“Who wouldn’t?” The words are off my lips before I can stop them. I sip my beer.
“Oh, wow. And here I thought the entire thing was a lie.”
“It is.”
There’s no way Greer and I can fake this from Calla and Beck. For one thing, Grey tells Calla almost anything he can. I bet he’s already told her what he did.
“Maybe parts of it, but the part where you like her is totally true.”
Of course my sister would find a way to spin this. Yes, Greer is gorgeous, smart, and funny. She’s clever and quick-witted, and she loves to keep me on my toes. Grey likes her, and I trust her with him. She’s made my life easier the past few weeks, and honestly, I don’t know how I can go back to a life that doesn’t have her in it on a daily basis. And, yes, I like her, but making it into something more when even I have no idea what’s going on isn’t a good idea. Calla would get her hopes up, and I can’t have that. Among other things.
“Everyone likes Greer. She kind of makes it hard not to.”
“Mm-hmm. Youreallylike her.”
“Calla, stop.”
“Oh come on, Simon. You’re a grown man. You can have feelings for someone. It’s normal. Actually, it would be abnormal if you never had feelings. I like Greer. She’d be good for you. I’m just trying to figure out why you two are in this little arrangement. Getting Mom to stop bugging you about dating, I get. What does Greer get? How does this work out for her?”
She gets dating advice to use with someone else.
Fuck.
Did I really offer that to her?
“If we ever actually date, I’ll keep in mind that you approve. How does that sound?”
“Like fun Simon had a prior engagement and sent grumpy Simon to his kid’s birthday party.”
I let out a hmph and step off the back porch toward my mother and Greer. Mom is starting to get really animated, so it’s best to cut them off now and steal Greer away.
Outside of that moment in the kitchen, we haven’t had much alone time together. If we’re going to put on a show, we should probably be near one another, right? Then again, maybe we’re doing just fine being in our element and not making a show of it. Because despite the fact we would be faking it, every touch and every kiss I’d give her—those would be real.
I pause and look around the yard for Grey, spotting him and his friends shouting outdead or alivewith a football.
I smile, thinking of the day the guys and I taught him that game.
“Coach Blue!” Grey calls out and tosses the ball in the air. “You made it.”
He runs to him, his teammates following behind. They each give the coach a fist bump before going back to their game.
I walk over and extend my hand. “Glad you could make it.”
“Yeah.” He rubs his chin. “I don’t do a lot of parties with my camp kids, but since Grey is going to try out at school in the fall and I’ll be coaching him, I figured this could be an exception. Plus, this group of boys is one of my best.” He scans the yard, skimming over the table and chairs and the boys. Then he stops and grins.
Greer.
Came here for the kids, my ass. He’s here to see Greer.
Go figure.
“Well, there’s food and drinks in the kitchen. Just that way.” I point away from Greer, but his eyes never stray as he nods.
“Yeah, I’ll grab some in a minute. Thanks for the invite. I’m going to go mingle.”
As soon as he starts walking toward Greer, something inside of me snaps.
She isn’t mine, but she sure as hell isn’t his.
