13. APRIL
APRIL
Josh’s unexpected kiss lingered on my mouth.
I wished it didn’t, but it was that perfect kiss you saw in movies.
The sweeping face hold and every portrayal of legs weakening was true.
I hated the effect he had on me. I also hated that I was willing to give in so easily, but desperation could do that.
It wasn’t just on me though, because Josh needed me, too.
We were simply friends helping each other out for a few days, and that was it.
He was just Josh; my hot coworker whose kiss destroyed me in my kitchen to prove how serious he was about our plan to fake date.
He would save me at Papi’s party and he’d get to tell people he was dating someone.
I paced around my tiny condo in my ridiculous jammies I wished he hadn't seen me in, wearing a patch on the linoleum floor. Electricity thrummed through me from the night. It was not going to do any good re-living it. Even though I wanted to. But it was late and I should at least attempt to lie in bed, then maybe my obsessive thoughts about all the what if’s and could we make it work would exhaust themselves. I hoped.
I turned off all the lights, except for the small lamp by the door.
Nora was still out at a work function and she had texted she would be home late.
Once I double checked the lock, I trudged to my bed, sunk in the soft mattress and cotton blanket, and laid back against the pillows in the dark.
Thinking and contemplating. I had sort of already agreed, but my mind was doubting my ability to pull it off.
I must have laid staring at the ceiling for so long, it started to blur.
Then suddenly, I was visualizing Josh above me, shirtless, walking around his apartment in those low-hanging gym shorts with his spectacular sculpted abs that I wanted to run my fingers across.
The heat between my legs was building. Maybe a little relief would be good.
I let my fingers dip below the hem of my shirt to the top of my waistband.
The barn door to my room slid open; I snatched my fingers back up and above the blankets.
“You awake?”
“Yup,” I added quickly, hoping Nora couldn’t see my flushed cheeks in the dark. I hadn’t even heard her come home.
“Sorry I bailed tonight. I didn’t expect the after party to go so crazy.”
As much as I hated that she’d bailed, I also knew it was part of her job.
She was a local radio host who did the evening shift and sometimes covered local events.
Tonight was the new emerging band, The Spinners.
They were gaining traction fast, thanks to a few viral videos, and her getting to do the coverage was a highlight this week.
I sat up when she came and crawled next to me.
“How was the band?”
“So good and the lead singer… Girl, what I wouldn’t do to join that groupie list. Except lose my job.” She giggled. “Which would happen if I crossed that line.”
“Good thing it was just tonight.”
“No kidding.” She wiggled her brows. “How was your night?”
My face burned with the thought of telling her about Josh, but I also wanted to talk about it and get some advice. There was no one better than Nora to tell me if this was a terrible idea or not.
“Josh stopped by.”
Instantly, she sat up. “Tell me everything.”
“He’s going to go to the party as my boyfriend.”
She punched me in the shoulder. “What? How?”
“Ow!” I rubbed my throbbing shoulder.
“Don’t be a baby.”
“I blurted it out and then tried not to die of embarrassment. I was asking Kev, but he was busy that weekend, then Josh found out and I dunno, he said he would.”
“This is huge! Oh, I can see May’s smug face now when he walks in. Greatest day ever.”
My turn to grin. “That will be nice.”
A shadow crossed over face and she clucked her tongue. “Do you think she’ll buy it?”
A thought I also had. “I hope so.”
“You had better convince her. Maybe yourself, too.”
“What do you mean?”
“I know what you think. A guy like Josh could never seriously like you.”
Twisting my fingers into knots. “Is it that obvious?”
Nora grabbed my hand to stop me. “You’re way too good for him and I don’t care who says differently. And I wish you believed that.”
So much of me wanted to believe her, but the truth was, I wasn’t Josh’s typical type.
I was curvy, had thick hips, and an ass.
My hair was red and wild. I was more into sports than being on the sidelines in a designer outfit.
Don’t get me wrong, I loved a good dress-up and rocked some heels, but it was going to be a hard sell, no matter what kind of chemistry we had. The image of us was the problem.
“I’m sure we can fake it for a few weeks.” I smiled, even though it didn’t seem like I should.
“I’m not sure either of you is faking it. But maybe that’s not my place to say.”
“Stop it.” I shook my head. “It’s not like that.”
Her eyes narrowed as if she was trying to read me. Her glare was so intense, I fought hard not to blurt about the kiss. She would have more ammunition in that bag she carried about Josh and I being a thing. I must have somehow convinced her, because her shoulders relaxed.
“Fine, but let me be the first to say, I am here for this.” She snuggled into the pillows.
I’m guessing she was too tired to move after the long day she’d had and it didn’t even bother me. She was my person. I let the doubt swirling in my head drift away, hoping that I could dream of something other than what was becoming my odd reality.
Starting tomorrow.
I was going to fake date Josh.
As promised, Josh was waiting down in the lobby of our building.
He was in his Twisters warm-up gear, duffel slung over him.
The suit was made for bodies like his. Slightly loose, but enough to see his muscular frame beneath it.
Black headphones sat on top of his backward baseball hat.
Damn, he looked stellar in the backward hat.
That was my weakness and I felt it all the way through my body.
I was amazed no one had noticed him. Or maybe it was because he lived here, people generally kept quiet about the team. But my eyes were glued to him.
He glanced up and our eyes locked for a minute. He shot me a wide grin, then shifted the tray of coffee in his hand to push his headphones around his neck. The tray wobbled slightly and he grabbed it before he dropped them.
“Nice save.” I chuckled.
He winked. “That’s why they pay me the big bucks.” He handed me one of them. “That latte thing you ordered from the Steeped and Brewed Café.”
I froze for a moment. He remembered my drink order? My chest thumped.
“Thank you,” I mumbled, still in shock.
He leaned in close enough to smell his cologne and man, was it yummy.
“That’s what boyfriends do,” he said it softly so only I could hear, but it was enough to send my stomach into a flip. We were doing this.
“How is this going to work exactly?” I asked to try to make myself less nervous.
“Right now? We just walk to work.”
“Walk to work?” I echoed for no good reason.
He didn’t miss a beat. “Yeah, you know, feet move, step by step.”
“Easy their New Kids.”
He full on belly laughed. And the sound had me grinning.
We headed out the building and it was easy to fall into step with each other despite the height difference between us.
Josh turned to me at the red light. “Can I ask a question?”
“Oh-kay,” I hesitated. There was a soft expression in his eyes and I wasn’t sure where this was going.
“Why did you move me to Moose?”
My face fell. “Oh. Uh.”
I felt flustered. The truth was, I wasn’t sure why.
The official story I told Moose was that I was busy with Grimes’s torn rotator cuff and Falston’s knee, but honestly, I needed space from Josh.
The past couple of weeks we had seemed to find each other more than we ever had and after my embarrassing stand-up situation, I’d thought he was just pitying me.
The last thing I wanted from Josh was pity.
“It was just temporary. There was a lot going on and the physicality of the last set of games put a few of the guys on the injured list, so that means I’m at max capacity.” There was some truth to that at least.
The light changed and we started to cross.
“Does this mean I can have you back?” There was hope in his eyes. “It helps our story out,” he added before I could speak.
“Does it now?” I raised my brows.
“Absolutely. We spend more time together. Let a few hushed rumors spread.”
“Kev’s great at that,” I muttered under my breath.
“Exactly. We don’t confirm or deny, just flap it off as locker-room shit. In the meantime, we talk, text.” He pulled out his phone. “I even got a name for you.”
I groaned. “Please tell me it’s not snookums?”
“Ha. That would be good, but no one would believe I’d call anyone snookums but Kev.”
He said it so seriously I faltered in my step. Thankfully, he grabbed my elbow and laughed. Pulling out his phone, he showed me the name, Summer, with my number.
I grinned. “Clever, Josh, very clever.”
He beamed. “So, does this mean yes?”
“We can’t.” I shook my head.
He jutted out his lips into a pout. “Why not?”
“Because, even if we were rumored to be dating, then you on my schedule would be a massive red flag to the coach.”
He groaned. “Damn it.” He grabbed my wrist and brought my hand up, I tried to ignore the spark it sent up my arm. “These hands are magical and healing and damn, have I missed them.”
“Wow, pulling out all the stops.” I tugged my hand free. “Maybe I’ll do a little out-of-office session with you.”
He waggled his brows. “Oh yeah.”
“Not like that!”
He laughed. “If you change your mind.”
I propped my hand on my hip and shot him a sassy glare. “And what would I get out of that?”
“Me.” He waggled his brows.
“Not sure that’s a fair trade.”
His mouth gaped open. “Just wait, April Summers. You’ll regret that.”
“Promises, promises.” I laughed and walked through the door he opened for me. As soon as we walked in, we were met with Kev. He startled at the sight of us and his eyes drifted to how close we were standing. I shifted slightly away.
He smirked, popped his ear buds back in, and headed down the long corridor.
“At least that’s out of the way.” Josh chuckled, easing the tension.
I nodded. Josh was right. If this was going to work for either of us, something as simple as running into each other on the walk to work wasn’t that uncommon. We’d done it a few times unintentionally, it just never felt this way.