Chapter 4 #2
My eyes shot open. Rhys didn’t want to do it with anyone else.
For some reason, I didn’t want him to do it with anyone else either.
Rhys was kind. Borderline too kind. Someone could take advantage of him or his money. He’d been burned too many times in the past, and it broke my heart to think it could happen again because I couldn’t handle taking a few pictures with him.
“Why don’t we ask Cam and Dom to go home? We can do it just the two of us. Dominic certainly isn’t helping with anything,” he offered quietly. Dom snorted from his place on the couch, and Cami used the packet of papers in her hand to slap his chest.
Wishful thinking.
I looked up at my best friend. “We can’t. We need two witnesses on the contract.”
A deep hum sounded from the back of his throat. “Gotcha.”
“I’m sorry. I’m overreacting.”
Rhys chuckled, resting his large hands on my shoulders. “You’re not overreacting. I’m asking too much of you, and you’re struggling internally because you know it’s a big ask, but you don’t want to let me down. Truthfully, I don’t even know if you’re capable of doing that, Sloane.”
“I—” I sighed, shaking my head. “How do you do that?” I laughed, the knot in my shoulders loosening as he kneaded softly.
“I just know you.”
I chewed on the inside of my cheek for a moment, then shook my head, snagging my wine glass from the counter. “Okay. Let’s do this.”
He smiled softly, gesturing for me to walk ahead of him. “After you.”
We walked back into my living room and plopped on the couch, both of us turning our attention to Cami.
“What’s next?” I asked.
She cleared her throat, her eyes jumping back and forth between Rhys and me. “Living arrangements.”
“Together.”
“Obviously separate.”
The two of us answered at the same time, my head snapping toward Rhys. “We do not need to live together.”
He shrugged, his jaw set. “Nonnegotiable. If you’ve got something going on with Stu, we’re living together.”
My mouth fell open, momentarily stunned. Whatever I had going on with Stu was none of his fucking business.
“I think—” Cami paused, shooting me her third or fourth apologetic look of the day. “I think Rhys is right. It would help everyone sleep better at night. Rhys wouldn’t worry, we wouldn’t worry.” Her voice trailed off, and I stared at her in disbelief.
How can she possibly be taking his side with this?
“No,” I responded, shaking my head. “I don’t want to live in your apartment. It’s not—It's just ugly. And I like having my own space. No.”
Rhys snorted out a laugh, large arms crossing over his chest. “Then I’ll move in here. I basically have a room here anyway. It’s fine. Like I said, nonnegotiable. Next question.”
I scoffed and sat in a stunned silence, Camille avoiding my eyes as she moved onto the next topic.
Clearly, the decision had been made.
“Income?”
“Separate.” We both answered at the same time.
The two of us made plenty of money; there was no need to combine our income.
“I’ll pay rent,” Rhys said. “Also chip in with the groceries.”
“Fine.” I nodded, taking a long pull from my wine glass. “We all need someone to tell. This is going to be hard. We need a person. Someone outside of—” I raised my hand and swirled it out, gesturing to the four of us curled up on my couch. “This. Just one.”
Cami shared a look with Dom. “We have each other. That’s enough.”
“Okay, I’ll tell... Zoey.” My older sister would probably laugh hysterically at the predicament I’d gotten myself into, but at least it was one less family member to lie to.
Rhys nodded. “I’ll tell Ryan.” His older brother lived across the country in Arizona. Choosing him over one of his sisters was probably for the best. Reagan and Rachel were not known for keeping secrets.
There was a brief lull in the conversation while the four of us exchanged looks. Rhys and I were wide-eyed with nervous expressions that resembled something like seasickness, while Dom looked smug, and Cam looked mildly entertained.
Glad someone is having fun.
“Umm-” Cami dragged her finger along the printed words, searching for the place she left off. “Social media presence?” Her voice was soft. “I’d recommend at least two posts a month.”
“Fine,” I responded. Almost at the same time, Rhys said, “Okay.” But I rolled my eyes, knowing it would be all on me since he’d never managed his own social media accounts.
“Lastly: public appearances.”
My eyes shifted from Cami to Rhys, then back to Cami. “Recommendations?”
“You have to go to his games.”
I nodded. That was easy. I was used to doing that before he pulled his disappearing act.
“You guys will need to go grocery shopping together, walk around the park, and visit Marblehead together. You gotta be seen outside of the stadium together, too.”
The two of us shared a look, then nodded.
“Okay.” Cami leaned forward, sliding the packet across the table with a pen. “Who’s first?”
Rhys cleared his throat as he picked up the pen, taking a second to meet my eyes. “The second you want out, we’re done. I don’t care about the legal shit.”
I nodded, thankful he was being considerate of my nerves and hesitation. “Same to you.”
He clicked the pen and leaned forward, signing his name on the dotted line.
Rhys passed the black pen to me, placing it in my shaky hand.
“Okay,” I breathed, leaning forward and moving the papers so they were in front of me.
No big deal.
I was just signing a contract to be in a fake relationship with my best friend.
The pen slid against the paper easily as I wrote my name with dark, swirly letters.
This was it.
I crossed the ‘T’ in my last name, making Rhys my boyfriend for the next six months.
I swallowed another enormous pull of wine as the pen clattered against the glass top. “Done.”
My back met the couch, and I slouched into the soft, velvety fabric, wishing it would just swallow me whole.
Rhys mirrored my actions, then twisted his head to look at me. “So, girlfriend... when do I move in?”