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This isn’t supposed to be about me. “Not yet,” I say.
“What about you, Lexi?” Willa asks.
Bingo.
Lexi swallows hard. “Me?”
“You do use the app?” she asks.
“Well, not anymore,” Lexi says.
“Because she met someone on the app,” I explain. “A guy. A very handsome guy.”
Willa puts all her attention on Lexi. “How long have you been seeing him?”
“Not long,” Lexi says.
“Don’t be so modest,” I say, keeping my voice light. But inside, I want to kick her. This is ourin. Is she trying to sabotage us? “They’ve been together almost six months,” I tell Willa. “It’s the longest she’s ever been withanyone.”
Willa’s eyes light up. “Perfect. We’ll have dinner. The two of you and the two of us. Well, the three of you.” She nods toward me. “Show up in something a little formal—a cocktail dress and heels—with this guy, and convince my partner you’re madly in love.”
Uh…
Lexi blinks again.
“Is there a ring?” Willa asks. “It would be great if there’s a ring.”
My stomach drops. All the way to the earth’s core. Ourinwill be anout, fast, if Willa pushes her too far.
“A ring?” Lexi goes pale. “No, we, I, uh…”
“Even better,” Willa says. “He can propose at the dinner. We can plan for dinner in, say, a month? To give him time to prepare the perfect proposal.” She laughs softly, but it’s not clear if she’s joking, and she doesn’t give us time to laugh with her. “I’d love to meet him first, though, as soon as possible. Before we have the dinner to convince my partner. When can I meet Mr. Right?”
Shit, shit, shit.
“What?” Lexi stays frozen in disbelief. Even her smile is still frozen on her face, and it’s cold as ice. Fake. Plastic. Not like Lexi at all.
“It’s Friday afternoon,” Willa says. “The two of you must have weekend plans.”
“Don’t you have a date tonight?” I ask, fumbling for a way to salvage this.
“What? Yeah. I think so.” Lexi’s voice is soft and not in the demure, coy way it often is. In the way it is when Dad is pissed. She’s scared.
Of course she’s scared. Willa is practically eloping her on the spot.
I don’t know what to say, how to help. I can’t tell Willa to back off—investors hate being told what to do, and we still need her money—so I force a smile and I nod, as if this is all normal pitch stuff.
“At your father’s party?” Willa asks.
“Right,” I say. “He has a party tonight. We’ll all be there.”
Wait…Tonight?
I try to backpedal, but Willa is already jumping on it.
“I’ll see the three of you tonight.” She stands and offers her hand. She shakes Lexi’s hand. Then mine. “I can’t wait.”
Shecan’t waitto make Lexi Huntington, the girl who has no interest in commitment, the poster girl of love and commitment.
