Page 14 of Good Time Boyfriend
“I remember you from that first night. I even talked about you to my friends, to the point that they wanted me to just ask you out even though I didn’t see you again. And then just a little bit before you showed up, Ace and I were talking about you, and how I needed to put myself out there. Because the girl that I remembered from just a brief conversation, she wasn’t real. I needed to move on. And then you showed up.”
She stared at me, wide-eyed. “You’re lying. There’s no way you remember me.”
“Of course, I remember you, Devney. You remembered me.”
She was silent for long enough that I was afraid I’d said too much. “What do we do?” she asked softly.
“Now, we’re on our first date. A first real date. You’re not really lying to your family anymore.”
“I guess that’s a good thing. So, you want to, what, continue to date so I’m not a liar?” she asked, the humor in her tone mixed with wariness. I didn’t blame her.
“Maybe. And maybe I just want to see what happens.”
“I don’t know what I want, Heath. But I do know that I’m having a really fun time tonight.”
“Yeah? Me too. And don’t worry, when you realize that this isn’t exactly what you want, you can walk away. But, for now, it’s just for fun.”
Her eyes widened, and I couldn’t help it. I leaned forward and brushed my lips against hers. She closed her eyes, and I slid my tongue against her lips. When she opened for me, I held back a groan, aware that we weren’t alone out here, even though nobody was watching us, everyone paying attention to their own dates and food. I just needed to touch her, needed to kiss her.
“You taste amazing,” I whispered as I pulled back, licking my lips.
She tasted of spice and sweetness and tartness. And something that was all Devney. Tonight didn’t seem fucking real at all.
“Oh,” she said as she put her hand to her lips. “I was not expecting that.”
“I’m not sure if I should be flattered or not.”
She shook her head. “Nothing about tonight makes any sense, but wow.”
“Good. I can keep you speechless. Now that I fed you, and kissed you, we’re one step closer to us not being a lie.”
“I just told them that you were a good time,” she said with a laugh. “Which sounds ridiculous. That we were taking it slow and that’s why you never came around.”
I shrugged. “I can do that. If you need it to be real, we can make it real. I don’t know, Devney. I feel like tonight happened for a reason. And I hate fate. I don’t believe in it.”
“Same. I don’t believe in fate at all. But I do believe in these fries.” She quickly took a bite and I laughed, knowing that things had gotten a little too serious too quickly.
I sat back and stole a fry, letting the spice hit me. I didn’t know how this would end, or if I wanted it to. So for now, I was just going to look at her and listen to her laugh.
And wonder what she meant by a good time.
ChapterFour
Denvey
Light slid against my eyelids, waking me up right before my alarm went off. I rubbed my temples and slowly rolled over to turn off my alarm before it would blare in my ears.
I rolled to my back and let out of breath, knowing that though I slept well for a few hours, I still hadn’t gotten enough sleep. It had taken me far too long to relax, and to come to terms with the fact that I might be not-so-fake dating my imaginary boyfriend.
I screamed into my pillow.
We had gone on one date. If you could call dinner from a food truck near a fountain a date. It was more an explanation of the lies that I’d told. I needed to come clean to my family. I knew that. Yes, they would be angry with me, but worse, they would feel bad for making me stressed out at all. And that I couldn’t do. I loved my family from the bottom of my heart. And I didn’t want them to worry about me.
The problem was, that was all they did.
And because I had made up a boyfriend that turned out to be a very real man, here I was, sitting in my own confusion.
I didn’t know what I was supposed to do. Or even if I was doing the right thing, but there was no going back now. That much I knew.
