“It’s alright. I’m nervous too. That message I sent you wasn’t normal. I’m surprised you even agreed to come.” Her eyes flicked from his face down to the cup in front of him. “I hope you don’t mind that I got you a drink. The lines were crazy when I got here and I thought that even if I ordered something you hated, you might hate it less than waiting half an hour jammed up into someone’s back with someone else’s purse or laptop jammed into your behind.” She grinned confidently at him, though he didn’t miss the shy flicker of her eyelashes down to her own paper cup.
So, she is nervous. He expelled a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. “What is it? What kind of drink do you think Mr. Nightshadow prefers?”
Ash giggled. She had a pretty laugh, just like her voice. He couldn’t believe she’d called him. First thing in the morning. Not that nine was early but given that he’d sent her his message at four in the morning, nine was early. Of course, he was awake. He thought she’d be too afraid to call. When she did, he realized she was probably pretty desperate for that fake boyfriend.
Except she didn’t sound desperate then and she didn’t seem desperate now. Oddly enough, she sat there across from him like an old friend and her presence was strangely comforting. He felt like he’d known her for ages, maybe like that best friend that he’d had when he was nine. James’ family moved away down south, and he never saw him again. It felt like that. Reconnecting.
Except that Ash was no James. No, she was very womanly and very pretty.
“Mr. Nightshadow,” she said, rolling the syllables off her tongue before she licked her lips to wet them. His dick hardened. Was it wrong that he liked the way his fake online name sounded from her lips? “Can I call you that from now on? I was thinking maybe I could introduce you to my mom that way. And my old classmates. I think they’d like that. Maybe we could get you a mask and a costume.” She grinned wide, revealing perfectly straight white teeth.
“Your mom?” He feigned horror. “I didn’t know I’d be signing on for that as well.”
Ash shrugged, but her hands moved away from her drink and disappeared onto her lap. She was probably clutching them, which was also a dead giveaway that she was anxious.
“Well, you don’t have to. I just- I thought it would be nice to stop in for an hour or two one day before the reunion. My parents don’t live there. They live here. In St. Paul. The reunion is in Twin Falls. Population five thousand, middle of nowhere, forty minutes from here. Uh- that is- if you’re going to do this. Be a fake boyfriend. I had no idea you’d actually answer the message. I haven’t exactly figured out a way to- uh- go about this. I should have a plan. Ground rules. Facts about ourselves so we can memorize them, a timeline, uh- all that shit- I mean, stuff.” She blinked hard and took a breath. Her smile wavered and her eyelashes fluttered hard like she was going to cry.
Trace knew he had to act fast. He was not going to let her cry over this. He didn’t know why, but suddenly, his entire life depended on fixing this beautiful woman’s problems. She really had no idea, he realized, as she studied him, that she was incredible. She was still trapped in that version of herself from high school, where asshole classmates obviously made her feel like shit about herself.
He’d spent his entire life proving to people he wasn’t that pathetic little kid anymore with the ripped clothes and the shoes his toes stuck out of.
He got Ash. He got her in a way that few people probably could. Sticks and stones could very well break bones, but the rest was all fucking wrong. Words could cripple a person for a lifetime.
“Don’t worry,” he assured her seamlessly, though he had no idea what he was actually in for. “I’m in. I’m not going to back out. Your message was quite thorough.”
Ash’s cheeks heated. “Oh god. I- it was late. Early. I don’t know. I’m not usually so weird.”
“No. I liked it. Do you ever write? If you don’t, you should.”
Her cheeks turned a bright shade of scarlet, though Trace wasn’t sure what he’d said wrong. She ducked her head and took a sip of her drink. He decided to do the same.
“Tell me you didn’t spike this,” he chuckled. He had to say something to fix whatever he’d just blundered into.
Ash’s head shot up. “No. I didn’t spike it. It’s a chai tea latte, because I thought Mr. Nightshadow would like a drink like him. Creamy, smooth, spicy undertones. Mysterious.” She crooned the whole thing in a deep, sexy voice that was entirely captivating and made his balls ache. She leaned back and gave a nervous laugh. “I’m kidding. Sorry. I shouldn’t make crazy jokes in the first ten minutes of you meeting me. You’ll really wonder what you got yourself into. I got you the chai tea because it’s the only thing here that I know for a fact is good. I’m very boring. I don’t come to these things often, since the drinks are way overpriced, but when I do, it’s a treat and I never risk getting something I won’t like, so I get the same thing every single time.”