Page 4 of Kicking it with my Fake Fiancé
He shrugged with a small frown. “Same, I guess. Mom and Dad are… Mom and Dad. They still don’t approve of my career choices. I haven’t talked to Grace in a while.”
I nodded solemnly. “You met with your agent this week, right? How did that go?”
His frown deepened. “He says I need to build my fan base. Find a way to get people to love me. And I need to do it soon because I’m not getting any younger.”
“You’re hardly old.”
“I’ll be thirty soon. They sign ’em younger and younger these days. Thirty’s practically ancient.” He sighed and shook his head. “Let’s talk about something else. What about you? Any news?”
I shook my head. “Not especially. I feel stagnant, you know? I feel I’ve written everything there is to write about Scandinavia.” I’d been a travel writer since I graduated university and in the past eight years, I’d exclusively focused on travel opportunities in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.
“Why do you write about Scandinavia so much anyway? Why not venture out to the rest of Europe? Or, hell, anywhere you want?”
It was my turn to shrug. “I started out broke, so I focused on what I knew. My writing became popular so quickly, within a year I was known asthewriter to follow if someone was coming here. I guess I’ve always been afraid to deviate from that. Why fix what isn’t broken, isn’t that the expression?”
He nodded. “Well, where would you like to write about?”
I let out a wistful little sigh. “America. I’d love to come back. I sometimes feel that my time in Norway is done and I should immigrate to America permanently.”
“When was the last time you were here? High school, right?”
“Ja. Not since I lived with you.”
We were quiet for a moment before Jared cleared his throat to speak. “Whydon’tyou immigrate then?”
“American immigrant visas are hard to get. I don’t have family there or a particularly desired job and I’m certainly not independently wealthy.”
Jared’s smile fell. “We’ll figure something out, don’t worry.” A beat passed.
“What about Lina?”
I grimaced. “I ended things with her.”
Jared’s eyes widened. “What? Why?”
“We didn’t share the same vision for the future. She hated how much I travel and I didn’t want to give it up and settle down, which is what she wanted. She was ready for a family, and I’m still trying to find a way to make my dreams happen first.”
He nodded solemnly for a moment, but then Jared’s grin returned. “You just gotta find an American to rope in with those Norwegian baby blues. Get yourself a marriage visa.”
I rolled my eyes, but I didn’t hide my smile. “Whatever you say,min venn.” As I shook my head, a yawn hit me and my efforts to suppress it were unsuccessful. “Sorry about that.”
“It’s fine. I should let you go. It’s five here, so it must be late there.”
I checked the clock and saw that it was just an hour until midnight. “It was good seeing you.”
“Next week?”
“Of course.” Moments later, we both logged off and I closed my laptop. Often, Jared’s calls were the highlight of my week, and that night was no exception. I padded around my apartment, checking the locks on the doors before making my way into my bedroom. It was warm and sticky. Summer heat had settled in and very few homes had air conditioning—at least not permanent units. I had a small portable unit that I turned on before crawling into bed.
The moment I’d closed my eyes, my phone chimed, and I realized I hadn’t silenced it. I checked, against my better judgment, and to my dismay saw a text from Kasper.
“Are you awake?”
With a sigh, I rolled to my back and dialed my brother’s number. He answered quickly.
“Hallo, Matthias.”
I cringed. I didn’t mind it when Mamma did it, but Kasper saying my full name got on my nerves every time. Almost everyone else called me Matt, which I vastly preferred. Only Jared could get away with calling me Matty, and my brother hated the nickname. Kasper was a traditionalist, to say the least.
