So it’s no surprise really, that the first thing he says is, “This is fucking insane.”
Yeah, I know.
But AJ didn’t explain the why of it all, and though I know all of them would back me up and understand the whole thing better if I did, I keep quiet.
“It’s not that weird,” AJ protests, pouting a little. “We have everything figured out, but I want you guys to give us some tips on how to seem like a couple without, like, kissing in front of all of Cam’s classmates.”
“Huh,” Hawk says and leans his chin on his closed fist.
“Holding hands, definitely,” Ollie says and nodsdecisively at himself. “Hugh always puts his hand on my side or my lower back when we’re walking.”
“Yeah, we’ve got those things already, but I just want it to be obvious, you know?”
“I totally get it,” Hawk says. His eyes shift to me with that mischievous glint before they’re on AJ again. “You should definitely make sure you’re looking at him as much as you can, and smile like you do when you think about horses!” He shouts that last word and I have to smile at how Derek leans away just a tiny bit.
Even loving Hawk more than is possible to explain, he’s still human, and the decibels Hawk can reach when excited are unmatched.
“Look at him, and think about horses,” AJ mumbles as he writes it down studiously on his phone, and he too is nodding at himself.
“Lastly,” Hawk says and leans in, again looking at me for only a fraction of a second. “You really need to wear that tight blue button-down you wore to the ESPYS last year.”
Derek gets all growly, while his friend’s jealousy goes right over AJ’s head and he writes that down too... It’s not the worst idea. AJ does look great in that shirt.
APRIL
“You know about the reunion?” Mom asks as soon as I finish saying hello. In the end, she wasn’t able to come visit this month because all her friends decided theyneeded to go on a cruise next week, but since I’ve known I was going to visit her for months now, I wasn’t too bummed out about it. Besides, she’s coming for a whole two weeks in August, so I’m planning more than a few fun surprises for her.
By then, AJ and I will be dealing with telling her about ourbreakupso having her here, seeing us, will probably help with that as well.
“Yeah, about that?—”
“Are you bringing AJ?” she demands.
“Yeah, we’re going, and before you?—”
“You’re staying with me,” she declares. “I’ll make up your room, and I won’t hear a single word about it.”
I open my mouth to protest, to tell her... What the fuck can I say?
If this were a real relationship and Iwasconfident enough in it to bring the man to my hometown, staying with her would be so obvious and there’d be no question about us sleeping in the same bed.
And AJ has never been particularly shy—no one in the world believes he’s a prude—so how am I going to get out of this?
For now . . .
“Thanks, Mom, we’d love that.”
“So what?”AJ asks a few days later when we get a chance to catch up. He looks concerned for me, and Ican’t understand why he’s not even slightly worried about this.
We decided to go out since that would mean more pictures of us out and about, but now we’re back at his place and I can finally talk to him about this without the risk of anyone overhearing.
“This is way too much for us, AJ. I’m your agent for fuck’s sake! We can’t sleep in the same bed, share a bathroom, we can’t?—”
He stops me by wrapping his arms around me and hugging the life out of me. The strength of his arms is exactly what I need to take a deep breath, and after I do, he sways us from side to side and pats my head soothingly—as if I were a fussy baby or something.
“It’s fine,” he croons without stopping our movement. “I mean, my sisters always told me I talk in my sleep, but what do they know? We only slept in the same room for about twelve years.”
AJ using sarcasm is always funny, and since I can’t feel my heartbeat in my head anymore, I realize he knows how to calm me down better than I do.
