Page 21 of The Pursuit of Happiness
I laugh and roll my eyes at him, “Are you forgetting it was a fake date?”
His face falls for a second before he forces a playful expression back on, “Fine. Rate your experience on ourfakedate.”
I make a show of thinking, my fingers on my chin as if in deep thought. “Hmmmm.” I drag it out. He shifts anxiously in hisseat and I realize he’s actually worried I didn’t enjoy myself. “Nine out of ten,” I admit.
He raises his brows, impressed with his high score. “Wow, why not a ten?”
I give him a look of doubt, “Because it was a fake date. Ten’s are reserved for real ones.”
He smirks, “So then why don’t we go on a real one?”
“I-” I stutter. “What?” I’m at a loss.
Seeing something on my face he clears his throat, forcing his eyes back on the road, “Relax. I’m messing with you.”
I exhale a pent up breath and relax into my seat. I don’t know why the thought of going on a real date with him scares me so much. Maybe it’s because I haven’t seriously dated anyone since Duncan and have some serious emotional issues to work through, but still, it doesn’t stop me from feeling a twinge of disappointment in my gut when he says he was just joking. In truth, I really enjoyed my time with Sly today and I don’t mind so much that I’ll have to spend more time with him in the next couple of months.
I remind myself to make it clear that we aren’t actually together. It was hard to remember tonight that this was fake because it felt so natural to laugh with him and to just be near him. I have to make that reminder clear because I’m not willing to risk getting hurt and developing feelings for someone who’s only interested in fake dating me.
Sly pulls into my driveway and I blink as I realize we’re back at my house. I must’ve blanked for a few minutes. He parks the car and quickly exits to open the door for me. I’m surprised he’s still doing it considering there aren’t any cameras around now. I guess he’s just a gentleman, another thing I find myself blushing over when it comes to him.
He opens my door and helps me out and for a second we just stare awkwardly at each other. It feels like there are unspokenwords between us but neither of us can put those thoughts into sentences. Instead, I choose to break the ice, “Thank you. For today,” I clarify as if it needed clarification.
He gives me an awkward smile, “Anytime. I’m glad you had a good time given our current situation.”
I feel those damn butterflies going crazy in my stomach again. “I did.” I don’t want this to end. I don’t want to say goodbye for some reason. I think for a second about inviting him inside, but realize that’s probably a horrible idea and decide against it. If I invite him inside, I’ll just be torturing myself with his scent, his smirks, his perfect face, all of it inmyspace, forever changing how I see my own home. I nod towards the house, “I should probably get inside.”
He nods, “Yeah.”
I take a step away awkwardly and walk backwards a few steps to the house. I don’t hug him or anything, feeling slightly discomforted at the thought. “Goodnight,” I say even though it’s only six in the evening.
Sly tilts his head at me and oh my God is he gorgeous? “Goodnight, Aria.”
Yep. The next months are going to fucking suck. Why, you ask? Not because I’m stuck with Sly and I hate his guts, but because I’m stuck fake dating Sly and I’m actually insanely attracted to him. Universe, if you’re listening, why did you do this to me?
Chapter 5
Slater
The next months aregoing to be torture. I mean seriously, I have to fake date the girl I’m in love with, who also can’t stand me and hates my guts because she thinks I set her up and recorded us having sex. I have been pining after Aria Kane foryearsand she’s never given me the time of day and of course when she finally does, she doesn’t remember any of it and somehow thinks I would be capable of drugging and recording her to ruin her chances of winning the Muse Award.
Fuck. The. Award. I wish I could chuck the fucking thing into the Bermuda Triangle. I don’t care about it at all. My bandmates do, but I don’t. No, what I cared about that night at the club was that Aria Kane willingly spoke to me and didn’t reject me. Well, she did in the beginning, but she warmed up to me after. What a sick joke the universe has played on me, giving me what I’ve wanted for years only to take much more in return.
Because of that night, she may never fully trust me. It pained me deeply that she actually thought I was capable of drugging her and setting her up like that. I wouldneverdo such a thing, especially not to her.
There were moments today when it felt like she was warming up to me more, slowly letting her guard down, but everytime I hinted at the fact that I don’t want this to be fake between us, she shut me down or looked like a deer petrified in headlights. Am I ever going to be able to accept the fact that she just isn’t into me?
I have never wanted anyone as bad as I want Aria. Myattention has never centered around another woman for this long. I don’t know what it is about her, but it’s just something that makes it impossible to focus my attention on someone else. Sure, I’ve been with plenty of other women the entire time that Aria Kane didn’t know who I was or that I even existed, but I never really dated anyone. I guess that’s why the media is going so crazy over our fake relationship.
I hurry down the hall to the studio my bandmates and I occupy. We hangout here all the time, even when we aren’t working. There’s Rogan, one of our guitar players, Nate, our bass player, and Miles, our other guitar player and lead singer. Out of the three of them, I’m the closest with Nate. He’s like a brother to me. He started this band and fate threw me into his path. We were instant friends and our relationship only grew from there. He sees the side of me that nobody else does, the side that hurts.
When I open the door and find them all laughing over demolished, extra cheese pizzas, it takes one look at my face and Nate knows something is up. Rogan and Miles however, are oblivious. Rogan was there at the club the night that the tape was recorded. I asked him if he knew what happened when my memory got shotty, but he was just as lost as I was. “Look who’s back from his date,” Rogan teases.
“Dude, you’re all over the gossip mags and the tabloids,” Nate grins. He knows how I feel about Aria and has always supported my pining. He preached patience to me and now fully believes Aria and I are in a committed relationship, just as everyone else suspects. I hate having to keep secrets from him and the others, but Selene had strict orders and besides, I feel so horrible about what this whole thing has done to Aria’s reputation, I’ll do whatever I have to do to help fix it. Even if it means lying to the people closest to me.
I plaster a fake smile on my face as I stride over to the redleather couch and drop down on it, lifting my legs and resting my feet on the table, “The paps were following us around all day.”
Nate nudges my shoulder playfully with his, “I told you she wouldn’t be able to resist you forever, bro.”
