“No!” I lunge at him like he’s about to run away. Which honestly is an eye-opening image. Me, chasing Reed down in the street, begging him to pretend to be in a relationship with me. I am on fire.
A dumpster fire.
“I would rather take the less drama route.” We’ll eventually get drama unless he plans on fake-marrying me, too, but I’m not about to say that out loud. “If that’s what you want.”
“It is.”
“Okay.”
I don’t know the protocol for this. Do we start planning our fake dates? Lay out ground rules? Brainstorm pet names for each other?
The flood of mental questions must show on my face. He straightens, drops his arms, and gives me a firm nod. “I’ll get all this stuff back to the coffee shop. We’ll talk more tomorrow.”
My anxiety settles immediately, like everything’s handled. It’s totally not, but the tension inside me loosens anyway.
I almost go in for a hug but stop myself before it gets weird. Weirder. The most weird. I’ve already been pressed against himonce tonight, and my brain’s still reeling from it. Any more physical contact with him might make me catatonic.
“Well.” I don’t even know what I want to say, just that I should say something. “See you then.”
“See you.” He nods again, letting me know I’m free to scamper across the street to my car.
Am I cataloguing his nods now, too?
Just before I close my car door, I swear I hear him softly say, “Coffee buddy.”
text thread
Nathan: Does everyone know Reed’s coworker, Rose?
Luke: Dude. Give it a day
Lucy: Obviously we know Rose
Mom: Is she okay?
Nathan: She’s great
Nathan: Might want to have her head examined, though
Nathan: I have news that will blow your mind
Nathan: Prepare yourselves to be amazed
Lucy: If you’re about to send us pictures of another potato chip that looks like a person’s face, I’m going to block you
Nathan: Better
Graham: You didn’t actually ask her out, did you?
Nathan: Au contraire, mon frère
Nathan: It’s so much better than that
Nathan: You will never guess
Jovie: YOU GUYS!!!!
Jovie: THEY’RE DATING!!
