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I laugh. “You want me to talk to them and change their minds? Or what? Help you fake your death?”
He doesn’t laugh or smile, which is a surprise. “No. I was thinking about something else, actually.”
I raise an eyebrow, intrigued. “Go on…”
He takes a deep breath before continuing. “How about a fake engagement? We could invent a story about the two of us realizing our long-repressed feelings for one another after your wedding didn’t go ahead. It’s a win-win situation. You get your image back on track, and I appease my parents.”
I drop the olive I’d been about to eat. “Excuse me?”
“I know, it sounds crazy.” He holds his hands up. “But let me explain.”
“Wait, you want to… what? Marry me? Or just be engaged to me?” I ask, trying to wrap my head around the idea.
“We’ll date for a few weeks, then I’ll propose, and then we’ll marry. No one would question it because we’ve been friends for years. Your image?—”
Again, I just laugh. “It’s not about my image. I don’t want to get married just because of how it looks.”
“You… don’t?”
“No.” I put my drink down. Felix and I are pretty close, but there are some things he still doesn’t know about me.
“Look, Lily, I know it’s a bit out of the blue,” Felix admits, rubbing the back of his neck. “But think about it. We’re both stuck in these expectations. You want something real, right?”
“I want a family, Felix. A real family. I don’t want to spend my life pretending.”
He’s quiet for a moment, studying my face as if trying to read my thoughts. “Is that what you were to have with Rick? A real family?”
Heat floods my face. “Rick and I… we…” But I can’t finish the sentence because there is no proper ending.
I only said yes to Rick’s proposal because I’d given up on love, and it seemed like the chance to have the kids I’ve always wanted. Because I want to make sure my kids have a father, and Rick seemed like a good guy, it made sense to go with him.
And, of course, my parents desperately wanting us to marry might have made a bit of an impact.
“Rick and I were a sham,” I end up saying.
Felix’s gaze meets mine, and a quiet understanding passes between us. Maybe what we had isn’t that different from what Felix is proposing after all.
“You could still have the family you want, Lily. We could have kids, after all.”
I’m taken aback by his sudden sincerity. I’ve always known Felix to be capable of being serious when necessary, but hearing him talk about having children with such conviction makes my heart swell with hope. Could this really be the solution I’ve been searching for?
“Kids, huh?” I murmur, a smile tugging at the corners of my lips. “That’s not something I ever thought we’d discuss.”
“Me neither.” He chuckles, a hint of vulnerability seeping through his usual confident exterior.
My cheeks flush at the thought of having children with Felix. I mean, he’s my friend, and a good person, but that would mean… My mind races with the implications of us being “intimate” to conceive these children. The very idea makes me both nervous and excited.
“Wait,” I stammer, trying to find the words to express my concerns.
Before I can even finish my sentence, he seems to read my thoughts and chuckles reassuringly.
“Relax.” His eyes meet mine with a glint of amusement. “I wasn’t suggesting we do this the old-fashioned way.”
Relief washes over me like a cool breeze on a hot summer day. Of course, I should have known Felix would have thought this through. He always had a knack for finding unconventional solutions to problems. It’s one of the reasons we’ve remained friends all these years.
“Right,” I say, feeling a bit silly for not realizing that earlier. “So, we could have kids without… you know.” I make a vague gesture, which only serves to amuse him more.
“Exactly,” he confirms, grinning. “We’d just visit a fertility clinic, and they’d handle everything. Our roles in this would be purely biological, so our friendship remains intact.”
