Page 42 of Faking With You

Hannah

I’m sure you could have convinced him to stay in that bed with you...

I roll my lips together because I have a feeling she’s right.

“Everything all right?” Mac asks, and my head shoots up as I hold my phone closer.

“Oh, yeah. Everything’s fine. The girls are just checking in.”

“Tell them I say hi.”

He leaves and heads into the kitchen, and I listen as it sounds like he pulls pots and pans out.

Eliza

Mac says hi, by the way.

Zoey

Oh, so we’re to the saying hi to your friends phase

Eliza

Am I supposed to know what that means?

That comment just reminds me about my very limited dating experience.

Hannah

You’ve hit the stage where he wants some sort of relationship with your friends. It means he doesn’t want us to hate him, which means he likely wants to stick around.

I laugh. Hannah is so far off base it’s hilarious. Mac isn’t trying to build a relationship with them because he wants to stick around. He already has an acquaintanceship with them through the team, he’s probably just being nice, but I can’t say that.

Eliza

Your husband didn’t do that....

I type the text but don’t send it, remembering the time Grayson asked me to meet him at the bar to talk to me about Hannah. I chew on my thumb, trying to find a way to prove her wrong, but come up empty.

Eliza

He’s just being nice

Zoey

You tell yourself that babe. I’ve got to go, we’re taking Jayden to some event at the aquarium Matt was excited to take him to.

Everyone else also needs to do their own thing, and I’m left clutching my phone and staring at the TV while the realization that if we were in any different situation they might be right about him wanting to develop a better relationship with them so that they’ll like him. Instead I’m fake dating a guy who is closely connected with my entire close friend group.

Needing to change my train of thought, I join Mac in the kitchen and ask if he needs any help. He’s got everything under control, but I set the table.

Mac pulls me from my thoughts when he asks, “How are your friends?”

“They’re good. They’ve all got family plans. I know Bailey is trying to spend as much time with Charlie as possible with the baby due in a few weeks. Matt and Zoey are doing almost every activity they can find for Jayden and I’m sure Liv, Josh, and Cate will join them, and I don’t want to think about how Hannah and Grayson are spending their day.”

“You’re all very close.” He says it as a statement rather than a question, and I swear I hear a sense of longing in his voice.

“Yeah. They’re my best friends. We’ll always be there for each other.”