Page 22 of Only You

“And Kayla agreed with this?”

“Yes. She’s been annoyed with her roommate and was thinking about moving out, anyway. This will be an interim solution until she finds her own place.”

Ryan eyed him intently.

“What?”

“Let me get this straight. You two are going to dupe your parents into believing you’ll get married and give them grandkids someday.”

“That about sums it up,” Jack said.

A young couple jogged toward them, smiling and laughing at a private joke. Seeing them all starry-eyed, Jack wondered how he was going to pull this off—acting like he was in love.

“This sounds like the makings of a bad romantic comedy. Not that I’ve ever seen one,” Ryan said dryly.

“It was an impulsive decision,” Jack admitted. “But as much as I love my parents, I didn’t want them staying with me for six weeks and badgering me about settling down. If they see me with Kayla, they’ll back off.”

“What happens after six weeks?” Ryan asked.

“Kayla and I will go our separate ways, and everything returns to normal.” At least, he hoped so.

“How will you explain it to your parents?”

“I’ll say we broke up, but plan on remaining friends.”

“Ha!” Ryan scoffed. “That’s what all the celebrities say when they break up, and then they end up trash talking each other on social media.”

“Is it so bad to give my parents hope?”

“It’s false hope,” Ryan pointed out.

“Maybe not.”

Ryan raised his eyebrows. “Do you think you and Kayla will actually fall in love and live happily after?”

“No, but pretending to have a girlfriend might make me want to have the real thing with someone else.”

“Why not her?”

Jack shook his head. “It can’t be her. We’re good friends, and we work together. This is just a practice relationship.”

At the back of the park, they turned and retraced their steps. Jack was sweating, and breathing hard, but he felt clear-headed and energized. Meeting Ryan for a run had been a smart choice. Hopefully, asking Kayla to move in with him would turn out to be a wise decision too.