“I have something to tell you,” I say.
“Let me guess. The girl again?”
“Lena. She has a name, dude.”
“Glad you can remember this one.” He shoots me a sideways glance. “I’m happier the girl isn’t Nancy, though.”
“Yeah, fuck that. Here’s your update on that—I told Nancy we’re never hooking up. She took it about as well as you’d think.”
“Shit! Mad respect. And you walked out with all your fingers and toes?”
I laugh.
“It gets more complicated.”
“For Brady Pruitt? Never,” he says dryly.
“Come on, stop busting my balls. You know the rumors flying around about me and Lena?”
“For God’s sake, Brady.” He rolls his eyes and changes lanes, pulling ahead of a large truck. “I’m the man whoshowedyou those rumors. What’s this about? You said you weren’t going to use them to push her into anything.”
“Oddly, I didn’t have to.”
His eyes bulge, and I smile to myself.
“She’s the one who brought it up,” I say. “I met her at a park. I was typing up a post to debunk the rumors right there. Then she decided she wanted the money.”
“Interesting. So, you’ve solved the fake-dating riddle.” When I don’t say anything, he looks at me. “What’s eating you? You’re talking like it’s bad news, when it’s everything you wanted yesterday.”
“At first, I was excited as hell. Now, I’m not sure if I’ve thought this through. My mom wants to meet her. Sooner than I thought.”
“Well, yeah. What mother wouldn’t? If I slip up and admit I even looked at a girl, my mama starts cleaning the whole house and cooking a feast. You basically told them you’re about to get engaged.”
Holy fuck. When he says it like that—
WhatamI doing?
“I think I just bought myself an entire universe of shit. Galaxies and all.”
“Yeah, probably.” Luis chuckles.
“Thanks for the reassurance.”
“Just facts, my man. Face them.”
“What? Like the fact that my folks will lose it if they ever figure out the truth?” I grimace and drop my hand. “Or the fact that I agreed to fund her business-buyout plan? She wants the clinic, and her boss is selling.”
“Tough situation,” he admits. “You were born to be a diplomat, though. When you started in on the dog food gig, I never thought you’d talk your dad into letting you source straight from the family farms.”
“Yeah, that was a coup.” I grin. “Don’t know why I got stuck with you, though.”
“I’m like your grand vizier. You need an adviser to avoid any traps,” he says wisely.
“Right. So if you were me, what would you do?”
“Go big!” He looks at me before riveting his eyes back to the road. “If you can fool the world, you can fool your parents. And you can use everyone else’s opinion to help convince them.”
“You want me to fool the world first?”
