Page 27 of Great Pretender
“What do you want to ask me, Chad?” My voice quivers.
He stands too, towering me in muscle, height, and the sheer size of his presence.
“I wondered if you would do it for me.”
“Do. What?” I want him to say it.
“Marry me.”
Air whooshes from my mouth like someone punched me in my stomach, and all I can do is back away from him.
“Piper, I know it’s crazy, but I stand the chance of losing everything. In fact, I’m pretty sure I will. Dad wants to give the team to Georgiou. I don’t want that to happen. I have until next week to get back to him.”
I stop in my tracks and glare at him. “You bastard. Is that why you helped me? Is that why I’m here? You saw an opportunity to use me, and because I’m so desperate, you thought I’d say yes.”
“No, God… no, Piper. My father dropped this on me yesterday. I wouldn’t do that to you.”
“But you could ask me to enter some game of shit with you so you can get your precious team?”
“Piper, I wouldn’t ask if I weren’t desperate. If Georgiou takes over, I don’t think I’ll be able to work there anymore. I’m pretty sure he’ll fire me and anyone associated with me. Yes, I am who I am, and I can probably work anywhere, but owning the Saints is a legacy I want too. It wouldn’t be the same.”
“All I hear isyou, you, you, you, you, you, you. It’s always about you. What about me? I’m supposed to marry you, and then what? What happens, Chad? I want true love.”
“Piper, it would only be for a short time. If we pull it off, it would just be for two and a half years tops, or eighteen months if we can manage it sooner. We’d get engaged, married, and then we’d just have to stay married for a year.”
“My God, you actually thought this through. Planned it.” I don’t know why I’m surprised.
“I had to.”
“Chad, this is happening to you because you can’t keep your dick in your pants, and you gravitate toward women like Tiffany.”
“I didn’t sleep with her. I told you.”
“Just because you went skinny dipping with her and her friend doesn’t make that any better. Do you think I want to be with someone like that? A playboy who’s always chasing pussy?” Usually, I’m careful when I talk to him. I don’t judge because I know what he’s like. I think, on this occasion, my fury is understandable.
“No, I don’t. You deserve better than a playboy who’s always chasing pussy.” He looks hurt, but I don’t care. It’s true.
“You say that like I’m making shit up. Aren’t you a playboy, Chad? You’re gonna stand there and tell me you aren’t?Really? Please preserve what elements we have of decades of friendship, and don’t start lying to me.”
“I won’t.”
“Good. Because I don’t see why I have to be dragged into some concoction of shit so you can have everything you ever wanted. If you’ve truly thought this through, please tell me what happens to me. We get divorced, and I’m left looking like the joke who married you and thought we’d be forever. I’d be the big loser. My name would be all over the press as that woman you married. The latest victim, and fuck, am I supposed to believe you of all people will be faithful because you have a ring on your finger?” Everything comes out in one big blast that stuns both him and me.
Again, I don’t feel bad because everything I’m pointing out is true and exactly what it would be like forme.
I’d be willing to bet my arms and my damn legs he never thought that far ahead to the end.
“Piper, I would never embarrass you in such a way.”
“I don’t think you have any control over that. You’re Chad Holdsworth. You’re always going to be a hot topic, and the press can spin things in whatever way they want. Look what happened days ago. They made you look like you had some threesome sex romp, and then the day after, Tiffany told all.” I saw the newspaper, another newspaper with another scandal. I didn’t bother to read it. It was just after I’d left the restaurant with Elodie, and I wasn’t feeling much like adding to my misery.
“Piper, that damn night happened because Curtis got me riled up about you,” he argues.
I narrow my eyes at him, not sure what the hell I’m supposed to think about that. “What the hell? What does that even mean?”
“Never mind.”
“Are you saying it’s my fault?”
