Chapter 13 Sarah
SARAH
‘Wait, what did you just say?’ I blinked rapidly, repeating my question.
‘I said…’ Ben paused as if he wasn’t even sure himself whether he’d said what I thought he had.
‘I said, I’ll go to the wedding with you. If you want…’ His voice trailed off. ‘If you really can’t find anyone else to go with you.’
I opened and closed my mouth like a hungry goldfish.
My face creased, then contorted in a million different directions.
I’d heard what he said the first, second and third time, but it just didn’t make sense.
‘But why would you do that?’ I said, still overcome with confusion. ‘We hate each other!’
‘Correction,’ Ben said. ‘You hate me.’
‘Exactly!’ I said before wincing at how terrible and rude that sounded. Especially considering he was offering to save my bacon. ‘Sorry… I mean, I’ve done nothing but scowl and bite your head off since we started working together, so why would you help me?’
‘Good question.’ He shrugged. ‘Maybe I’m just a saint.’
‘No, seriously. I don’t get it.’ I raised a curious eyebrow.
‘Let’s just say that I hate what they did to you and I can see how much pain it’s caused.
If I can help you get revenge to help balance the scales of justice, then I will.
Plus, you said it’ll be in Spain, right?
I love travelling and I love Spain, so that’s a bonus.
’ He flashed a smile and my stomach flipped.
I had to admit it was a kind offer. More than kind. Generous, sweet, selfless and considerate. Which was why I was shocked that it’d come from someone like Ben.
But I doubted that he’d thought it through. The last thing I wanted was for him not to realise the implications of his offer and regret it later. I already felt like shit, so I didn’t need to add feeling bad about him feeling bad to my list of worries.
‘Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but you do realise what this would mean, right?’ I asked.
‘That you’ll be so grateful for my generosity that you’ll offer to buy me coffee every day for the rest of your life?’ He smirked.
‘No…’ The corner of my mouth turned up into smile.
‘Although, maybe I should consider that seeing as you’d be really helping me out.
What I meant was, if you do this, we’ll have to spend more time together.
Like, alone. And you might even have to…
hold my hand or put your arm around me occasionally to convince everyone that we’re dating. ’
‘And do you realise it’d mean you might actually have to stop giving me dirty looks and be nice to me?’ He tilted his head.
‘Oh, Lord!’ I groaned, then laughed.
‘To answer your question, yes. I think I can channel my inner Theo and manage some hand-holding.’
‘Your inner Theo?’ My brow furrowed.
‘Haven’t you noticed that Theo and Jess hold hands, like, all the time? I’m surprised they don’t go to the toilet together and hold hands there too. It’s quite disturbing.’
‘It’s sweet!’ I countered.
‘It’s sad.’
‘So cold.’
‘Anyway, yeah, we can do the occasional hand-holding, and I’m sure I can throw in a bit of physical touch too.’
A tingle raced down my spine and I winced internally. I knew it’d been a while, but getting excited just because he said ‘physical touch’ was pathetic.
‘Okay, good. At least we have a few weeks to find out more stuff about each other, like hobbies and things that people might ask us,’ I said.
‘True. But don’t worry. I’ve got this. By the end of the wedding, we’ll wipe the smug smiles off those dirty little rats.’
‘Love it!’ I grinned. ‘Dirty little rats sounds much ruder than bastards!’
‘Glad my insult meets with your approval.’
‘Oh, and I’ve just thought, technically you’ll be my fake boyfriend, which means that by the end of the wedding, we’ll both officially know someone in real life who has fake-dated someone.
Which proves once again that romance novels are realistic.
Boom!’ I thrust my fist triumphantly in the air, then burst out laughing.
God, it felt good to laugh after the crappy start to the day that I’d had.
‘Shit,’ Ben sighed. ‘That’s very true. Thanks to you, I’ll become a walking, talking trope.
At least it’ll be for a good cause. But remember, Jeffries, don’t go falling in love with me like they do in those books of yours.
This is just to get revenge on your ex and sister.
I don’t want you begging to take me to bed once you see how brilliant I am at playing the charming boyfriend role. ’
‘In your dreams, Benjamin Buttface.’ I rolled my eyes. ‘There’s no way I’d even think about it.’
‘Benjamin Buttface?’ Ben smirked again.
Oops. I hadn’t meant to let that slip out. That was only supposed to be what I called him behind his back, not to his face.
Oh well. Best that it was out in the open anyway. I hated two-faced people, so I didn’t want to be a hypocrite.
‘You call me Jeffries, so it’s only fair that you get a nickname too.’ I smiled, owning my slip-up with confidence.
‘You could’ve called me anything.’ He fought the grin that was already forming on his lips. ‘Eavesy-Eve, Ben 10 or just Big Ben, as the ladies love to call me, because of my—’
‘Please.’ I held up my hand. ‘For the love of God, do not elaborate!’
‘Why? I was just going to say because of my impeccable timekeeping. Y’know, like the iconic London monument. What were you thinking about, Jeffries?’ He cocked his head and a mischievous grin spread across his face. ‘Anyway, why did you choose Benjamin Buttface of all things?’
‘It has a nice ring to it.’ I smiled.
‘If I’m going to be charming your family and embarrassing those dirty little rats, the least you could do is come up with a more complimentary nickname. Might I suggest Ben-evolent or Ben-issimo?’
‘We’ll see. But I’m not making any promises!’ I laughed and noticed that my shoulders felt so much looser than they did before Ben had come. ‘Seriously, though, are you sure you’re willing to do this?’
‘It’s definitely not my finest decision,’ he said, ‘and something tells me I’ll live to regret it, but yes. Mission Fake Boyfriend is officially activated!’