“She wants to meet him on our own, without the family and all their usual… Bullshit.”
“Ouch.”
“Yeah.”
“So, what are you going to do? Tell her the truth?”
I sigh and look at him.
“Are you going to stage another fake date?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“You can’t pretend forever.”
“Of course not. But I can keep everyone quiet for a while.”
“What use would that be?”
“You don’t know my family.”
“You’ll have to tell them the truth, eventually.”
“I will.”
“And you don’t think they might find out in the meantime?”
“I don’t see how they would.”
“You can’t pretend to like someone forever.”
“How would you know what I can and can’t do? I pretend I like your face every day!”
“Dickhead!”
I laugh.
“Seriously, though, Eric. Sooner or later they might find out, and you’ll end up looking like an idiot.”
“They won’t find out. I’ll make sure the whole thing just blows over with no drama. They know what I’m like.”
“Everyone knows what you’re like.”
I’m not offended – it’s true. My reputation hasn’t been great lately, it’s no secret. The real secret is that I haven’t always been like this. Only a few people know this, but that’s fine by me. There’s no need for the whole world to know I don’t have a heart anymore.
“No one would ever expect it to be serious.”
“But you took him to the fundraiser.”
“So?”
“Your family was there.Hewas there too, no?” Miguel asks subtly.
He knows that thehein question has done a fair bit of damage and that I still have the scars to prove it – although we’ve never gone into detail.
“I don’t remember you ever taking anyone before.”
I shrug.
