Page 17 of The Great Dating Fake Off
“Hey.” I take a step closer. “That lady who was just here was the same one harassing you about eggs and babies at the bookstore, right?”
Benjamino side-eyes me. “How do you know that?”
“I was there that night getting a tour. I wouldn’t expect you to remember—you were busy dealing with the other woman.” I carefully add, “The one who offered you names and phone numbers.”
Nora’s eyes cut to mine. “What are you trying to say?”
That I hope I wasn’t hitting on a taken woman, for starters.
Not for nothing, she was giving me signals that she was interested back at the store. I may be out of practice with women, but I’m not dead. So sometime between then and now, the two of them must’ve arranged this.
Benjamino pinches the bridge of his nose. “He’s saying he knows, Nora. And that we’re doing a terrible job selling it, and that we should give up.”
“Whoa. I didn’t say any of that.” Though they are pretty terrible at selling it. “I was just trying to understand.”
Why was I trying to understand? I have no fucking idea. Should’ve kept my mouth shut and let them do their thing, frankly.
“All there is to know is my family is off their giant shared rocker and obsessed with my relationship status.” Benjamino casts a miserable look Nora’s way. “And as nice as it would be to make them happy for once, no one is going to buy that you’d ever be into me.”
“C’mon, Benji. That’s not true.” Nora squeezes his shoulder. “I’d be lucky to—”
“And they wouldn’t believe I’d go for you, either.”
Nora looks down at her outfit. “Okay, ouch?”
I give Nora a once-over as we shuffle forward in line. Last time I saw her, her glasses had clear frames. Today’s are black-rimmed and play nicely with her dark hair.
Holy shit, do these suit her. Or maybe they just suit my interests, same way her red lipstick and tight jeans do. They’re the kind of jeans that make a man want to say spin around and show me the back.
I remove my head from the gutter and glance back at her eyes. They’re a soft green. The color is the same as the wind chime I hung for Nella on the porch over her favorite wicker chair.
Sea glass, she’d called it. Makes our porch feel like Cape Cod, doesn’t it?
From where I’m standing, Nora’s got all the necessary features to be almost anyone’s type.
“Not physically, Nora. I’m talking personality,” says Benjamino—or Benji, apparently. “And anyway, they’re going to be paying way too close attention for us to fool them. Especially my mom.”
Alessia looks up from her phone, which features a selfie of Eloise blowing a kiss. It disappears when she clicks the side button. “If you keep yelling about how fake your situation is, yeah, you’ll probably have some issues.” Her gaze moves from Benji to Nora and back again. “And my family is off their rockers, too. Join the club. My advice for surviving the week? Just laugh at each other’s jokes and occasionally touch each other when people are looking. That’s our plan for the week, anyway.”
“Alessia,” I nearly stumble over her name. “What are you doing?”
Her gaze is pointed. “You’re the one who poked the bear and called them out. I’m just trying to help.”
In her eagerness to help, Alessia is on the brink of disclosing our secret, and I’m fairly sure it’s my job to help prevent that and protect my friend. “Right, but you don’t have to say anything about…anything to do with that.”
“It’s fine, Sebastian.” Alessia gestures at the four of us. “This is the circle of trust now.”
Nora lifts a finger, her voice almost a whisper. “Uh, more like the triangle of suspicion. You’re saying you two aren’t really—”
“Nah.” Alessia catches her eye. “We aren’t. And I’m sure we can count on you to keep that under wraps.”
Nora’s mouth hangs open for a few seconds.
If I looked up “wary” in the dictionary, I think I’d find the face Benji is making. “Then why did you tell us?”
Alessia shrugs. “Misery loves company, right? And obviously we can relate on our ridiculous families. All the more reason for us to be allies.”
Nora looks between my fake girlfriend and me, perhaps still trapped in the triangle of suspicion.
