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She spoke too quickly for me to translate what she said, but thankfully, the rest of the group is just as confused.
“Did you just speak Pig Latin?” Warren asks her, glancing at the rest of us in confusion.
Molly leans in close to her and whispers back. “I told you I can’t learn that language that fast!”
“I’m pretty sure she’s telling you to zip it,” Garrett replies casually, his eyes half-lidded while he observes the room.
Molly huffs at him and grabs a carrot stick from the tray and dips it aggressively in the dip. “No one asked you.”
Garrett chuckles at her, and we all wait in near silence while staring at Viviana. She releases a breath and then gives us all an impatient look.
“Fine.” She crosses her arms, a sign of her vulnerability she doesn’t often show, and says, “I was fired from my job.”
“What the fuck?” Enzo rages, standing and pacing away. “For what?”
Viv shrugs, but I can tell this is really bothering her. Not only losing her job but having to admit it to an entire room of people. She may be a social butterfly but no one wants their private shit aired out for everyone to hear.
“You work your ass off,” I say, trying to remember what she’s mentioned in the last few weeks. Not to me, obviously, but I had a penchant for eavesdropping on her conversations. “Didn’t you just land the Pepsi Center deal?”
Her eyes widen in surprise and she gives me a small smile that almost immediately dims. “Yeah, I did.”
“Then what in the fuck could they fire you for?” Enzo says loudly.
“Why are you mad?” Viviana asks him, her fiery spirit showing up in the blaze of her eyes. “I’m the one who got fired.”
He shakes his head and motions to the kitchen. Reluctantly, Viviana gets up to follow him.
We all watch them go and Molly, April, and Jane start whispering. They do a terrible job of it, so while the other guys in the room—Garrett, Warren, Chris, Derek, and Mike—talk about other things, I happen to hear a whole lot.
“Did she sign up for the dating site?”
“Not yet. She doesn’t want to go about the new job like that.”
“Yeah, but we did all that research and the other owner is a huge family man. If she’s settled down with someone, it’ll make a huge difference in whether or not she gets the job.”
“Ugh, I hate old rich dudes being in control of everything. Can’t we get someone, I don’t know, smart?”
“That’s a worry for another day. Right now, Viv just needs this job. She needs her confidence back.”
“So, we find her a boyfriend on a dating site to agree to a contract, he gets a little cash and plays doting boyfriend at all those events?”
“Agreed.”
“I’ll do it.” My voice interrupts the girls’ conversation and they all give me startled looks. “I’ll be her boyfriend.” They all look at each other and seem to be debating, but it’s Jane who gives me a secret smile. I avert my gaze. “Just tell me what to do.”
Molly regards me closely and bites off the carrot she’s been holding. “How good are you under pressure?”
Chapter Three
“Fake dating was a real thing. All you needed was a little help from alcohol and no one would ever be able to tell.” – Molly
VIVIANA
“How could you not tell me that you got fired?” Enzo asks quietly in the kitchen.
In the living room, the conversation flows like normal, but he must have seen my reluctance to talk about this in front of all of our friends—all ofhisfriends.
As much as I feel welcomed in this group of people—and love the girls to death—I can’t help but always feel a little like an outsider. I don’t typically hang out with my brother and his friends, but they’ve always been kind to me, and after too many failed friendships, I was tired of trying to find my own group and kind of weaseled my way in.
