My phone buzzed.
When I saw a private number, I assumed it was either Serena or Dax, both of whom showed up on my phone like that.
“Hello?” I answered.
“Hello? That’s a terrible greeting for your boyfriend.” Owen’s voice hit my ears just right, and my soft chuckle, coupled with the grin that swept across my face, reminded me that I couldn’t deny what he could work up within me.
“Is that your Daddy Prince?” Casey practically sang out as he glanced over his shoulder and winked at me.
“There’s no daddying going on here, Case.”
“Well, that sucks,” Casey followed.
“Is that one of your friends?” Owen asked.
“The way they’ve been taking advantage of my TV since our big-screen broke in the living room, I think I can consider them annoying roommates more than friends.”
“The kind of roommates who will love you forever if you get us some Asian food tonight,” Steve said.
“Ooh, General Tso!” Casey exclaimed.
“I want some crab rangoon, but make sure they bring the sauce.”
“Okay, I got it, you slackasses,” I conceded. “I’ll order once I’m off the phone.”
“I can call at a different time, if you want,” Owen offered.
“I’m good,” I said, slipping out of the bedroom and closing the door.
“Ooh, he needs privacy,” I heard Casey whisper, and they chuckled together, laughing at my expense, which certainly wasn’t a first for either of them.
“So what’s up? How’ve you been?” I asked, and the moment I said the words, I felt so stupid.
What’s up? How’ve you been?That’s what I was going to ask the prince? Really?
“Not much. Frederick and I have been sorting through all the details, and I was calling to let you know I’ll be in Fever Falls next week.”
“Next week?”
“Yes, is that a problem? I assumed you knew this was urgent.”
“It makes sense. It’s just, I’ll have classes.”
“You obviously won’t have classes all the time.”
“No, no. Not at all. Just stressed out about the school year beginning, and then this on top of it, you know, it’s been a lot. Sorry, I’m being stupid about this.”
“It’s not stupid. It’s a highly unusual situation that not a lot of people find themselves in. You have every right to be a little surprised by it, and certainly, if I’m going to see my boyfriend when classes are beginning, that’s not an unusual thing. We’ll be making our way around town, doing what typical couples do. We’ll get some publicity shots of us in the process that’ll quote-unquote ‘leak’ to the press, showing us doing our little fake datey things.”
The whole fake part reminded me of how disappointed I was about our arrangement.
Of course it was fake.
That was the only way any of this could happen.
“To prepare for the necessary interviews, we’ll have questions arranged, and we’ll practice responses. Since we’re not actually in a relationship, it’s probably best if we are ready for the kinds of questions they’ll ask—about how quickly we started seeing each other, and we will have to address the fact that this oddly times with the parliament decision. There’s already skepticism and plenty of critics, but there will be much more as we continue.”
“Yeah, that’s a lot to think about.”
