Page 15 of Mr. Brightside

He raises his eyebrows in challenge and sticks his tongue in his cheek. “What do you want it to mean, Cory?”

“I—”

I honestly don’t know. This isn’t some fake dating scenario he’s suggesting. He’s asking me to marry him. To be his husband. To be… in a committed relationship? Emotionally involved? Physically intimate? I feel way too raw to play games and dance around the details.

“I’m serious. Lay it all out for me right now, or I’m gone. It’s not fair for you to talk around things and make me jump through hoops to get the answers I deserve. I’m entitled to all the information before I make a decision. You need to be crystal clear with me if I’m really going to consider this.”

He startles and takes a step back, leaving me to wonder if I was too harsh. But he can’t really think this is a lighthearted matter, can he?

“Okay, I hear you,” he asserts. “This is what I’ve come up with so far, which is all negotiable—just a starting point. Stop me if you have questions, okay?”

I nod, grateful he’s finally taking me seriously.

“We would get married as soon as possible. As in, this week. Do you want a wedding?”

Hell yes, I want a wedding. But I want a real wedding, with the person I love, to celebrate what should be the happiest day of my life. I don’t need a wedding for this charade.

“Not for this.”

“Okay. So we can do it at the courthouse. How much longer are you in school?”

“I’ve got two more semesters, then an internship next summer.”

“So that takes us to the one-year mark. If you can give me two years, that’ll be perfect.”

I nod methodically. Not because I’m agreeing to his plan. But because it sounds reasonable. It may take time to find a job after graduation anyway. It would be nice to have a buffer while I’m getting things sorted post-graduation.

“You would have to move in here.”

Thatgets my attention. I gawk but don’t have time to object before he starts making his case.

“It… it has to be real. Or at least look real. My older brother has eyes and ears all over this town. If he catches wind that I’m married but not living with my husband, he’ll know something’s up.”

“Why do I have to move in with you?” I challenge.

“I own the building. I can’t move out; I’m the landlord.”

My eyes go wide at that fun fact. And his nonchalance about the whole thing. I’ve never even lived in a home that wasn’t a rental. To think he owns this entire complex…

“Plus, if you move in here, you’ll be closer to school and work.”

He has a point.

“Do you have a roommate or something? We could buy them out and pay off your lease if that’s what you’re worried about.”

I gulp as I remember just how little this man knows about me. “I live with my grandmother.”

“Oh. Shit. I didn’t know that. Do you take care of her?”

“No, no, she’s only in her fifties. She doesn’t need taking care of.”

His face screws up slightly as he tries to work out the math. I’m twenty-five. My mom is forty-one. Abuela is fifty-eight.

We did, in fact, throw a party when I reached the ripe age of eighteen and had not yet fathered a child. Never mind the fact that my family knows I’m gay and that not knocking someone up in high school shouldn’t bethatremarkable. It was a running joke for years that I broke the family curse. We all have dark senses of humor, obviously. That’s just how I was raised—laugh through the joy, lean on each other through the rest.

That’s all way too much information for this particular conversation, so I keep it to myself. He does need to understand where my family falls in terms of my priorities, though. I know for a fact that Abuela will see right through this ruse.

“She works nights as a custodian for the Cascade Falls public school district. She doesn’t need me at home, but she knows me better than anyone, and I know she’ll question everything about this. She practically raised me, Jake. I won’t lie to her.”