Page 45 of Play Fake
“And you’re sure you want to do that to her then, lie to her?”
“Unless you just want to be my girlfriend for real?” I give her a megawatt grin, trying to play like I’m joking, but I’m half hoping she’ll say yes.
“How about we just tell her we’ve been dating for a while and things are getting serious? That wouldn’t be a complete lie, right?”
“No… So you’ll do it?”
“Yeah. I suppose if I can help a sweet stressed-out mom have a little less stress in her life, I can do that. Now what’s her handle so I can look this up?”
We sit down on a bench while she does some searching. I watch the people walking past us and think about her doing all this for me. I know I told her she owes me, but I almost feel guilty now she’s putting all this effort into it.
“You sure you don’t mind?”
“Mind what?” She lifts her eyes up from her phone.
“All this. Helping me.”
“You helped me when you didn’t have to. More than once. The least I can do is help you when I can.”
Her words are sincere, and I want to kiss her again. I know it’d be a mistake. But her eyes linger on me, landing on my lips for a second too long.
“If you keep looking at me like that, I’ll think you want me to kiss you again.”
Her eyelashes flutter like she’s just caught herself daydreaming, and she refocuses her attention on the present.
“It might not hurt.” She says in a pragmatic tone.
“To kiss you?”
“If we were actually dating, you’d be kissing me all the time, right?”
“Right.”
“So I probably should figure out how not to be surprised when it happens.”
My attention drifts down from her eyes to her lips and back up again.
“We can practice anytime you want.”
Anytime. Now is good. We can go back to my truck. Back to my place. Fuck, I just want to taste her.
“Good to know.” She clears her throat. “Anyway, I found her profile and some ideas. There’s a little bookshop down the road. Ready?”
She stands abruptly, and I follow her lead. Wishing I could figure out what the hell is going on in her head.
FIFTEEN
Mackenzie
Waylon and I finish shopping.We find a couple of books for his mom and grab some wrapping paper. He tells me he has no idea what he’s doing, so I offer to wrap them for him. When he drops me off, I think he might kiss me, but instead he just tells me to have fun on my date.
My nondate, which is just a hangout session with Ally because I miss her. But he doesn’t have to know that. I don’t bother changing out of the dress I wore because it’s cute enough to go out in. If I’m honest, I wore it on purpose, hoping Waylon would notice it. Because apparently, I now worry about whether he notices me.
When I get to the bar, it doesn’t take me long to find Ally in one of the booths. Her eyes light up when she sees me, and she throws her arms around me.
“Heyyyy girl. How are you? I don’t see you enough anymore,” she hugs me tight.
“I know. I miss seeing you all the time.”
