Katie’s eyes grew bright. “This is your golden opportunity to pounce on your big crush.”
See?
Totally leaps before she looks.
“I’m not a pouncer, and remember, he’s doing me a favor. This is all fake,” I reminded her.
Gal was now studying me.
“You still can have fun while it lasts,” Katie noted. “You’re a super good kisser. He’s getting the deal of the century with this.”
I loved she thought that.
And as mentioned, I just loved my friends.
Though with that, she was kinda full of it.
“I’m not a super good kisser, Kate,” I told her, though, obviously, I personally wouldn’t know if this was true or not.
I’d never had any complaints.
But no one had given me an award either.
“Trent said you were the best he ever had.”
“Trent was trying to get in my pants.”
“And he succeeded,” she fired back. “And remember, he didn’t say that to me. He said it to Forrest when he didn’t know I was standing behind him. If I remember correctly, he was full into locker room mode and he said”—she took on a gruff man voice—“‘Bitch is hot in bed, but shit, the things she can do with her mouth. Don’t need to fuck her with the way she kisses.’ He was totally bummed when you broke up with him.”
“He was supposed to help on a hike with the kids, got drunk the night before, and begged off because he was hung over,” I replied. “Deal breaker.”
“Yeah, gotta admit, that was uncool, and like, ‘Dude, do you not know the chick you’re dating?’” Katie agreed.
“Has Rix ever bagged on a hike, even when the man has lost both his legs?” Gal queried smoothly.
I looked to the floor and bounced on the ball, because no way Rix would ever do that.
Ever.
“Set up a night we can all have a few drinks,” Gal ordered.
I lifted my gaze to her.
Or, I should say, I lifted my confused gaze to her.
“I don’t understand why you think this is a thing. My family has never been out here. Thus, they’ve never met you two. I’ve mentioned you, but I can promise you, they have no interest in my friends, and don’t even remember your names. It doesn’t matter if Rix has your approval or not to fake being my fiancé for a few days.”
“You don’t think someone is going to ask, ‘What do Alex’s friends think of you?’” Gal queried.
“No. Though, if they do, he can just say, ‘We get along great,’” I returned.
“We’re meeting him, because we so totally have to. And you’re making out with him…a lot…because you so totally have to,” Katie decreed.
I did so totally have to, at least the second part.
Rix told me I would be starting it, and could stop it, and outside of holding me against him on Sunday (which felt insanely nice), he made it very obvious that we were just hanging for the rest of the night, and we weren’t going to take it there.
That was what we did.
Then, at work the last three days, he was entirely appropriate, friendly and teasing, as was his way. He’d asked me out to lunch that day, but he’d also asked Kevin (Judge was down in Phoenix, doing something with Chloe). We had a full weekend of Queen’s Gambit and getting-to-know you. Even so, he wasn’t pushing more time together in an effort to try to get some from the girl who needed him so she could deal with her own family since that’d be a nice side bene for him for having to play his part in this whole charade.
And I had my own agenda with all of this.
It was one thing to sell our great love to my family, but Rix had actually been in love, and undoubtedly slept with his ex, so she’d know possibly at a glance if we’d gone there. We weren’t going to go there, but I had to stop acting like such a goof whenever he touched me.
The few times I’d had it, I liked his touch.
Too much.
That was the problem.
But this wasn’t about me. It was about him. And I had to get over myself, because I had no idea when we’d be running into this horrible Peri woman, but when we did, I had to be ready.
I’d promised Chloe, of course.
But that wasn’t it.
This was for Rix.
“Finally,” Katie mumbled under her breath, letting Murphy win and pushing to her feet.
I turned my head to see sandy-blond, tan, tall, lean, keen Dave walking in, glancing at me and Katie, smiling and clapping at his dog, who was bounding toward him, then it was all about Gal.
Seriously, Kate was right, Gal had to be in denial.
Katie was blonde, sun-kissed, cowgirl cute.
I was what I was, but part of that was that I was female.
And Gal was tall, dark, slender, self-assured…
And clueless.
Because he didn’t see cowgirl cute, and he didn’t see me, he barely saw his adorable dog.
But he sure saw Gal.
“We won’t bite, and it really will be good he meets us,” Katie, suddenly close, said, taking my attention from watching Gal walk over to Dave. “Your family probably will never ask him about us, but you know if you met his buds, you could tell a lot about the guy he is. Same goes for you.” She smiled a mega-watt smile. “And we’re gonna make you look awesome.”
I knew, because his best bud was Judge, and Judge (I was rearranging the order these days), was the second best guy I’d met.
In other words, she was right.
Gal was right.
It was just another layer to add to the characters we were going to play, and it wouldn’t hurt.
It might be fun.
“I’ll ask him,” I said.
“Groovy,” she replied. “I’m gonna start turning off lights so they’ll get the hint. If I don’t, they’ll stand there and chat for the next hour.”
That was an exaggeration, but shooting them a glance, Dave was clearly not intent on a quick pick-up, and Gal wasn’t intent on getting either him or his dog out of the door.
I rolled my ball to where my bag was lying on the other side of the dog slide, grabbed my phone and texted Rix.
My friends say we should all go out for a drink.
I had the shoulder strap of my hobo crossed over me and was about to roll the ball back into Gal’s office when my phone binged.
Just tell me when.
My hand tightened on the phone, because really, he was amazing, and really, Peri was so stupid, and really, truly, completely, I couldn’t wait to play my part in letting her know how stupid she was.
We’ll plan, I texted back.
The ball was back in the office. All the lights were out but the ones by the front door. Katie was leaning against the wall by said door, glaring at Dave and Gal, who were standing in the center of the space lit now only from the waning sun coming in the windows. Murphy was racing around them, and they were ignoring him, as well Katie’s hint (they were so totally into each other, yeesh).
And my phone binged again.
Great. Six at mine Friday, but Saturday, do you want to hike Watershed before we kick back?
I so totally did.
With Rix?
I so totally, completely, absolutely did.
Morning or afternoon hike? I asked.
Lady’s choice, he answered.
I like mornings.