‘Haven’t you noticed that Theo and Jess hold hands, like,allthe time? I’m surprised they don’t go to the toilet together and hold hands there too. It’s quite disturbing.’
‘It’s sweet!’ I countered.
‘It’s sad.’
‘So cold.’
‘Anyway, yeah, we can do the occasional hand-holding, and I’m sure I can throw in a bit of physical touch too.’
A tingle raced down my spine and I winced internally. I knew it’d been a while, but getting excited just because he said ‘physical touch’ was pathetic.
‘Okay, good. At least we have a few weeks to find out more stuff about each other, like hobbies and things that people might ask us,’ I said.
‘True. But don’t worry. I’ve got this. By the end of the wedding, we’ll wipe the smug smiles off those dirty little rats.’
‘Love it!’ I grinned. ‘Dirty little ratssounds much ruder thanbastards!’
‘Glad my insult meets with your approval.’
‘Oh, and I’ve just thought, technically you’ll be my fake boyfriend, which means that by the end of the wedding, we’ll both officially know someone in real life who has fake-dated someone. Which proves once again that romance novelsarerealistic. Boom!’ I thrust my fist triumphantly in the air, then burst out laughing.
God, it felt good to laugh after the crappy start to the day that I’d had.
‘Shit,’ Ben sighed. ‘That’s very true. Thanks to you, I’ll become a walking, talking trope. At least it’ll be for a good cause. But remember, Jeffries, don’t go falling in love with me like they do in those books of yours. This is just to get revenge on your ex and sister. I don’t want you begging to take me to bed once you see how brilliant I am at playing the charming boyfriend role.’
‘In your dreams, Benjamin Buttface.’ I rolled my eyes. ‘There’s no way I’d even think about it.’
‘Benjamin Buttface?’ Ben smirked again.
Oops. I hadn’t meant to let that slip out. That was only supposed to be what I called him behind his back, not to his face.
Oh well. Best that it was out in the open anyway. I hated two-faced people, so I didn’t want to be a hypocrite.
‘You call me Jeffries, so it’s only fair that you get a nickname too.’ I smiled, owning my slip-up with confidence.
‘You could’ve called me anything.’ He fought the grin that was already forming on his lips. ‘Eavesy-Eve, Ben 10 or just Big Ben, as the ladies love to call me, because of my?—’
‘Please.’ I held up my hand. ‘For the love of God,do notelaborate!’
‘Why? I was just going to say because of my impeccable timekeeping. Y’know, like the iconic London monument. What were you thinking about, Jeffries?’ He cocked his head and a mischievous grin spread across his face. ‘Anyway, why did you choose Benjamin Buttface of all things?’
‘It has a nice ring to it.’ I smiled.
‘If I’m going to be charming your family and embarrassing thosedirty little rats, the least you could do is come up with a more complimentary nickname. Might I suggest Ben-evolent or Ben-issimo?’
‘We’ll see. But I’m not making any promises!’ I laughed and noticed that my shoulders felt so much looser than they did before Ben had come. ‘Seriously, though, are yousureyou’re willing to do this?’
‘It’s definitelynotmy finest decision,’ he said, ‘and something tells me I’ll live to regret it, but yes. Mission Fake Boyfriend is officially activated!’
14
SARAH
Ben had left the office about ten minutes ago but I was still trying to get my head around what had just happened.
He’d just agreed to be my fake boyfriend for the wedding.
This waswild.
