Serena leans back with a dry laugh. “Hey, at least your exes don’t want anything to do with you. I’ve got Ryan sending me flowers and refusing to get the memo we’re over.”
My head jerks up. “What flowers?”
“He sent roses today,” Serena replies with a groan. “Along with an invite to the Hearts of Denver awards.”
Before I can reply, Harper’s eyes flick between us. “Let me get this straight—you’ve got an ex obsessed with winning you back,” she says to Serena before turning to me. “And you’ve got half of Denver wanting to marry you?”
The waitress arrives, sliding two plates of burgers and fries onto the table. The smell of melted cheese and crispy onion rings fills the booth, and it’s almost enough to distract me from the glint in Harper’s eyes. Almost.
I narrow mine at her. “Yes?”
“It’s just…” She plucks a fry from my plate, waving it between us like a wand. “You need a girlfriend to convince Denver’s single women you’re no longer available.” She turns that look on Serena. “And it sounds like you need a boyfriend to convince your douchebag ex you’ve moved on.”
I’m already shaking my head. “Pretty sure we went over this. I don’t want a girlfriend.”
Serena lifts her burger from her plate. “I second that. My love life is an actual dumpster fire. No way am I ready to get back out there right now,” she says before taking a bite.
“Exactly,” Harper replies.
I frown. “What am I missing?”
“You don’t actually need new partners,” Harper continues. “You just need it to look like you do.”
I glance at Serena. She’s looking as clueless as I feel. “Still not getting it,” I say.
“It’s actually kind of perfect,” Harper says, ignoring us both. “Because you already hang out together all the time. All you’d have to do is a bit of PDA and?—”
“Harper,” I cut in. “What are you talking about?”
She grabs her coffee and slides out of the booth. When she speaks, her words are slow, like she’s talking to preschoolers. “Convincing these fans that you’re off the market is the only way they’re gonna leave you alone.”
“I like the sound of that,” I reply.
“And Ryan was always super jealous of your friendship with Chase,” Harper adds, looking straight at Serena now. “He’ll back off fast if he thinks you’re together. No one messes with a man who has muscles like Chase.”
I flash her a smile, flexing my biceps and earning an eyeroll.
Across the table, Serena frowns. “What exactly are you saying?”
Harper looks between us. “You two should pretend to date each other.” And with that, she waves goodbye, disappearing out the door, leaving her words buzzing in the air like a live wire.
I turn it over in my head. It’s actually kind of perfect… I lift my eyebrows at Serena.
“You can’t be serious?” she says.
Except I am.
Serena is the coolest person I know. I see the way men look at her when we’re out; she’s the full package. She’s the sort of person I’d be lucky to date, but I wasn’t kidding about her vision board last night. It really is soul mates and family, and a home with a white picket fence. She wants a forever with someone, andI want that for her too. But I’ve always known I’m not the person who can give it to her.
There’s a reason Jen was the first relationship I’ve had in years. A reason I prefer to be single. A reason I never make it past a handful of dates before finding a reason to call it quits. When Jen said I wasn’t ready for love, I didn’t bother to argue. Because even though I don’t know what it is, or what to do about it, it felt like something was missing with us. Like something is always missing. And I’m pretty sure it’s somethingI’mmissing.
People always assume that because I was abandoned by my mom, I’d be desperate to build the family I never had. But the truth is, every time I picture that life, I see my biological mom walking away. And the man she slept with on a one-night stand never showing up. And then Harry dying. Family doesn’t mean stability to me. It means heartbreak and destruction, and that’s not a cycle I ever want to repeat. It’s also a cycle I’m terrified I’d be doomedtorepeat with the history I have… Which is why, however much I can see how incredible Serena is, I’ve never once thought of her as anything more than my best friend. And that makes Harper’s idea of fake dating Serena kind of genius. We don’t feel that way about each other. We’re best friends. Always have been, always will be.
So, this can’t get messy. It’s the safest plan in the world.
FIVE
SERENA