Chapter 5

Abigail

The day after I moved in with Ian, Brittany and I went out for lunch. “So, you’re living with Ian now?” Brittany asked, waggling her eyebrows at me.

I shrugged nonchalantly even though I knew exactly what she must be thinking. “Yeah. His old roommate had to move out so he had a free room,” I said. “I’m hoping that with so many businesses in the neighborhood, I can get a job close to the apartment and not have to worry about commuting.”

“And every night you get to go home and play house with Ian,” Brittany said knowingly.

“Excuse me?” I asked.

“Come on, Abby, I’ve known you since sixth grade. I know you have a crush on him. Now you get to go home and make dinner and talk about your day and whatever else with him.” She eyed me carefully. “Are you two sleeping together yet?”

“No!” I said, my face flaming. I couldn’t believe she had even asked that. I wanted to be offended, but I remembered that last day in my apartment, touching myself while I thought about him. Brittany was right. I did have a bit of a crush on him. Or at least I was attracted to him, but I didn’t want her to know that. “Honestly, he’s more like a brother to me than anything else,” I lied. “I’ve known him practically forever.”

“Whatever you say,” Brittany said, but I could tell from the way she smirked at me that she wasn’t buying it.

“I’m going to miss this place,” I said, sighing and looking around the sandwich shop as I dusted he crumbs off my fingers. It was one of the first places I’d tried when I’d moved into the neighborhood, and Brittany and I had had lunch here a bunch of times.

“It’s still going to be here even if you’re living over in a new neighborhood now,” Brittany pointed out. “We can always come back. Or we’ll find someplace better near your new place. There’s that one taco place that everyone always recommends.”

I sighed. “I know, but things just aren’t going to be the same.”

“That’s because they’re going to be better,” Brittany said confidently. “You’ll see.”

After we finished, we headed up to my old apartment to give it one final scrub. I was still hoping to get part of my deposit back since I had moved out quickly and the month wasn’t over yet, but I didn’t really expect to get any of it back.

“So, are you living with Ian for good then, or is it just until you find a job and somewhere else to live?” Brittany asked while we worked.

“I don’t honestly know,” I admitted. “At this point, I’m just taking everything as it comes.”

“That’s a good attitude to have,” Brittany said. “I still can’t believe you and Ian are going to be living together. Remember when we were kids and we thought Zach and Ian were so gross?”

I laughed. “That’s because they used to throw worms and frogs and stuff at us, remember?”

“Ugh, yeah, I remember,” Brittany said, shaking her head. “So nasty.”

“I haven’t really seen him that much lately. He’s gotten hotter.”

“Yeah. Doesn’t he work at one of the fitness centers?” Brittany asked. “Being hot is kind of his job.”

I laughed and shook my head. “Fair point, but still.”

“You’re not going to get involved with him, are you?” Brittany asked. “Because with the two of you living together… I just want to make sure you’re being careful. I don’t want you to end up with a broken heart again.”

“Of course I’m not going to start something with him,” I said, scandalized that she would even ask. “He’s Zach’s best friend. I’d never cross that line.”

“Good,” Brittany said. Then she flashed me a wicked smile. “Would you mind if I started something with him then?”

I threw a rag at her. “Don’t you dare,” I said, laughing.

“This is random, but I just thought of a way you could help me and I could help you,” Brittany said. “I bet our catering group could set you up with some part-time stuff. You know, on call, nothing major. But it would at least be something.”

“That’d be great,” I said. “I’m still hoping I can find something in the therapy field, but at the moment I’ll take anything.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Brittany said, beaming at me.

She was my best friend, and of everyone in the world, I could count on her to have my back.

“So what are you going to do about Jason?” Brittany finally asked. I could tell she’d been sitting on that question for a while, probably ever since he’d shown up at the coffee shop.

“I’m hoping that telling him I’m engaged was enough to keep him away from me,” I told her. I deliberated for a moment and then sighed. “Actually, I saw him again after the coffee shop. Ian and I went out to dinner last night and he was there.”

“That’s just too weird,” Brittany said.

“I mean, it’s the same thing he was doing last time,” I pointed out.

“Didn’t you ever get a restraining order against the guy?”

“I thought all this was over,” I said, shrugging. “He moved away. But now, apparently, he’s back.” I paused. “I think he thinks that Ian’s my fiancé, though.”

Brittany snickered. “Well, in that case, you’ve definitely traded up for a better model,” she said.

We finally finished, and I headed down to the office to drop off my keys, trying not to feel too sentimental about the place. Maybe things were going to be better, just like Brittany had suggested.

It sure felt like it when I got home that evening to find Ian just arriving as well, balancing a couple pizzas in one hand. “Hey,” he said, unlocking the door and letting us in. “I had a coupon that I didn’t realize was about to expire, so I grabbed a couple pizzas on the way home.”

I grinned at him. “Is this a chance for me to try some other healthy restaurant in the area?” I asked.

“Oh no. This is as unhealthy as it comes,” Ian said, laughing. “Greasy and meaty and cheesy, just the way it should be. You know, I’m a personal trainer, but every once in a while, I like to give myself a little reward. There’s even a few beers in the fridge.”

I laughed and trailed after him into the living room. “So, what did you get up to today?” Ian asked as we dug into the pizzas.

“Applied for some more jobs, had lunch with Brittany, and officially moved out of my old place,” I said, sighing. “The good news is that they gave me half of my deposit back, so that’s at least a couple hundred bucks I didn’t think I was ever going to see again. And Brittany mentioned that she might be able to get me some part-time, on-call gigs with the catering company she works with for her party planning stuff. It’s not much, but it would at least be a start.”

I didn’t want to say it out loud, and I felt guilty for even thinking it, but I’d almost given up on my ability to pay rent. No matter how cheap this place with Ian was, everything was just way out of my budget—impossibly so. But at least a couple smaller jobs would give me a little spending money so I wouldn’t have to mooch off people for food and coffee and other day-to-day expenses.

“Hey, that’s awesome!” Ian said, holding up his beer. I clinked mine against his.

“Did you want me to put it toward rent this month?” I asked, though I was worried he’d agree and I’d have to pinch pennies until I got a job again. It was nice to think I’d be able to afford groceries for the coming weeks.

“Nah. Don’t worry about it,” Ian said, and I tried not to be too obvious with my sigh of relief.

Suddenly, my phone started ringing. I frowned when I saw who it was and immediately sent it to voice mail.

“Your mom?” Ian asked, glancing over at me.

“Jason, actually,” I said, still frowning.

“You still have his number saved?” Ian asked in surprise.

“I wanted to make sure I knew who it was so that I’d know not to pick up,” I said.

“Makes sense,” Ian said. “He’s really been bothering you that much?”

“Not so much in the past year. He hasn’t been here. But now he’s back and he’s apparently not ready to be done with me. Again.” I shook my head. “You’d think I wasn’t justified in breaking up with him or something.”

“What really happened there?” Ian asked curiously. “You guys seemed like you were all good. You dated for, what, like two years? Then you just broke up.”

“He cheated on me,” I admitted. “With a bunch of different girls from what I’ve heard.” It was something I hadn’t even told my family. I’d just told them that Jason and I had realized we had too many differences and that things weren’t going to work out.

I think it was part of why Mom was confused about my lack of relationship. She thought Jason had broken up with me because I wouldn’t commit to him or something like that. I’d never bothered to correct her.

“Ouch,” Ian said. “Sorry to hear that.”

I shrugged. “I was really upset at the time, but now I know it was for the best.”

“Fair enough,” Ian said. He snorted. “I can’t believe you told him you’re engaged, though. That’s pretty bold.”

“Well, I figured if I just told him I had a boyfriend, that wouldn’t be enough to get him to leave me alone,” I said, shrugging. I didn’t want to get into the whole backstory from the last time. Ian was good enough to humor me about all of this already; I didn’t need to babble out every minute detail of my life.

“If I just left it at ‘I have a boyfriend,’ I think Jason would think he could still come between us or something.” I paused and then raised an eyebrow at him. “You know, you did a really good job at getting him to leave me alone last night. Maybe you could teach me how to do that. Was it just the big muscles talking, or was it something else? Some guy code?”

Ian laughed. “No guy code,” he said. “But maybe you just need me to be your fake fiancé.”

“Maybe,” I said, but I seriously considered the idea. Would that be too much to ask? He was already doing so much by letting me live here—paying my rent for the month, covering my food last night and tonight. He was a good guy and my brother was his best friend. He wanted to help me.

But I couldn’t let him pretend to be engaged to me to help me get Jason to leave me alone. I needed to figure out a way to do it on my own. Or may I needed to think about the restraining order again, although at this point, I wasn’t sure if it had been too long since all of this had started. Maybe there was some sort of statute of limitations regarding when you could file a police report. I needed to talk to Dad about that.

Ian frowned and cocked his head to the side. “You want me to be your fake fiancé?” he asked.

“No,” I said quickly. “I couldn’t make you do that.”

Ian shrugged. “I was serious yesterday when I said I’m not interested in playing the field anymore,” he said. “No more one-night stands, so it’s not like it would be hurting my reputation. And it would give me a way to get women to quit trying to get me to go out with them, too. I could tell them I have a fiancée—you.”

“Yeah,” I said slowly.

“We could go on some fake dates. I’ll show you all the best places in the neighborhood. We’ll make it fun.”

I blinked at Ian, wondering if he had really thought through what he was suggesting. He certainly looked serious. I wasn’t sure I could handle going on fake dates with Ian and not making it obvious that I had a crush on him, though.

But at the same time, I wasn’t sure I could handle Jason on my own anymore either.

I smiled at Ian. “Fake fiancés and roommates,” I agreed. As though it were really that simple.