NORA #2
“Hey, do you know if Ky’s doing his beach house party this July?” Miles nudged my arm, bringing me back from my thoughts. “I haven’t seen a text about it yet.”
“Oh, I’m sure he’s doing it,” I said, perking up at the thought, since my brother’s parties were always a good time. “His summer isn’t nearly as packed this year as it was last year, so I think he has most of July off.” I pulled out my phone. “Let me ask, though.”
I typed out a quick message to my brother.
Me: Miles and I are wondering if you’re having your epic 4th of July party this year. Have you even thought about it?
I must have caught Ky at a good time because he texted back almost immediately.
Ky: I’m planning on it. I just need to talk to Ian first to make sure our events don’t overlap since everyone loves going to his family’s yacht party too.
“Sounds like the invites are on the way.” I showed Miles the screen. He scanned over the conversation. Once he was done, I slipped my phone back into my pocket, then asked, “What are Ian’s yacht parties even like?”
I’d never been. Never been on a yacht, period.
“They’re fun. Pretty chill.” Miles leaned back in his chair, a slow smile tugging at his mouth as his gaze briefly flicked over to Alessi and Bash. “Some years being more memorable than others.”
And with that little look, my brain flashed back to Ky’s New Year’s Eve party when they mentioned that one of those yacht parties had inspired one of Alessi’s hit songs, “Under the Firework Sky,” the romantic pop hit that had gone viral and exploded her career overnight.
“You should come this time,” Miles said, looking back at me. “I know you think we’re all old, but you’re a college graduate now. You’re one of us.”
“One of you?” I snorted softly. “Except for the fact that I’m neither rich nor famous.”
“You know what I mean,” Miles said, nudging my arm playfully. “You’re in a similar stage of life. No more school at least, right?”
“I guess,” I said. Though I wouldn’t mind if the “being rich” part were true for me like it seemed to be for all of my brother’s friends. “And now that Lucy is dating Ian’s best friend, I’ll actually have a friend to go with, so… I’ll think about it.”
“Am I not your friend?” Miles placed a hand over his chest, feigning like I’d just hurt him. “Because I thought we had something special, Nora. Has it just been me daydreaming about that New Year’s kiss all these months?”
I laughed lightly, trying to play it cool even though my stomach flipped at his words. Because if anyone had been replaying that kiss, it was definitely me.
“Okay,” I said, lifting a shoulder lightly. “I guess we’re friends, too.”
“Good.”
Across from us, Bash pushed to his feet. “We’re going to refill our drinks. Want us to grab you anything?”
“I’m good,” Miles said, lifting his cup to show it was still mostly full.
I glanced down at mine. “I’m good, too. Thanks.”
Bash helped Alessi to her feet, his hand settling easily at her waist as they walked off together. I almost asked Miles if he knew whether they were officially a thing yet, but before I could, Miles turned to face me more fully, like he had something important to say.
“Hey. Now that they’re gone…” His voice was suddenly serious. “I was wondering if I could ask you something.”
“What’s up?”
And for the first time all night, he looked a little nervous. “Since we’re friends, I was hoping you could do me a favor.”
This really was turning into the week of handsome men asking me for favors. But since Miles didn’t have a three-year-old daughter, and this probably wasn’t for babysitting, I asked, “What kind of favor?”
“Well,” he said, hesitating. “First, I should ask if you have any plans for Ian’s wedding. You’re going, right?”
“Actually, no,” I said, glancing toward Ian and Maddie. They stood near the food table with Lucy and Owen, Maddie laughing at something Ian murmured in her ear. “I wasn’t invited.”
“What?” Miles blinked.
“It’s not a big deal,” I said, waving the thought away. “Ian is Ky’s friend. I doubt he and his family even know who I am. I’m only at this party tonight because Lucy and Owen invited me at the last minute.”
“Oh… sorry.”
“Don’t be.” I smiled, meaning it. “It’s really okay.”
Would it be cool to go to a billionaire’s wedding? Uh, yeah. Obviously. But degrees of separation mattered, and I was on the outer edge of this particular friend group constellation.
“Well, I have a plus-one.” Miles shifted toward me a little. “And I’ve been trying to figure out who to bring… so I was wondering if you’d like to come.”
My breath snagged.
Miles Hawthorne—my brother’s ridiculously hot, ridiculously successful friend—was asking me to go to Ian Hastings’s wedding with him?
As his date?!
My mind did a full gymnastics tumbling pass.
Was this because of New Year’s Eve?
“You’re inviting me to be your plus-one?” I asked instead, my voice a strange blend of surprise and breathlessness.
Had all that flirting—had that kiss—somehow meant more to him than I’d assumed?
Had all my daydreams from watching his games and drooling over his tall, strong, sexy quarterback physique actually turned into something real?
“You see… I’m not really in a place to date for real.
” Miles sighed, his words bringing my spiraling thoughts to a complete stop.
“But there’s someone who’s going to be at the wedding who I’d rather not let know I’m single.
So, I was thinking… would you maybe want to go with me and pretend we’re kind of…
into each other? Like maybe that kiss on New Year’s sparked something and we’ve been in contact since then. It would really do me a solid.”
Oh.
Well. That answered that.
The tiny, hopeful bubble I hadn’t even admitted to myself deflated with a quiet pop.
So, he wasn’t actually asking me on a date. He needed me to be a shield. A decoy. A seat filler.
My heart pinched, and it surprised me how much the idea stung, considering that before this moment, I hadn’t actually expected him to be interested in me anyway.
But when I looked at him, instead of seeing the confident expression I was used to seeing on his face, I found something softer.
Vulnerable.
And for a split second, I wasn’t sitting beside a powerful quarterback. Instead, I was looking at the face of a man who looked like someone had taken a swing at his heart recently and hit it dead on.
Which was why, instead of living in the disappointment I’d briefly felt, I found myself saying, “I would be honored to be your fake girlfriend for the wedding.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Really?”
“Why not?” I shrugged. “I might as well take a turn looking like I finally nabbed a hottie. Plus, I could do much worse than going on a fake date with the Miles Hawthorne.”
“Ah, you really are the best, Nora.” He laughed, relief written all over his face. “And I’ll make sure to give Ky a heads-up so he won’t think I’ve been going behind his back to see his sister.”
“Oh, I don’t know…” I smirked. “It might be fun to let him believe it. Just to mess with his head a little.”
Miles shook his head, amused. “If that’s what you want.”
“Might as well have a little fun, right?”
“In that case…” He glanced over his shoulder, checking who was within earshot. “Maybe we should start laying the groundwork tonight.” He shifted closer, letting his arm rest casually along the back of my seat, making my stomach flip. “Get in some practice so it looks believable.”
So, I slipped a smile onto my lips as I leaned in closer and said, “Fine by me.”