It’s not right. And I’m not just going to stand by and watch my best friend struggle.
An idea flickers in my brain. It’s crazy. Probably the craziest idea I’ve ever thought of.
But it’s also perfect.
I look at Ellie. “Marry me.”
Chapter 9
Camden
Ellie frowns like she’s confused. I don’t blame her. What I said was totally insane.
“What?” she says.
“Marry me,” I say again.
She bursts out laughing. “Very funny.”
“I’m not kidding, Ellie. If we get married, you’ll have access to my health insurance. You’ll be able to get the medicine you need for your migraines, and it won’t cost you anything. You won’t have to work a million jobs anymore. You could focus on saving money for your pet-sitting business.”
Her delicate brow lifts, and her sparkling blue eyes go wide.
“Wait, you…you’re serious?”
“Dead serious. Ellie, it’s messed up that you can’t live your life the way you want to because our health insurance system is unfair and fucked up.”
She blinks at me, the look in her eyes dazed, like she’s struggling to process everything I’ve said.
A moment later, she shakes her head. “Camden, no. I can’t.”
“Why not?”
She stares at me like I’ve suddenly sprouted a second head. “Because we’re not a couple. We’re not in love. And I’m prettysure it’s illegal to get married to someone just to use their health insurance,” Ellie says. “That’s gotta be a form of insurance fraud.”
“I’m pretty sure it’s illegal to deny a hardworking, honest person like you medical coverage, but insurance companies do it all the time,” I say without missing a beat. “Why not play the system to your advantage for once?”
She shakes her head, clearly still in disbelief. For a long second, she’s quiet.
“Camden, do you even realize what you’re offering? If you marry me, you can’t marry anyone else.”
“I don’t have plans to get married, ever. You know that.”
“But you’re okay with being fake married?”
“Yeah. Because it would help you.”
She’s quiet again. I can’t tell if it’s because she’s seriously thinking about what I’ve proposed or if it’s because she’s thinking of more reasons why we shouldn’t.
She lets out a heavy breath and shakes her head. “I really appreciate you offering this to me, Camden. Truly. But I can’t accept. It’s too much.”
Disappointment flashes through me. “It’s not too much, Ellie. I swear it’s not. I’m happy to do this for you.”
Her mouth curves up in a pretty smile. “I know you are. Maybe if you were getting something out of it too, I’d feel differently about it. But I just can’t let you do something as big as this for me. It doesn’t feel right.”
I’m quiet as I scramble to think of something that she could do for me to make her say yes—to make her feel like she’s giving me something in return.
But I don’t want anything from her. I just want to help her. I just want her to be okay.
