Chapter 3 #2
To him, Cassidy's Place was like an island. It was only after you moved closer to shore and saw land in the distance that you realized there was more world out there. That life continued to go on even when you weren't looking.
Jack had grown up around the metaphorical island of Cassidy's Place.
He knew it like the back of his hand. So, to him, it made sense when he angled Benny to the right as soon as they went through the bar's front door.
It also made sense to him when he made sure they walked past the corner of the parking lot and right into a thicket of trees.
He knew what was waiting on the other side.
In hindsight, it made sense that Benny, who did not know, freaked out.
Benny dug his heels into the dirt just inside the tree line and shook his head fervently.
“I'm all for getting Carol to shut up, but I'm not about to go traipsing off into the darkness with you only to be a headline story tomorrow. Clueless blogger doing clueless things gets what's coming to him.”
He threw his arms across his chest in defiance, as if to further prove his point.
It was a surprisingly distracting move. He was wearing a short-sleeved button-down that pulled across his chest and shoulders. He had one of those swimmer builds. Lean, but for broad shoulders that stood out. A hint of being toned in other places hidden beneath the clothes that fit well.
It wasn't like Jack hadn't objectively noticed the hotness of his patron before the impromptu rescue, but now that he’d kissed Benny, a few more things stood out a bit more.
Like how Jack’s body had reacted to the softness of Benny’s lips, the feel of his body, and the dark, albeit confused, eyes that searched his expression now.
He hadn’t disliked any of it.
In fact, the aftermath of the kiss had made Jack curious.
Benny had actually played along.
Now it was time to do something even more out of pocket than randomly kissing a man in his place of work.
Now it was time to see if Benny would keep playing.
“We aren't traipsing into the shadows,” Jack said, with a hint of annoyance. “We're walking to the clearing so we can talk in private. Unless you'd rather go back into the bar and discuss our lie?”
Benny glanced over at the trees.
“The clearing,” he repeated. “Not some kind of weird, scary shed or makeshift hunter’s trap you’re leading me into?”
Jack snorted.
“No. Just one of those normal, non-horror-filled clearings between trees with a normal gardening shed I will not be locking you inside of.”
Benny might have looked wary at the sarcasm, but he followed Jack all the same.
The clearing had been kept up since the early nineties but had withered in a few areas since Jack’s uncle had retired.
The picnic table had greened in a few spots and the lone solar lamp post had a broken bulb that neither Knox cousin had bothered replacing in the last two years.
The shed, however, had held up despite their neglect.
Benny glanced toward it but followed Jack willingly to the table across from it.
“I didn't know all of this was back here,” he said.
“My uncle may own the bar, but he’s always hated sitting inside it. Says he needs the fresh air to think better when he's looking over the books, so he put all this out here.”
Benny nodded. He was careful as he took his seat but didn’t complain about it looking a little rough.
“Sometimes you just have to step away from it all,” he said instead.
When Jack settled opposite, he decided to cut the small talk and go big.
“Okay, so here are the facts. You have the hots for Marcus Robertson and don't want to admit it, but we all know that with Carol after you, keeping it a secret probably isn’t going to work long term. I am having issues with the new bar down the road stealing customers and wouldn’t mind some good publicity for Cassidy’s.
Since you're the most famous thing Arbor Bay has at the moment, I think you can help that happen. So why not take out two birds with one stone? Let’s pretend we're together and be loud about it.”
Benny narrowed his eyes.
“I don't have the hots for Marcus anymore,” he said, surprisingly fierce. “It was—It was first love. That’s all. It’s over and done.”
Jack clapped.
“Even better,” he exclaimed. “That will make our arrangement even less complicated. But I'm still guessing you don't want Marcus to know that you did have the hots for him?”
Benny gave a slow nod to that.
“Then, why not let us use some good ol’ fake dating as the one stone to take out our problems?”
There was no reason, as far as Jack was concerned, to add in the part about Marcus’s new fiancée—Felicity—being his ex. That, in all of the world, she had to date and plan to marry the one person who stood for everything Jack wasn’t.
So, he didn't.
Even without that complication, Benny was in a pickle. An embarrassing, awkward pickle.
And he knew it.
“That's a really weird stone,” he said after a moment.
“Weird doesn't mean it's not effective.”
Benny’s shoulders visibly tensed.
“And you don’t mind that I’m… Well, I’m, you know…” He motioned to himself.
Jack didn’t immediately understand.
“That you’re, what? Awkward?”
Benny finally seemed to feel some confidence. He sat up straighter.
“That I’m not a woman,” he clarified.
Jack waved his hand through the air dismissively.
“If I only dated women, I wouldn’t have swooped in and made out with a man in front of the Peanut Gallery. Don’t worry. Unlike you, I’m not one who throws myself into situations I don’t benefit from.”
Benny’s eyes narrowed again. Instead of volleying a defense back, he tucked his bottom lip into his mouth.
It was slightly annoying to realize the action was also…oddly distracting.
After a moment, he spoke.
“Okay, so let's say I play along and tell everyone that we're dating and you're the guy I've been writing about on DearMe all of these years...
What keeps you from changing your mind, admitting we're not together, and making me look like I'm just out for attention? What keeps you from telling everyone it was Marcus I was talking about, not you?”
Jack hadn't expected Benny to question his honor. He didn't like it.
“You can blast me on that same blog. Say I'm a scum bag who just wanted to get internet famous or some shit and tricked you into this weird agreement for clout.
I'm the grumpy bartender in town and you're the quiet nice guy.
They'll believe I was being a douche more than they'll care about you lying.”
Benny wasn’t convinced.
“And what if I still didn't want to play along now? Would you tell my secret? Is this blackmail?”
Again, Jack didn't like the implication that he was a jackass. At least not to this degree.
“If you don't want to do this, you can walk away now,” he said. “I'll keep your secret.”
“And what about Carol and everyone else who just saw us?”
“We can just say it was a joke. We thought it would be funny.”
Benny sighed.
“Which would still be enough ammo for her to use against me somehow.” He took another small moment to look at Jack in thought. When he spoke again, it was slow. Deliberate. “If we do this—pretend to be a couple—how long do we play pretend?”
That wasn't something Jack had thought about yet.
Seeing that Felicity, his Felicity, was engaged to Marcus had been a sucker punch.
He'd known the two had gone on a date once, but he hadn't heard anything else about it.
He figured that meant they were through.
But then there he'd been, standing behind the bar and reading the status update less than a minute after he'd found out another guy, Benny, was wrapped up in the pretty boy. It had been enough to make him act.
Get a win for the bar? Check.
Keep the Robertson family from growing their ego even more? Check check.
“How long are you in town for?”
“I have a wedding to work back in Nashville in three weeks,” Benny answered. “My bosses are okay letting me lay low here until then. Plus, I can work remotely until then if needed.”
Jack snapped his fingers together.
“Perfect,” he decided. “Then that will be our timeline. For three weeks, we can play at being a couple. After that, we come up with a reason for our split and make it public. Something that doesn't make me look like a jackass.”
“Or make me look like the most awkward person alive,” Benny added.
Jack nodded.
Then paused.
“Wait, does that mean you're in?”
Benny looked around the clearing—for what, Jack didn't know—then he heaved a long sigh.
He stuck out his hand.
“If this helps, at the very least, to get Carol off my back, then I'm game.”
Jack placed his hand in his. It was soft and warm and smaller than his own. Just like Benny.
They shook.
“Then,” Jack said, feeling the first twinge of excitement in a long while. “It looks like we have a deal.”