Page 39 of Pretend I’m Yours
When I finished, he shook his head and sipped his drink. “To think. She threw her entire life away thinking she was going to be one of the damn Real Housewives, now she’s a waitress.”
“I know. And the funny thing is I really don’t feel sorry for her. But I’m not pissed off at her really anymore, either. I just want her to get out of my life and stay out,” I admitted. “I thought I would feel a lot more anger and the need for revenge than I do.”
“Time heals a lot. Hell, you’ve not really been together much over the past ten years. I’m sure that made it a bit easier to adjust,” he said with a shrug. “Not that it’s ever easy to get over someone fucking you over like that.”
“Well, from the looks of things it seems she got fucked herself. Who knows, either way, I’m over that bitch and I’ve got no plans to ever contact her again,” I said as I took a drink from my own glass. These were obviously quality drinks, and there was a part of me that hoped Brody was impressed.
I knew I had to be careful. I didn’t want to end up caring about cost and money or being showy like Hannah’s parents. But from the sounds of things, Brody had also come from rags in his childhood. This had to be quite a different feeling for him.
“So coming back around,” he said. I looked at him with raised eyebrows. “What the hell were you doing going on a date at a place like that? Doesn’t quite seem like your style. Same as this place,” he said, motioning to the elaborate décor around us.
“When I got out of the service, I wanted to be different than the man I was going in,” I said with a shrug. “I thought I’d mix things up a bit.”
“So what’re you doing for work? That was the one question you were really worried about when you got out,” he pressed.
I hesitated. I knew exactly what he was doing. And so did he.
“I’m getting by well enough,” I said. “I’m not going to stick with what I’m doing, though. I want something with a little more excitement.”
He looked at me, and I knew he could see right through my story. It didn’t sound like me any more than hanging out at expensive bars and restaurants. He took another drink of his beverage as he stared at me, clearly waiting for me to come clean.
I sighed. “Alright. The truth is that I’m playing house with a girl I met shortly after I got back. I was desperate to get out of that hotel room, I needed a job, and I was trying to get over Anna Marie as fast as possible. I found a girl being harassed by a guy at the club, and after setting the situation straight, she pretty much asked if I would pretend to be her husband to get this guy off her back. I’m living with her, using her money, and getting paid on top of it.”
I blurted out the story so fast, I wasn’t sure how Brody would take it. He stared at me another second, and I was sure he would blow up over the situation. It sounded crazy, that was for sure, and he was likely going to tell me that I was going through some sort of crisis.
Of course, I couldn’t argue with him entirely, and I would be willing to sit through any lecture he wanted to give. But, to my surprise, he didn’t say a word. He continued to stare at me in silence for another second, then he burst out laughing.
“That is the last thing I thought you would say,” he managed after the tears started rolling down his cheeks. “I wondered how you became so rich all of a sudden.”
“Yeah, it’s crazy, and really the last thing I ever thought I’d do with my life. But hell, it’s working for the time being, and I think we got the job done,” I said. I told him about the gala and what happened with Brandon, and Brody once more shook his head.
He still had the amused smile on his face, and I grinned as I sat back. “What?”
“Only you, Drake. Only you are able to get yourself into this kind of shit,” he said with a shake of his head. “But if you got your point across and don’t have to worry about the guy anymore, what happens? You get paid and leave?”
“I guess,” I said with a shrug. “That pretty much sums up our agreement.”
We both fell silent for a minute, and Brody cleared his throat. “So are you going to tell me the rest of the truth?”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
