One
The Favor
Or a boy’s gotta do what a boy’s gotta do.
Jude
“I need a huge favor, Jude. Epic huge.”
Sitting across from my best friend slash roommate slash only person on the planet who can get me to do huge favors for him, I finish chewing my bite of burger. Nodding, I study my friend. Now that I’m looking, he does seem tired. His eyes are heavy behind the thick black framed glasses he wears, his face pale. He fidgets in his seat, like he’s uncomfortable, but he always carries himself that way. Regardless of the progress he’s made in taking care of himself, he still sees a chubby guy in the mirror. Maybe he has a few extra pounds around the middle, but I don’t know a lot of people would describe him as chubby. He’s not making eye contact, and there’s a nervousness to his voice I’m not familiar with, giving me the feeling this is going to be big.
I drag a fry through spicy ketchup. “Hit me.”
“I need you to pretend to be my fiancé.”
I nearly choke on my fry. Definitely wasn’t expecting that. “What? Why?”
“Ron is coming here to Miami to get married. On the beach. In three months. I got the call this morning.”
“Ron.” I nod, sipping my soda. “The guy you grew up with?”
“That’s the one. Remember, we were best friends until he moved across the country for work. Before I met you.”
“Yeah. Good for him, but tell me why you need a fiancé for this.”
“His other good friend is…Michael.”
My eyes widen. “Michael? Your douchebag ex-boyfriend? That Michael?”
Briar nods. “He’s the best man.”
“Wait.” I put my fry down. “When did all this go down?”
Briar shrugs. “The way Ron tells it, Michael got a job promotion and they ended up in Chicago together. Michael looked him up and they started hanging out a lot.” He frowns, dragging his finger up and down the water beading on his lemonade glass. “Which is fine of course. They’re friends, and I never expected anyone to side with me.”
“But they should have.”
“There are two sides to every breakup, right?”
“Yeah, but you didn’t cheat or—” I stop myself to avoid the sensitive subject of Briar’s past weight, but I’ll never forgive Michael for being a dick about it even though I never met the guy. “Anyway. You have to go?”
“He asked me to be a groomsman. Makes sense. We used to be close.”
“Isn’t this a lot for a short notice beach wedding?”
“Yeah. His fiancée is pregnant, and they don’t want to tell her family, so they’re in a hurry without trying to look like they’re in a hurry.”
“I see.” I eat my fry, still trying to process this. “Tell me again why you need a fiancé?”
“Michael has one.”
My mouth falls open. “Oh, man. Dude, I’m sorry.”
His eyes fill with tears, but he blinks them away. “It’s okay.” He laughs it off. “I think these are tears of humiliation for all the years I wasted on him.”
“Hey.” I touch his hand. “It wasn’t a waste. You…learned a lot. Every breakup teaches us something, and if we learn the lesson, we become better people.”
He nods, forcing a smile. “True. Neither of them know you, so I figured it was a safe little white lie. I just don’t want to go there and still not be in a relationship two years later. I don’t even know someone I could ask to go as a date. I mean, I thought about the guys at work, but that felt even more awkward than asking you.”
I study his face, kind of pissed off that the guy can still make Briar feel like shit all this time later. When I met Briar at the gym where I work out, he was struggling to lift weights too heavy for him, so I jumped in and offered a spot, talked him through it, and helped him adjust his technique. He asked me to go for coffee as a thank you, and we hit it off immediately. It was only after hanging out almost daily for months that he revealed he was gay. I didn’t care, and we quickly moved to best friend status, then six months ago, roommates. The only time Briar isn’t smiling is when the subject of Michael comes up. Pretend to be his fiancé though? Could I even pull that off?
“You need me to pretend to be in love with you for a weekend?”
He nods. I’m guessing he’s embarrassed since he’s staring at his burger like it’s some kind of abstract art he has to figure out.
“Briar. Look at me.”
Exhaling in a huff, he shifts his eyes up. “Is this stupid?”
I shake my head. “No. I get it. If I were in the same situation, I’m sure I’d think of something creative.”
“Yeah, but you’d have to pretend to be gay.”
What’s the big deal, really? We’re already friends. I can do this for him. “That’s fine, Bri. Just tell me what you need. I’ll be there for you.”
A genuine smile pulls at his lips. “You’re a good friend, Jude. I know it’s asking a lot.”
“Is it? We’ll go hang out at a party for a couple of days on the beach. We’ll eat and drink and dance. All I have to do is hold your hand and act like you hung the moon. Not a hardship.”
He finally laughs. “I guess it’s not too bad.”
“Now, do you want me to be clingy and affectionate or possessive and alpha? What kind of fiancé do you want?”
Briar shakes his head. “Just be you. Anything is better than what Michael was.”
“True. I’ll just be everything he isn’t.”
“You already are. Romantic implications aside.”
I stuff a few more fries into my mouth. “Ready to go?”
“Yeah. It’s my turn to pay.”
I shrug. “Then pay.”
Outside on the sidewalk, I grab Briar from the side, wrapping my arm around his shoulder and pulling him into me. “Everything’s gonna be fine. We’ll have a great time, and we’ll make Michael second-guess his entire life.” I release him and pat him on the back. “He’s missing out on someone great.”
“Thanks, Jude.” He shifts his big brown eyes up to meet mine. People always say he has puppy dog eyes, and right now, yeah that description fits. “Can you help me with one more thing?”
“Sure.”
“Can we up our workouts? I want to try to lose a little, you know.”
“I don’t want you killing yourself trying to look good for someone else. You look great. You’ve made a lot of progress.”
“It’s not for him, I swear. I just…” He frowns, his eyes shooting back to his feet. “I’ll be in a white suit with a lot of people looking at me, and I’ll have to be in pictures. I just want to feel as good as I can. I’m gonna talk to the nutritionist at the gym too.”
“Okay then. I’ll help. I could stand to clean up my diet a little too.” I rub my stomach, full of burgers, fries, and soda, but that’s how I get through long sessions. “What time do you get off today? I should be done by five.”