There’s a shuffle of footsteps on the hallway carpet that gets louder as they come closer. Then, just outside the bedroom door, I hear Oliver say, “I’ll put it away, you don’t have to go into my bedroom.”
He says it loud enough that I know it’s intentional to give me time to hide. I panic and dive back onto the bed, grabbing the blanket to try to hide under it. I’m not fast enough though, and the door swings open while I’m still wrestling with the blanket. I look up as Oliver and Ryan both step into the room.
Ryan’s eyes go wide when he sees me. “Priscilla?”
“Oh. Uh. Hi, Ryan.” I realize what he must be thinking, seeing me in Oliver’s bed, all tangled up in the sheets. “It’s not what it looks like.” I throw the blanket off myself and climb off the bed.
His mouth curves into a smile and then he frowns at Oliver. “Really? Because it looks like?—”
“Priscilla and I are sleeping together,” Oliver says. He wraps an arm around my waist as I try to pass him, pulling me against his side. I freeze. I look down at his arm, so comfortably wrapped around my body. I fight the urge to glare at him.
“Oh,” Ryan says. “Then I guess it’s exactly what it looks like.”
My lips tighten. I want to yell at Oliver, but since I don’t have a better explanation for why I’m here, I keep quiet. I look at Ryan and force a smile. “What are you doing here?”
He opens his mouth like he’s going to say something, but then seems to realize that he can’t give me an answer. He looks at Oliver. “I was just dropping something off. Oliver?”
Oliver leans down and nuzzles my neck. It tickles. I hold my breath. “What was it you were dropping off again?” he asks distractedly.
Ryan glares at him. I guess Oliver is on a roll today with pissing people off.
“Just this watch,” Ryan says. He takes it off his wrist, and as he passes it to Oliver, I notice him handing the ring box over, too. If I didn’t know what to look for, I might not have seen it.
Oliver waits in the bedroom, his arm still wrapped around me, until we both hear the front door close. As soon as Ryan is gone, I turn around and yell at him: “We’re sleeping together? Are you kidding me? Of all the things you could have said!”
He shrugs. “It was the most realistic explanation. What was I supposed to say? You fell asleep while we were planning his and Tina’s proposals?”
“You didn’t have to be that specific. You could have just said we were hanging out and I fell asleep.”
He smirks. “Come on. Like he would believe that.”
“It’s the truth. Who cares if he believes it?”
“I didn’t want it to seem like we were hiding anything,” he says. “Besides, if we’re going to be planning this thing, that means we’ll be spending a lot of time together. At least now we have an explanation for it so we don’t have to sneak around.”
I stare at him, my mouth agape, completely dumbfounded. On one hand, what he’s saying actually makes some sense. On the other hand, Ryan is definitely going to tell Tina if he hasn’t already, and that means I’ll have to lie to her too. She’s been dying for this to happen and she’ll be crushed when she finds out it’s all a ruse.
“You mean you actually want to keep up with this lie?” I frown. “You’re okay with letting everyone think that we’re…” I hesitate, feeling embarrassed about saying it out loud.
“Having sex?” he finishes for me. He shrugs again. “Yeah, why not?”
I guess it’s a bigger deal to me than it is to him, but I don’t want him to know that. I don’t want him to think that I’m hung up on him, because I’m not. I think about that stupid thing I said when we first met. It annoys me that he might still think that’s how I really feel.
“I’m not sure I’m comfortable lying about something like that,” I tell him.
He drops his amused smile. “Oh. Shit, Priscilla, I’m sorry. I guess I didn’t really think that through. I can call Ryan and tell him I was just kidding.”
I’m surprised that I’m getting an apology out of him. I wonder if this is the first time he’s ever said he was sorry. I sigh. As much as I want this lie to go away, however, I know that it’s not that easy. “No. Don’t. I mean, it’s too late now. It will be weirder if you try to backtrack.”
“Right.” He reaches his hand up and rubs the back of his neck.
“I should probably go home.” I turn around and leave the room ahead of him.
I reach the front door. I slip my shoes on, and then I look back at him one more time. His lips part like he’s about to say something. I wait, my hand on the doorknob. His chest rises as he takes in a breath. Neither of us moves or says anything for a moment. I begin to realize that he wasn’t going to say anything, and now I’m making it weird by lingering here.
I fumble with the doorknob, trying to open it without taking my eyes off of him. “Thank you for letting me crash here,” I say. I tighten my grip on the knob and turn it, pulling the door open. I’m gone before he has the chance to respond.
* * *
