’t have any right to—”
I held up a hand to stop him. “You have the right to feel however you feel.”
He pressed his lips together in a hard line and nodded, quiet for a few moments before speaking softly. “I guess I just misinterpreted things between us.”
“How can you think that, after what we’ve been doing at night?”
“Then what was that call about?”
“Matty, please…” My voice broke on the last word. “We both know that being on this show is… we both had ulterior motives when we signed up. You wanted the visa for work. I wanted exposure for my music career. But that doesn’t mean what I said wasn’t real or what we’re doing isn’t real. It doesn’t mean what I’mfeelingisn’t real.” I reached a hand for him and tangled his fingers in mine.
“So howdoyou feel about me?”
My throat was thick. “I—I really care about you. I want to be with you, as more than friends, and see where this goes. I don’t want to lose you.”
He looked down at our entwined fingers. “Okay,” he murmured.
“Okay?”
Matty looked up and met my eyes, smiling softly. “Ja, okei.”
“What does that mean?”
