Page 38 of Fake Love

She must see that I’m not because eventually she lets out a sigh.

“Fine, but I need my own bed.”

“Deal.”

Something happens on the field and we both turn to see that one of my new teammates just hit a triple, causing the players that were on first and second to score. Bringing the Miners to a 3 point lead.

“We also have to actually go on dates, do random things. We just can’t be seen together at a game or when I have an event. We have to make this as real as possible.” I say to her once all the commotion from the field has died down.

“I doubt people will care if they see you at the grocery store with a girl.” She says through a snort.

I’m about to prove her wrong. “Pull out your phone.”

“What?”

“Pull out your phone, I want to show you something.”

With a roll of her eyes, she does what I say. “What now?”

I give her a smirk. “Open up Instagram and look up my name.”

My hunch may be total bullshit and my gut is telling me that I’m right about this.

Jen once again does what she is told and when I see her type in my name in the search bar and hit enter, my smirk grows even more when the first picture pops up.

A picture of the two of us as we sit at this very game.

A small gasp leaves her mouth. “The game started not even two hours ago. How did someone already get a picture of us?”

“People are always on the lookout for something. Add in a suspended player to the mix that was slated to be the best of the best, cameras will always be ready.”

I don’t tell her that I had seen a few fans point their phones over to our box in the fourth inning. Which is how I knew there was going to be a picture of us online already.

“So I guess we can add dates to the list of rules then.” Jen says, disgruntled as she closes out the app before looking at her phone and putting it away again.

“Don’t sound too excited about it.” I tease.

“I just didn’t think that people would be all in our business so quickly.” She states.

If I wasn’t who I was, they wouldn’t be. But I am and they are and I can’t fault her for wanting out because of it.

“You can still say no to this, you know? If you aren’t comfortable with having your picture out there, you can walk. No hard feelings on my side.”

Please don’t walk.

Jen shakes her head. “No, we’re doing this. It will just take some getting used to. Hopefully controlling your accounts will help with what we put out there.”

I nod. “Do what you have too.”

Another hit rings out through the park that takes our attention away from the topic at hand. This time a fly ball into right field closing out the inning.

“How long will we do this for?” Jen asks as the teams switch positions.

That’s a question that I hadn’t really thought about. I should have but two questions always stopped me from combining with an end date.

How long does it take for someone to rebuild their brand?

And if I tell my mom that I’m seeing someone, what will she say after we end it?