“Excuse me?” I sputtered on my wine.
“You work with a roster of hot guys. Isn't there one you can borrow as a playboy toy for a few hours?”
I shook my head. “Absolutely not.”
“Oh, come on. It’s not like you need to date him for real. Just a few pics, a dinner out, and for him to act like a doting boyfriend.” Seeing my blank expression she rushed out, “It’s just one night.”
“I need more wine,” I grumbled, sloshing more into my glass. “I can’t ask them. It’s too personal and then everyone will know I can’t keep a boyfriend.”
“Your sister won’t know anything.” Nora read my mind. “And even if she does, it doesn’t matter because he’s just a rental.”
“I can’t mix business and pleasure. I don’t need these guys knowing my personal shit.”
“That’s valid.” Nora finished the chicken and pushed it into the oven. She tapped the counter in thought before turning to face me. “What about someone you’re close with?”
My head ran down the roster of the Twisters. Most of the team already held various relationship statuses from seriously dating to married, including Carlos and Jake. Jake probably would have been my first choice if he wasn’t. He was just a genuinely nice guy, not to mention handsome in a classic way.
My brain then filtered through the singles; there was only a handful. Milos might do it. He had this Eastern European air about him, dark and dangerous, also a notorious playboy, worse than most others on the team. I’d heard he was very into threesomes. Probably not the best choice. Eddie had an on-and-off situation, not quite sure where he was with that these days. Kev was probably dating at least three women right now. And then there was Josh.
Sure, he was hot. He’d started growing out his hair. It was now a wavy shag that highlighted the chestnut brown color, and with his deep amber eyes, it was something entirely too appealing. I could feel my face flush just thinking of him. Not gonna happen.Again,I thought, shaking my head to rattle free the images of him under the twinkling lights of the fair.
“I’m not close with any of them.”
She shot me a suspicious glance. “What about Josh?”
There it was. I shook my head. “I should never have told you about him.”
Nora grinned. “Yeah, but you did. Come on, April! He’d probably love to help you out. And, honestly,himon your arm for a night? It would shut everyone up!”
“There isn’t a chance I’m asking him.” I stuck my face inmy glass and grumbled, “I’d rather ask Wes.” I guess I wasn’t as quiet as I thought when her eyes narrowed at me.
“Don’t even think about it.” With the sharp knife dangling in her hand as she said it, she was a little terrifying.
“I won’t.” I raised my hands in surrender.
“Fine, what about the sweet one? Kev.”
Sweet one? Yeah, right. If she only knew.
Doubt dug in the pit of my stomach.“I’m not sure any of them will say yes.”
“Someone will.” Nora grabbed some veggies from the fridge and started prepping a salad. “Guys love to do that chivalrous shit. Even if they act like big dicks. And the best part is, it’s all pretend, so there won’t be real feelings that have us eating our weight in ice cream in a few weeks’ time.” She side-eyed the recycling bins with two empty cartons of Moose Tracks sticking out.
“I’d rather not involve the people I work with.” I blew out a frustrated breath.
She stopped chopping and swirled the knife in the air. “What about a stranger?”
“Like what, a want ad? Date needed, no strings? I swear that was a movie once.”
Her eyebrows knitted together as she tried to recall the name of it. “It was, but yeah, something like that? I’ll help you make an online profile!”
I paused mid-sip, staring at her in disbelief. I couldn’t put myself out there like that.Could I?
“Just promise me,” she continued, “that you’ll ask one of the Twisters if this doesn’t work out.”
Mulling over the idea, it wasn’t so bad. Maybe there was at least one guy?What the hell was in this wine?Was I going to consider asking one of them? I mean, I was already pretty shameless after the last time I tried, and that didn’t go as planned.
Nora poured more wine, and I busted open my laptop toupdate my sadLove Lifeprofile. I hadn’t ever had success on the site, but after reviewing my stats, I understood why. The picture was awful, but the blurb was worse. I was one cliché away from being a lonely cat lady. With no cat.
