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Forrest points at me. “Hey. Don’t judge him. He’s nuts, but he’s great. Anyway, he hacked in for a joke, then he started messing around, and he was planning to set me up on a date with a random girl out here—where the girl I like lives—or if the girl I liked was on the site, he was planning to just go for that. In the end, she wasn’t on the site, so he mixed me up with…” Forrest clamps his hands together and points at me.
“Ohh.” I nod slowly.
“Yeah, so I came here to apologize for the nonsense he’s put you and your family through. But…” He grimaces. “…now I think maybe…we should collaborate instead.”
“Collaborate?”
“Yep. Your parents don’t approve of the guy you like. I wouldn’t hate to take advantage of this reason to be in town and around the girl I like for a little while… If we end things right now, I’m gonna assume your parents will just pick someone else for you to meet, and if there’s one thing I know about Felix’s site, it’s that it hasn’t got a lot of sleazy characters on it, by design. If there are any creeps that slipped through the cracks, they’re not at the tier your parents are shopping. Which means…”
I fill in the details, “If this ends now, someone else serious about being in a relationship with me will crop up.”
“Yep.”
I blow out a breath. “So…what are you proposing?”
“It’s a classic. We fake date and scheme to get me in a position with the girl I like and your parents in a position to accept the guy you like.”
Skeptical, I cross my arms. “Generally, those set ups devolve into the ones who are fake dating falling in love.”
Forrest lifts his hands and steps back. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know your love was fickle. Mine isn’t.” He sniffs. “She’s verbally abusive. What more could I want?”
“My love isn’t fickle!” I slap my hand to my chest. “I’ve been in love for ten years, seven months, and thirteen days.”
Forrest lifts his brows. “For real?”
“Yes. I keep a tally.”
“Well, dang.”
Lifting my nose, I say, “And you? How long have you been in love?”
“Uh… I dunno. A few months now, at least?”
“Uh-huh. Now, tell me, who has the fickle love?”
Forrest snorts. “Shut up. She’s just…something else.” His smile warms. “I met her at Thanksgiving last year. Then she tormented and blackmailed and coerced me throughout my best friend’s wedding. I was done for.”
“That sounds really toxic.” I fold my hands together and beam. “What’s her name?”
“Fawn. Fawn Flynn.”
I gasp. “Fawn?”
“What?”
“I know Fawn.”
“You…do?”
I nod. “She’s a friend of Mirabelle’s who’s a friend of August’s, who’s my best friend. I guess I should say I know of Fawn. I’ve heard her name brought up now and again, and we’ve probably passed each other once or twice at the store. Actually, I think she’s cleaned here a couple times. She works at the maid service we use, and she’s normally on the tourist clean up crews, but our usual team was short staffed one day, so she came by. I didn’t really talk to her, but I know her.”
“Whoa. Small world.”
I giggle. “You’re in love with Fawn.”
He flushes, red clashing with his green hair. “Yeah, and?”
“That’s adorable. She mustn’t hate you as much as most people if she’s talked to you enough to verbally assault and blackmail you.” My lips curve, dimples on full display. “Lucky, lucky.”
