Chapter One #2
Maren patted Griffin’s chest. “You have done beautiful work.”
“I have accomplished nothing.”
“You kept Tyler out of a helicopter.”
“Once.”
Tyler continued before anyone could remove the microphone from him.
“Here is the bet. Thirty days. Six public dates. The Lake Briar audience picks Piper’s fake boyfriend from the Ridgeview roster.”
“No,” Piper said.
“If she completes the thirty days without falling for him, an anonymous donor gives five thousand dollars to the youth hockey scholarship fund.”
The crowd exploded.
Piper stared.
“Anonymous donor?”
Tyler nodded.
“Who?”
“Anonymous means mysterious.”
“Anonymous means you invented one.”
A man near the sponsor tent lifted his hand.
Everyone turned.
Paulson, the Summer Challenge director, looked as if he regretted every choice that had led him to Lake Briar.
“The donor is real,” he said.
Piper’s stomach dropped.
Paulson continued, “A local business owner offered the additional funds if the final weekend’s live engagement reached the target.”
Maren checked the phone.
Her expression changed.
“We passed it three minutes ago.”
Tyler looked victorious.
Griffin looked homicidal.
Piper looked at the scholarship total on the screen.
Five thousand dollars would cover equipment and registration fees for several kids who could not otherwise play. That had been the point of the entire summer. Not viral couples. Not public bets. Not Owen’s video.
Kids getting on the ice.
Her personal dignity was important.
Five thousand dollars was also important.
She hated when values became financially complicated.
Ava moved closer to the stage. “You can say no.”
Piper looked down at her.
Ava’s expression was serious. No teasing. No encouragement to turn pain into entertainment.
Just a choice.
That helped.
It also made Piper want to prove she could choose yes without being manipulated into it.
“I would choose the player,” Piper said.
Tyler blinked. “What?”
“If this happens, I choose. Not the audience.”
The crowd reacted immediately.
Maren looked interested despite herself.
Griffin looked at Piper. “You do not have to do this.”
“I know.”
“Then do not.”
“Excellent motivational speech.”
“I am serious.”
“So am I.”
Piper faced the camera again.
Thirty days.
Six dates.
No feelings.
She had coordinated three-day weddings with feuding families, managed a mayoral gala during a power outage, and convinced a swan to leave a baptismal fountain without injuring clergy.
A fake boyfriend was logistics.
People were not logistics.
Owen’s voice whispered from memory.
She manages them.
Piper pushed it away.
This would not be about management. It would be about money for the scholarship fund, positive exposure for the Summer Showdown, and proving that one man’s edited breakup speech did not get to become her identity.
Also, she would pick someone harmless.
Miles was easygoing and currently interested in a bartender in Ridgeview.
Beckett would treat the arrangement like community theater, but at least he understood a performance.
Tyler was legally impossible.
She looked over the players gathered near the stage.
Emmett was not among them.
Good.
“I will do it,” she said.
The reaction hit like a wave.
Cheers. Shouts. Phones raised higher.
Maren pointed the camera down while she confirmed something on the control screen.
Griffin stepped onto the stage.
“Before this gets worse, there need to be rules.”
Tyler beamed. “I have rules.”
“No one wants your rules.”
“I made graphics.”
“Delete them.”
“Art cannot be deleted.”
“It is a shared template.”
Piper held out her hand. “Give me the options.”
Tyler reached into the back pocket of his shorts and removed three sealed envelopes.
Piper stared at them.
“You already had envelopes?”
“I believe in readiness.”
“You spelled Maren’s name wrong on a banner last week.”
“That was decorative interpretation.”
Maren called, “You added two n’s.”
“Luxury Marenn.”
Griffin took the envelopes from Tyler and inspected them.
“What is this?”
“The candidate selection.”
“You planned this before Piper agreed.”
“I planned for possibility.”
“That is just manipulation wearing a lanyard,” Piper said.
Tyler looked pleased. “That should be on a shirt.”
Griffin opened one envelope and read the card.
His expression flattened.
He showed it to Maren.
She looked at Tyler.
“Why is your own name in here?”
“Representation.”
Griffin tore the card in half.
“Discrimination.”
Piper reached for the remaining envelopes. “I am picking Beckett.”
Beckett pressed both hands to his chest.
“At last, the narrative recognizes me.”
“Because you will not confuse this with reality.”
His expression changed to sincere offense. “I confuse many things with reality.”
“Not helping.”
“I could.”
“You would arrive at every date in costume.”
“Theme matters.”
Piper selected the envelope marked with a blue circle because Beckett had spent most of the summer drawing blue stars beside his name on every team voting board.
The system was absurd.
The logic still felt sound.
She handed the microphone to Tyler and broke the seal.
“Once Piper announces the name,” Tyler said, “the thirty-day Wrong Guy Bet officially begins.”
Piper stopped.
“The what?”
He gestured toward the giant screen.
The title had already appeared in bright pink letters.
THE WRONG GUY BET
Below it:
Thirty days. Six dates. One fake boyfriend. Zero real feelings.
Piper stared at Maren.
Maren raised both hands. “Not me.”
“Tyler.”
“I had Beckett help with branding.”
Beckett bowed.
Piper looked into the envelope.
One folded card waited inside.
She opened it.
The name printed across the center was not Beckett Monroe.
It was not Miles Carter.
It was not Tyler Donovan.
COOPER VALE
Her entire body went cold.
“No.”
The microphone caught it.