Page 52 of Decidedly Off Limits

“Hey, have you talked to Holly yet?” was the first thing he said after I answered the phone.

Talk to her about what? That he was not available for her to date because he and I were having sex? Yes, that had been on the top of my to-do list for today.

Since Holly couldn’t hear his side of the conversation, I told her he said “hi” and almost died at the hopeful expression on her face.

“You’re with her now?” genius boy asked.

“Uh huh.”

“How about you explain to her why I would make a lousy boyfriend.”

Why couldn’t he have asked me to do something simpler? Like scaling the Empire State Building. I doubted whatever I told her would make a difference. She already knew about the negatives and she was still willing to give him a chance.

“Nice try. You’re a coward. You know that, right?” I said with a laugh.

He chuckled. “Damn right I am. Have you seen her shoes? They’re registered lethal weapons.”

He did have a point (pun intended).

“And Kels?” His voice was low and I-want-to-do-you-now husky. I practically melted on the spot.

“Yeah?”

“Are we still on for tomorrow night?”

Tomorrow night would be the night he and I finally consummated our friends-with-benefits relationship. And yes, my girlie parts were ready to throw a party in honor of the occasion.

“Absolutely.” Because I couldn’t say anything else with Holly standing next to me, I told him I’d talk to him later and ended the call.

“So are you going to tell me anything about the guy you’re now seeing?” Holly asked.

Face meet palm.

“Hey, I’m single and have to live vicariously through my non-single friends,” she said with the same smirk people who tended to say this usually wore. It was the same smirk that was spiked with jealously, humor, and a healthy dose of longing.

But since she had brought it up. “Holly…” I took a deep breath. Not that it helped. “How would you feel if…if Trent was dating someone else?”

“But he isn’t.”

“Yes, but what if he was? Would you be okay with it?”

“I’d be disappointed, but I’d get over it. Eventually. But since he isn’t seeing anyone, it doesn’t matter.”

I stared at her for a moment, sending her a mental message that yes he was seeing someone—because that was the only excuse I could come up with to dissuade her from him. I also sent her another mental message so she wouldn’t guess it was me.

“Wait, are you telling me that he really has a girlfriend?”

I nodded, hoping this was one of those complex one-plus-one math questions she would never solve: Trent + his mysterious girlfriend = my mysterious boyfriend + me.

“Then who’s he dating?” asked the woman on a mission.

“I don’t know her name.” I scanned the area, searching for a shovel to help me dig my grave.

Sorry, Trent. But this is what happens when you send me to break Holly’s heart, because you’re too much of a chicken to do it yourself.

“I can’t wait to meet your boyfriend and his girlfriend,” she said without a hint of suspicion.

Brilliant. Now Trent and I just needed a fake boyfriend and girlfriend to keep Holly—and subsequently Erin—from figuring out the truth.