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She studies me. “What’s the real reason you don’t want to do this, Noah? I’m not going to force you, but it seems like you’re nixing a good idea for no reason.”
I consider my options, but I’ve never been good at lying to Daisy. “Because you’re my best friend and I don’t want to lose you.”
She shakes her head like I’m being silly. “You won’t lose me. We’ll still be friends. We’ll just be making it look romantic for anyone watching.” She pauses and her expression shifts like she’s just realized something that’s making her incredibly sad. “Just don’t expect too much from me, okay?”
I cross my arms over my chest and lean back. “What does that mean?”
She fiddles with her napkin, ripping off a corner. “You and I have been friends for so long because we don’t expect anything from each other. We allow each other to live our own lives.”
“I expect things from you.” I’m thoroughly confused. “And you’ve always delivered. You always listen to me when I need to vent. You always make time to go out with me whenever I’m in New York.”
She rolls her eyes. “That’s nothing.”
“It’s not nothing to me.” It’s fucking everything. “I don’t understand what you’re trying to say.”
She pushes her hair behind her ears and lifts her chin. “It’s just that the men I date… I always disappoint them. I don’t want you to spend real time with me and decide I care about my work more than I care about you. That I’m a cold, heartless woman whose ambition is her first and only love. I’ll read too much or work too much or spend too much time with friends or at the gym. I’ll be too messy or a terrible cook or I’ll forget your birthday, and you’ll realize what every other man eventually realizes.”
“What’s that?”
“I’m only good at one thing, Noah, and that’s books. It’s not relationships or sex or love. I’m just good at recognizing talent in writers and helping them polish a manuscript until it shines.”
My first instinct is to blurt out her problem is the men she’s dated, but it’s clear from her tone and the fire in her eyes that she believes every word she’s saying. “Bullshit.”
“Also,” she says. “I’m incapable of love. I don’t like getting that close to anyone. We would be faking it, but it’ll mean we’ll have to be as close as real lovers sometimes. I just don’t want you to get disappointed and decide you can’t even be my friend.”
And suddenly, it doesn’t matter how badly I might get hurt. “I’ll take that bet.”
She nearly chokes on a bite of pizza. She takes a long drink of soda and sets the bottle down slowly. “What?”
“I’ll take that bet. Let’s pretend to date. We’ll do all the things couples do and I guarantee I’ll prove there’s nothing wrong with you. Any man would be lucky to have you.”
Her eyes widen. “All the things couples do?”
The genuine horror on her face is like a punch in the gut.
I force a smile, pretend I’m not bothered. “In public, Daisy. Geez, I’m not going to force you to have sex with me.”
She coughs and pats her chest. “Right. Of course you wouldn’t.” She stares at her pizza for a long moment. When she looks up, she’s smiling again. “Fine. I accept the challenge. By the time I leave, you’ll be begging me to go and never speak of dating me again.”
“And,” I say, because why the hell not go for broke? “You’ll still be my very best friend in the world.”
Her expression softens. “That’s all I want, Noah. I can’t lose you.” She pauses. “What does the winner get?”
I shrug. “If I win, I’ll be proving how truly awesome you are.”
She rolls her eyes. “It’s no fun if there are no stakes, Brooks. If I win, you name your clinic after me.”
I guffaw. “What the actual fuck, Weston? That’s not high stakes, that’s the whole game.”
“That’s how I play.” She blows on her knuckles and raises her brows. “What’s yours?”
I lean back in my chair and chew while I think. With a swallow, I lean forward. “I win, you agree to visit me and yoursisters here at least twice a year.” There’s nothing I want more than time with her.
“Fine.” She’s all nonchalance, but I can see the worry in her eyes. She holds out her hand and I shake.
“Deal,” we say together.
Chapter Five
