“I thought it was obvious, but I guess I’m going to have to spell it out for you,” Slate said. “I’m Isla’s date.”
Josh guffawed. “What? Like as her male escort?”
Slate’s hands clenched into fists, and I was worried he was going to throw a punch.
“No.” I could hear the barely contained rage in Slate’s voice. “As her boyfriend.”
My eyes went wide, and my jaw felt like it had dropped enough to hit the floor.
Did he just sayboyfriend?
Thankfully, Slate’s body still shielded me enough to hide my expression from Josh and Lexi, otherwise my face would have been a dead giveaway to his lie.
I hurried to school my features, wondering where in the world Slate was going with this.
“Her boyfriend?” Josh said in skeptical disbelief. He sounded like he wanted to laugh but was too scared to. “You don’t do relationships. Everyone knows that.”
“Ididn’tdo relationships,” Slate said, emphasizing the past tense. “But I hadn’t met Isla yet.” He turned back to me and reached for me, bringing me against his side.
I was pretty sure if we were in a cartoon, steam would be coming out of Josh’s ears, which made me mad that he was mad. He didn’t have any right to be upset about who I was dating.Hehad dumpedme.
“Now, if you’ll excuse us,” Slate said almost too politely. “We’re going to go enjoy the rest of this wedding.”
Slate placed his hand on the small of my back and gently guided me away from them, my mind still swirling with what had just happened. Instead of going to sit down at one of the tables, I walked past all of them and out the door at the back of the barn, Slate following close behind me.
The door shut behind us, and I checked the area to make sure no one was around before whisper shouting at Slate. “What the hell was that?”
“That was me helping you,” he said calmly, like he hadn’t told a lie that we were sure to get caught in.
His calm demeanor had me rattled even more. How could he be so nonchalant about the fact that he had just told Josh we were a couple? And how stupid would I look when we went back to Waterford and we were suddenly no longer together? Why would Slate ever think that him pretending to be my boyfriend would help me?
“Helping me how?” I asked exasperated. “This is seriously the worst idea you could have ever had. I don’t want to be dating you. Orpretendingto date you.”
The barest hint of a flinch crossed his face. “What’s so wrong with dating me?”
I hadn’t meant for my words to be offensive, but did he not see how this could go badly for me?
“First, no one is going to believe it. Thatthis”—I motioned between the two of us—“got allthatto finally commit.”
“Why not?” he asked, like it was the simplest question in the world.
I looked at him with wide eyes and what I was sure was an incredulous look on my face. “Um, because you’re this gorgeous dark Greek god and I’m…me.”
Ugh, we were going to be that trope. The one where the plain girl got the ridiculously hot guy.
I don’t want to be that trope,my whiny inner voice said.
I wasn’t trying to put myself down. I was pretty, but Slate was in a completely different league.
“What are you talking about?” He looked at me like I was crazy. “We totally look like we go together. You’re gorgeous, I’m gorgeous, we’re like some perfect gorgeous couple. No one is going to think we don’t fit, at least not in the looks category.”
“Well, that may work for tonight, but what about when we go back to school?” I challenged. “Do you want to have to pretend to date me? That’s really going to put a damper on your so-called amazing lifestyle that you love so much.”
He let out a huff of air and looked around, rubbing his jaw. “I hadn’t thought that far,” he admitted. A serious look covered his face as he focused on me. “All I knew was that I couldn’t let Josh stand there and insult you like that, and I was willing to do whatever it took to make him feel like the worthless piece of shit that he is.”
The intensity of his look and his words immediately dampened the frustration I’d been feeling. He’d just been trying to stick up for me, to help me get through this night he knew I’d been dreading. He had been trying to protect me.
No. No, no, no, Isla. Don’t let him reel you in.
