Seth
"Okay, but I don't think you fully understand what you're agreeing to."
Dane looked up from his phone. "I don't?"
"No." I wrapped both hands around my iced tea, more for something to do than because I actually needed it. "This isn't just showing up to a wedding for a few hours."
A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "You're making it sound like I'm signing a legally binding contract."
"You might be."
That got a laugh out of him, which did absolutely nothing helpful for my concentration.
"The wedding's out of town," I continued before I could get distracted. "It's at this huge family estate by the coast. Three days, minimum. Maybe longer, depending on when everyone arrives."
“You’ll need clothes for the wedding,” I added. “There’ll be brunches, dinners, and all the other stuff in between. You’ll probably have to take time off work.”
"Okay."
"And we'll have to act like we're actually together."
His expression didn't change. "Right."
"Believably."
"That would generally be the goal, yes."
I narrowed my eyes. "Are you making fun of me?"
"A little."
"Dane."
His grin softened immediately. "I'm listening."
For a moment, I just studied him. "Are you really sure about this?"
The teasing faded from his expression, and for the first time since I'd started talking, he actually seemed to consider the question properly.
I sighed. This was exactly why I'd asked him to meet me. While he sat there quietly, my thoughts drifted back to the day I'd asked him.
I'd been halfway through a double shift, running on caffeine and poor decisions.
My head was still stuck on Glen’s phone call, his mother’s surprise involvement, the wedding, and the lie I'd somehow ended up telling about having a boyfriend.
My life had felt like it was tipping over in real time, and I hadn't exactly been in the right state of mind to ask a near stranger to pretend to date me.
Even now, I still wasn't entirely sure what had possessed me to ask him.
Panic had obviously been a major factor, but it didn't fully explain it. Part of it had been timing. Dane had walked into the café at exactly the wrong moment, or maybe exactly the right one.
And then there had been something about him that had made him feel like the safest choice.
The kind of person people naturally trusted without thinking too hard about it, the kind of person people would believe.
Or maybe I'd already been noticing him more than I should have long before any of this started. I didn't let myself stay with that thought for long.
Either way, I'd asked, and Dane had agreed so quickly it had almost thrown me.
Janine certainly thought it was suspicious. After I'd told her what happened, she'd insisted there was only one plausible explanation. He'd panicked and said yes without thinking.
I thought the same, which was why I'd assumed he'd texted me, that he'd finally come to his senses.
Dane took another sip of his coffee. A few small birds hopped around an empty table nearby, pecking at crumbs someone had left behind.
He watched them for a moment before looking back at me, and for some reason, that made my stomach tighten.
Because whatever he was about to say, it was obvious he'd finally given this some thought.
Dane leaned back in his chair and looked at me like I'd just spent ten minutes explaining something painfully obvious.
“Seth, I understand everything you're saying.” He started counting points off on his fingers. "Three days. Out of town. Fancy wedding. Lots of people. Pretending to be your boyfriend."
I winced at hearing it summarized so neatly.
Dane simply shrugged. "I really don't mind it.”
"You don't?"
“No.”
I stared at him. He stared right back.
Then he added, "And unless you've got a secret list of backup boyfriends somewhere, isn't the wedding only a few weeks away?"
"...Yes."
"Then I'd say your options are probably limited." That stupid smile appeared again.
Dane leaned back even farther, hands hooked behind his head as he stretched out his legs beneath the table.
"Besides, you offered to cover everything."
"I did.”
“Travel, food. And if we end up driving, gas.”
“Yes, Dane.”
“Sounds like a pretty good deal,” he nodded thoughtfully. “You also offered free drinks at your café.”
“Oh my God.”
Dane lifted his cup in a small toast. “And I never say no to free drinks.”
I groaned. The worst part was how relaxed he looked while saying it. The afternoon sun caught the side of his face, turning his skin warm gold.
His shirt collar sat open at the throat, and when he shifted in his chair, the fabric stretched slightly across his chest.
I looked away on instinct. Then, against my better judgment, looked right back, which was a mistake.
Dane was annoyingly good-looking and unfairly easy to look at. Someone who could smile and somehow convince everyone around him to smile too.
Maybe that was part of the problem. Nothing about this made sense.
Most people would have hesitated before agreeing to fake-date a near stranger for an entire wedding weekend. They would have asked questions, wanted details.
Dane had just said yes, which brought me back to the same question I’d been asking myself for days.
Why? I leaned forward, resting my elbows on the table.
“What are you getting out of this?” I asked.
“Hm? Well.” The corner of his mouth twitched. “I get to spend more time with you, don’t I?”
His eyes looked almost impossibly blue in the afternoon light, steady and amused in a way that made them difficult to read.
“Right,” I said slowly.
He leaned forward as well, lowering his voice slightly. “Maybe I really do just want the free drinks. Times are hard.”
I kept staring, waiting. Dane held my gaze for all of three seconds before looking away.
Across the patio, a couple stepped out of the café carrying drinks. After a brief debate over where to sit, they settled near the flower beds.
Dane watched them for a moment, then sighed, dragging a hand down his face.
“All right. Fine. Remember how I said my family’s been on my case?”
I laughed so loud that those sitting nearby glanced over. For the first time since this conversation started, something finally made sense.
“So they’ve been trying to set you up?” I guessed.
“Constantly.”
The misery in his voice only made me laugh harder, and Dane endured it with the kind of patience that suggested he had no one to blame but himself for admitting it.
Eventually, I managed to get myself under control again.
“Were they really that bad?” I asked.
“You have no idea.”
“And?”
The question slipped out before I could stop it. I wasn’t even sure I needed to push though, because the look on Dane’s face already suggested he had nothing left hide.
He sighed. “And I might need you to come to a couple of things with me.”
I blinked. “What things?”
“Pack events. Family gatherings. That sort of thing.”
I stared at him for a moment longer than I probably needed to, and just like that, something in my chest loosened.
For days, I’d been carrying a low-grade sense of guilt I hadn’t quite named.
That I’d asked for too much. That I’d pulled someone into my problems simply because he’d been too polite to say no.
But this made sense. A favour for a favour. A grin spread across my face as I picked up my iced tea.
“Well.”
Dane eyed me cautiously. “Well what?”
I had a feeling there was more he wasn’t saying, but I didn’t ask.
The wedding was only a few weeks away, and I didn’t want to risk talking him out of this.
I couldn’t think of anyone else I’d be willing to ask, and Dane was still here, still agreeing to a plan that sounded ridiculous every time I thought about it.
For now, that was enough.
“Two weeks.”
Dane frowned. “What?”
“You’ll only get free drinks for two weeks.”
His eyebrows shot up. "Why?"
"Because you lied to me."
"Withholding information isn't lying."
The response came so quickly I was fairly sure he'd used it before, and the corner of his mouth twitched like he knew it too.
“Right." I narrowed my eyes, suspicious.
Dane lifted both hands in surrender. "I'll even agree to one week. No, wait. Ten drinks. But they can be claimed on any day."
I stared at him. He looked completely serious.
"You're negotiating fake-boyfriend compensation."
"I'm negotiating a very reasonable fake-boyfriend compensation package."
The fact that he said it without a trace of embarrassment made it impossible not to laugh.
Dane pointed at me immediately. "Don't laugh. I'm making sacrifices here."
“Why?" I asked, curious.
And just like that, some of the ease in him drained away.
"Because." He groaned and looked away. "I have a pack thing coming up soon."
The confession came out so reluctantly I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing again, especially when I noticed the faint red creeping up his ears.
"A pack thing?" I repeated.
"Don't."
I laughed, even louder this time. Dane dropped his head briefly before looking back up at me.
"You're enjoying this way too much."
"Maybe."
He sighed. "Fine. Stop laughing and I'll pay for gas."
That seemed fair enough. I lifted a finger and started counting off the terms of our arrangement.
"Ten drinks. My wedding. Your pack thing."
Dane nodded.
"I pay for accommodations."
"And I'll cover transportation," Dane said.
"Deal." I held out my hand.
Dane glanced at it for a second before reaching across the table, closing his hand around mine.
His grip was firm without being forceful. It was a simple handshake, nothing more than a quick confirmation of terms.
And yet, it lasted a second longer than it probably needed to before Dane finally pulled his hand back.
I cleared my throat. "So. We should probably figure out the details."
"The details?" Dane asked.
"For your pack thing. We're just dating, right?"
Dane nodded.
"Good." I gestured between us, trying to impose some kind of order on the whole mess.
"We don't need to know everything immediately. We can work out how we met, how long we've been together, all that stuff later. If one of us gets caught out on a detail, we'll just say we haven't been dating very long."