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“It was because of me.” I grin and put my hands on my hips. “I didn’t mean for it to happen, but it worked anyway. So, this is what I propose…” I pause, waiting for him to say no again, but he only studies me with wary eyes. “You play it cool with Paul. If he asks, you can say we’re dating and if he sees us together at school, then we can pretend we’re more than friends.”

“When did we become friends?”

I roll my eyes. “Fine. More than mutually annoyed coworkers. And in exchange, I’ll do the same with you at the store.”

“And what exactly does that mean?”

“I’ll make Sophia jealous. I’ll…I don’t know…” I have to push down a shiver of revulsion. “I’ll flirt with you.”

He lets out a laugh. “You’llflirtwith me?” he repeats in an incredulous tone.

“I mean, not all the time. But when she’s around, I can flirt and that’ll make her jealous enough that she’ll start paying more attention to you. What do you say? It’s not a bad deal at all. And you’ll save me the shame of having to admit to my ex that I made up a fake boyfriend.”

“None of this is going to work the way you think it is.”

“You don’t think I can pull it off?”

“Um, no. Did you see yourself back there?”

“But you can?”

He shrugs and turns away. “I’d be fine. I’m good at playing characters. It’s all my role-playing experience.”

“Excuseme, I have plenty of acting experience. I’ll have no problem doing this.”

He looks over his shoulder. “Uh-huh.” He gestures tothe boxes of Warhammer models. “Come on, we have to get these on the floor.”

I sigh, pick up a stack, and follow him out. It isn’t lost onme that he hasn’t given a straight answer yet. But I can bedetermined—some might even say stubborn—and I’m not letting this go. This could work. It would solve both ourproblems. I justcannotexplain to Paul that I made up a boyfriend. I won’t be able to stomach the look on his face or the teeth-clenching pity in his voice. I have to convince Nathan.

We work in silence for a few minutes and I let him be, hoping he’s turning this over in his mind and seeing how well this might work out.

“Going to get the rest,” he mutters, and walks back into the stockroom. A minute later, Lucas pokes his head out from the back game room.

“Have you seen Nathan yet?”

“Yeah, he’s in the stockroom. We should be done soon.” I put another box on the shelf.

“Did you think more about joining the game? The offer still stands.”

Thirty minutes ago I wasn’t too sure, but now I hesitate. Join D&D? It’s not something I have an inherent interest in, but it’d make sense if Nathan agrees to this scheme since it would give us a reason to be together in Sophia’s presence. And I like the idea of getting a break from my shift, assuming Dad would agree to that. He has always wanted me to get involved at the store—showing some interest in D&D could be a great way to convince him to cut me some slack.

“Well, I’d have to run it by Dad,” I tell Lucas. “I’m not sure if he’ll want to let me off early.”

Lucas shakes his head. “You don’t know your dad very well.” He turns back to the game room. “Hey, Joel?”

A moment later, Dad joins Lucas at the door. “What’s up?” He sees me. “Riley, is everything okay up front?”

“Yeah, just finishing this stocking.”

“Joel, don’t you think it’d be a good idea to have Riley join our D&D campaign?”

Dad almost falls into the doorframe in shock.

“We could really use another reliable player and it would be so great to get to know her.” Lucas is practically batting his eyes at Dad—laying it on a little thick in my opinion. “Plus, she doesn’t know anything about D&D and this would be the best way for her to learn. It would make her a better salesperson.”

“I don’t know….” Dad looks at me. “Was this your idea? I thought you had no interest in playing?”

“Um…” I look between Lucas, Dad, and the stockroom door that Nathan will be walking out of any second. I’m still conflicted. Having time off work would be awesome and Lucas and the other guys seem cool enough, though I wish I could use my time for musical prep. I’m almost positive that Nathan will hate the idea, which makes me want to do it more.