Page 20 of Rosé with My Fake Fiancé
As if he knows we’re talking about him, Luc glances back at us and winks at me.
My three friends are chatty and loud, Jade peppering Luc with questions before finally releasing him to talk with us, trying to set some ground rules for if anyone wants to hook up with a man tonight. By unspoken agreement, Luc and I let them get ahead of us while they debate locations. His hand catches mine while we walk.
“Maybe we should have an origin story, you know? How did we meet?”
“True. Okay, when would we have met...” I tap my chin with my free hand. “Have you ever been to Houston? That’s where I grew up.”
“No, I’ve never been to the States. But you’ve been here a lot, so maybe we should just say we met here.”
I wrinkle my nose. “Well, the last time was with James, about a year ago.”
“What if we met online?”
“Like a dating app?”
“Or through friends?”
I pull my phone out of my purse and click open Facebook. “Let’s see if we have any friends in common.”
Luc opens his, too, and we find—and friend—each other. “No friends in common.” Luc frowns at his phone, and I can see he’s scrolling through my profile.
“It’s weird to see you Facebook stalking me in person.”
He flashes a grin. “What about Instagram?”
Same thing. No friends in common. We clack down the stairs to the metro, where Sara, Jade, and Emma are waiting with their phones out. “Luc, what’s your last name?” Jade asks.
He tells them, and they each bury themselves in social media trying to track down a common thread as we wait for the metro.
“Ah ha!” Jade says. “We have a friend in common, Luc!”
“We do?” His eyebrow raises, and he peers over Jade’s shoulder.
“Six degrees of separation can suck it. In today’s technology, it’s more like two,” Jade crows. “I bet I could find a connection to anyone. Two degrees to Harry Styles. Or Verduistering!” Her eyes light up, devious.
“Who’s... Verdas...?” Sara asks.
“Verduistering. They’re a band. They won Eurovision last year.” At Sara’s confused face, Jade continues. “It’s a huge music competition with acts from all over Europe. You should watch it,” she says as we board the subway and take our seats.
“Okay,” I interrupt before we get too off track. “How do you know Luc’s friend?”
Jade shows Luc the picture of a young woman who looks like she’s on a sailboat, drinking a beer and wearing enormous sunglasses.
“Oh, Elayna? We went to school together.”
“University?” I ask.
“I didn’t go to university,” Luc says with a shake of his head. “Primary school. When did you meet her?” he asks Jade.
“In the Caribbean. She was tutoring French and working in a bakery at a resort I went to.”
“Wow, that is a tenuous connection,” Sara says, rightfully doubtful.
But Jade shrugs the doubt away. “Honestly, no one’s going to want details. Just say you two were friends of friends, and Luc slid into your DMs one day. Or,” she says, and I can see the wheels spinning. “What if I played matchmaker online? You met the love of your life because I told you to check out the hottie on Insta?” She’s scrolling on her phone, head tilting. “Luc, seriously, no shirtless pics that I can point to and say, ‘Tessa, check out this hottie?’”
I snatch Jade’s phone away from her, and she rolls her eyes.
“I followed him. I’ll just check it out later.”
