“Your father has been pressuring him to settle down more these past few weeks. Even brought a woman to the farmers’ market to set them up. And Ryan has been hounding me to go out with him for weeks. At the farmers’ market, he pretty much announced that we were going out to solve the problem.”
Jade frowned. “I’m going to murder him in his sleep.” She grabbed her phone, and I could see she was scrolling, searching for his number.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m going to have Brandon ream him a new one.”
“Nora, no. It’s fine.”
“It’s not fine!” She looked back at me, angry now. “He’s using you. I don’t care if he’s my brother. You don’t get to be treated like that.”
“And I’m using him. We are both using each other.”
I watched hurt cross her face. “And what if you end up hurt? You can’t walk away from something like that without your feelings being affected.”
I wanted to tell her I had already been. Kaleb had put my heart through a shredder months ago. But now? Now, I was fine. I could handle this situation with a cool head without emotions. At least, that’s what I was telling myself.
After our argument, I knew Kaleb had a point. If we wanted people to believe this, we were going to have to act like we were in love. As much as I hated the idea, I could suffer through it.
I laughed. “I’m going to be fine. I can handle your brother just fine.”
Jade’s shoulder dropped. “What if you want to date someone? How long do you guys plan to do this? What about what your future looks like?”
I tried to remain calm and unmoved. “We haven’t exactly ironed out the details about it all yet, but long enough to get what we both need before we part ways.”
Jade shook her head. “You’re making it sound like it’s going to be that easy, but it’s not.”
She might be right, but I didn’t want to think about that. I wanted it to be simple. “I’m a big girl, Jade. I have it all under control.”
Jade took a sip of her wine. “You’re sure?”
I nodded. “Yeah.”
Jade smiled. “Well, you never know. This could lead to you guys becoming something real.”
I forced a laugh, trying to hide the truth. If she knew that I had asked her brother out and he rejected me, she might honestly kill him.
“So, do tell me how it all went down at the gym.”
Jade laughed. “Oh, I heard Jill telling some other girls in the locker room. They were whispering about how you and Kaleb were together. I thought for sure they were smoking something because I would have known first before anyone else, but apparently not.”
I took a sip of my wine to avoid her glare.
“They were going into detail about how you guys have been secretive over the past month because you guys have probably been fucking in hiding. I swear, the stuff I heard I will never unhear.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle at the gossip. I had avoided Kaleb since the party, and everyone thought we were sleeping together. It was working in our favor at least.
“Got to love gossip.”
Jade nodded. “Just so you know, I give you my blessing if you do decide to boink with him.”
I choked on my wine and stared at her with wide eyes. “Jade!”
“What? I mean, you’re taking this very business-like, and if that’s the case, why not enjoy it a little? If you want to have a little fun, I’m not going to say anything.”
“You were just ready to murder him a moment ago, and now you’re telling me to have sex with him.”
“I’m not saying you have to, but if it happens, I’m not going to be angry.”
