Page 6 of Kicking it with my Fake Fiancé
“What is it then?” I suppressed an eye roll.
“It’s a show about getting married—”
My eyebrows shot up.
“Shut up,” Bennett said. “American citizens are engaged to non-Americans.Destination Lovehelps them get their visas and immigrate.”
My stomach flipped.Matty.His name shot through my mind unbidden. “Okay, whatever. Can we play ball now?”
Theo held up one finger. “Parker’s not even—”
“Did I hear my name?” Parker came around the corner and into the dugout, his hair mussed beyond belief.
“Did you go to work looking like that?” Cam smirked.
“As a matter of fact, I worked from home today.”
“And let me guess, today was Travis’s day off,” Levi said dryly.
Parker shrugged. “So what if it was?”
“Can we stop talking about sex and get to practicing?”
“Amen,” said Archer as he approached. “I’m way too single to hear this conversation.”
Ethan glanced at Archer and his cheeks turned slightly pink before he looked down at his feet. “Yeah,” he mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck. “Let’s play ball.”
After practice, I headed home, skipping our usual debrief and bullshitting session at the bar in favor of working on my song instead. I got the final two verses sketched out and started picking the melody on my guitar when my phone buzzed. I glanced down at it. It was Matty, who sent me a photo. He was a notoriously bad sleeper. I peeked at the image he’d sent—a view from his bedroom window in Drammen. It was around four in the morning there, and the sky was dusky, grays and pinks streaking across it as the sun rose behind the mountains. It was beautiful.
Matty: Good morning, friend.
Jared: Nice try, but it’s night here.
Matty: Any luck finding me an American woman to marry?
Jared: Not yet, but I’ll keep looking. Goodnight.
Matty: Goodnight.
As I crawled into bed, an idea started to tickle at the back of my brain, a way to get Matty the visa he desperately wanted. I couldn’t quite put my finger on what the idea was, though, not before I drifted off to sleep.
The following day was Friday, and I’d promised the guys I’d join them at Parker and Travis’s house for a hang session after work. When I showed up, Parker had putDestination Loveon the TV and was actually watching the show while Travis worked in the kitchen.
“Park! Not you too.” I shook my head as I settled on his couch.
He shrugged. “It’s the season finale.”
“And you’re watching it without the rest of the guys?” I turned my gaze to the screen where a guy was doing a solo interview, talking about how much harder things had been than he’d expected.
“No, this is last week’s episode. Tonight, they show all of the weddings. That’s in…” He checked his watch. “About forty-five minutes.”
I grunted in disapproval and stood, going into the kitchen to offer Travis my help. Travis had things well in hand, though, so instead I grabbed a beer from the fridge and re-joined Parker on the couch. By the time the top of the hour had rolled around, Travis had finished making a tray of appetizers for us and the group was all there. Except for Archer and Ethan, and of course me, the rest of my team were married men. That didn’t stop them from swooning over suits and dresses and first married kisses, though. It really wasn’t as bad as I’d expected it to be, if I was being honest with myself.
As the episode closed with a call for auditions, it hit me all at once. Immediately I felt stupid for not having seen it before. “Matty,” I said out loud.
“Is he okay?” Cam asked, frowning.
“Yeah. Yes. He’s fine. But he wasjustsaying how hard it is to get a visa. And I told him to find an American woman to marry. What if we get him on the show?”
