Val was a former dancer turned instructor. She still had the slender frame and gracefulness, but thankfully had learned to enjoy herself a little more than in past years. I was happy to see hear actually eating carbs as she chewed her bagel.
“Is Texas still a no-fly zone?” Val asked. Her thick brown hair was pulled back in a bun, but exploded in a wild, poufy chaos of curls. She had rounded features with caramel colored eyes I always found comforting.
“Texas is… yeah. I haven’t even talked to Lance, so it’s basically an open wound I’m not in any hurry to poke.”
“What about the fact that I saw you on a magazine cover?” She pursed her lips and tilted her head in a way that let me know she’d been dying to tease me about it.
I sighed. “Seriously? I hadn’t heard about that, but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.”
“The picture was actually really flattering. Then again, Chris Rose was practically swallowing you up in it. It looked like if he kissed you any deeper, his tongue would’ve popped out of your asshole.”
I cringed. “Thanks for that disturbing image.”
“So?”
I wiggled my head around, trying to decide what to even say for myself. “Well, I told him to basically get lost after that.”
“So I was right in guessing he was bullshitting? I knew my best friend in the whole world wouldn’t have been secretly dating a superstar and not tell me. Especially if she was tangled in some scandalized secret wedding slash fake wedding.”
I grimaced. “Yeah, well, you called it. Except I kinda sorta hooked up with Chris Rose a couple weeks ago. On an airplane,” I added with a devious wiggle of my eyebrows. I couldn’t help it, okay? Trophy dick may not have been a widely accepted aspect of female culture, but it should’ve been. Hell, I should’ve been able to get his gorgeous cock molded and hung up on my wall like some big game huntress.
Val didn’t react for a few seconds, then she flashed an uncertain smile. “Where’s the punchline?”
“There isn’t one.” I leaned forward, gesturing vaguely with my hands to show her how big it was. “It was fantastic. And stupid. But fantastic.”
Val reached across the table to slap me. “Stop lying to me.” But she was smiling broadly now.
I spent the next few minutes filling her in on the fiasco Chris and his wedding turned out to be, wrapping it up with my version of events at the aquarium restaurant.
“Wow,” Val said. “And you seriously told him to go fuck himself?”
“Not in those exact words. But what was I supposed to do? I mean, how could I live with myself if I agreed to something like that.”
“Because it sounds like he just wants it to be an excuse to be around you more, doofus.”
“What?”
“Think about it. The guy is cornered in the stupid mess he and his brother created. If he’s not ‘engaged’ he’s got to at least be off the market. He obviously likes you, and even if he was hiding the truth about this whole thing to you, he’s probably thinking now you two can finally bump uglies again.”
“I doubt it. I think he just wanted to use me, and I was the one who happened to be standing close enough when the shit hit the fan.”
“Oh, come on. You modeled wedding dresses for him. You tried cakes. You picked out colors and decorations and themes. Think about it, Belle. You practically planned your dream wedding with this guy. So what if it’s fake? You get the best of both worlds if you go along with it. A fast and furious relationship with Chris Rose, no strings attached. A dream wedding. Then a ‘this shit ends here’ clause to make sure you don’t get tangled up long-term with him. Oh, and they’re going to slap you with a fat wad of cash for your trouble? I mean, come on. Are you seriously debating this?”
I stared into my coffee cup. “You raise a valid point or two. But what about my feelings? What about, I don’t know, the whole sacred pact of marriage? Won’t I be dooming myself to some kind of cosmic karma kick in the ass if I play this game with him?”
“No. Okay, maybe. All I know is you’re going to get a very real Val kick in the ass if you don’t go find that man today and tell him you’ll do it. Wait too long, and you’ll lose your chance.”
“Why did you have to come visit this week of all weeks?”
“Because you need me and my brilliant advice, probably.”13ChrisDamon and I met in the conference room at Rose Athletic. Fittingly, it was the same conference room where Belle had signed on to be the wedding planner for Mindy and me.