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“Oh, yeah?”
I nodded, even though he couldn’t see me. “Yeah. It’s more like… we had this pact, okay? When we were teenagers, we promised to get married when we turned thirty, if we were both still single. We lost touch in high school, but we reconnected recently and the pact came up. It was mostly my idea and looking back, it was probably a stupid one, but…”
“Keep going,” he said slowly.
“We decided to get married, but like, as friends.”
Karl let out a burst of surprised laughter. “You’re kidding.”
“Not kidding.”
“Why? Why would you do that?”
I bent down and organized the shoes by the front door as I talked. It seemed like a good idea to keep my hands busy so I didn’t explode. “Lots of reasons. We both wanted to. We were tired of being single and harassed by our families. Plus, there’s the financial stuff—benefits, taxes, shared housing costs. I don’t know. It seemed like a good idea at the time.”
Karl took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Okay. You’re getting fake married. So, what? You want my help to call it off? Or is there something else I need to know?”
“I think I’m falling in love with him,” I mumbled.
“Sorry, you’re going to have to repeat that.”
I stood up, abandoning my quest to organize my shoes. “I’m in love with him.”
He laughed again. “Of course you are.”
“What am I going to do?” I asked miserably.
“What do you want to do?” His tone was perfectly reasonable and calm, a foil to my own stressed-out mess. It made me feel so stupid because the answer was obviously clear.
“I want to tell him. I want to marry him for real.”
Karl’s voice was softer when he spoke again, gentler. “I totally understand. That’s how I feel about Marissa. And when you feel like that, you really only have one choice, don’t you?”
I nodded again. “You’re right. I have to tell him. Ihaveto.”
“You do.”
My stomach was in knots, but I was certain he was right. There was no other option. “Now what?” I glanced at the clock. It was much too late to call Travis.
“Make a plan and go get your man.”
“Thanks.”
“Anytime. That’s what I’m here for.”
After the line disconnected, I tried to brainstorm grand gestures and proposals that wouldn’t spoil the illusion we’d crafted for everyone else. Finally, I decided that I’d surprise Travis at work at the end of the next day. We could go hiking out to his favorite spot again and I’d kiss him and tell him everything and beg him to understand, to forgive me, and to go forward with the wedding as planned.
It was going to be perfect.
Chapter Sixteen
Travis
Theweddingwaslessthan a week away and I found myself at work as usual, talking to Faith about the previous weekend—the one where we’d spent a few hours trying on tuxes and then had our… encounter. Faith was sitting in the chair in my office, the door closed behind her, grinning and nodding, clearly bursting to say something.
“Go ahead.”
“What?” She blinked at me innocently a few times.
