“It’s a whole group thing,” I corrected. “You only know me and Marta, I think, but umm…”
“Oh,” Morgan said. “Why?”
I opened my mouth to explain, but I knew it was pointless when Marta drew a breath beside me.
“He needs you to play the part of convincing boyfriend so his evil ex will think he’s moved on,” Marta said.
I would’ve phrased it more carefully. Maybe.
I might not have phrased it atall.
Now Morgan was looking between us, brows drawn together, and if anything he was even cuter when he was confused anddammitnow I couldn’t back out. My only hope was for him to say no.
“Aren’t you two dating?” Morgan asked after a minute.
Marta and I looked at each other, and then she burst into laughter so loudly it was kind of insulting.
“She’s gay.I’mgay,” I pointed out. “Or, well… broadly gay.”
“I’veseenyou with a girl,” Morgan said, eyes wide, clearly absorbing brand new information. “I figured you were… flexible,” he finished, gesturing in my direction.
Marta was still laughing.
“Broadly gay,” I repeated. “Girls didn’t work out.”
“Oh.” Morgan blinked at me.
“Marta has a very pretty girlfriend she doesn’t deserve,” I said. “Julie is a saint. You’d like her, she’s sweet.”
“I found a crystal in my coffee mug this morning,” Marta complained. “You only think she’s a saint because you don’t live with her.”
“You love her,” I said, smiling at Marta. She wasadorablewith Julie and I couldn’t wait to go to their wedding and babysit their half-dozen adorable kids when they started having them. I wassoready to be Cool Uncle Devin.
“So, will you come on the trip?” Marta asked, turning her attention back to Morgan.
Morgan blinked at her, looking between the two of us cautiously like a rabbit facing down a wolf.
This wasn’t fair. We shouldn’t have put him on the spot like this.
“Think about it,” I said before Morgan could respond. “I don’t need an answer right now.”
“You need one by tonight,” Marta pointed out. “Last chance to finalize your competition registration. He says he’s not going if he has to share a room with Brad, you’re his only hope,” she added to Morgan.
Dammit.
I didn’t want to put Morgan under pressure, and Ireallydidn’t want him to reject me wholesale in the middle of the store. We were lucky there was no one else in here right now, but that could change any second.
Thursdays weren’t exactly roaring trade days, but I wasn’t sure how well I’d handle him saying no, hedidn’twant to be my boyfriend, in front of another customer.
Crying in front of the customers was frowned upon by corporate.
“Dinner?” I offered, desperate now. “We can talk about this in private.”
Morgan looked between the two of us again, and then focused on me, relief in his eyes. “Dinner sounds good. I gotta get out of here, text me details later,” he said, taking a half-step back.
He was going to say no. Iknewhe was going to say no, but at least now he wasn’t going to do it while I had half a workday still ahead of me.
“Thank you for bringing my phone back,” I called to him as he continued to retreat toward the door.
