Page 26 of The Girlfriend Agreement (Conwick U #1)

No, the only way to really make this believable (and to keep the lie straight in case Eli runs his mouth) is to be honest from the get-go. Well, honest adjacent.

My mouth, on the other hand, has other ideas, and when I open it, I inadvertently expel a very shrill, very unhinged sound that somewhat resembles a laugh.

The anxiety which had me running from Damian is now tangible walls closing in on me, threatening to squish me into jelly, with each one representing a different shit thing I’m currently having to deal with.

They don’t crush me in the end, stopping just short of my death, like I’m Indiana Jones narrowly escaping a cursed tomb.

But the claustrophobia that lingers is a hand around my throat, and it chokes me until that laugh is little more than a creepy, monotone chuckle, earning me some very concerned looks from my friends.

I quickly down the rest of my drink to shut myself up since rational thought and behavior seem so determined to elude me.

“You okay there, Lex?” Andie asks.

“Yes, I am…” I force out, fidgeting with my glasses, “and yes, you do.”

Andie tracks the movement of my fingers with knowing eyes as Ronnie squeaks, “Wait, what? We know him?”

“I hope you didn’t have this reaction when we started dating,” Eli mumbles with a skeptical side-eye at Andie.

I lift my glass, signaling to the bartender for another drink. Thank god for table service.

“Lexi,” Ronnie prods, but her voice gets tangled up in the buzz of chatter that enters my ears as Andie and Eli spout conjecture as to who my new “boyfriend” may be. So many questions are being hurled in my direction, and all this noise is making my brain hurt.

Suddenly, my phone vibrates on the wooden table, and the screen lights up, blindingly bright in the dim lighting of our booth. Thankful for the distraction, I pull it toward me only to glimpse a text alert with Ronnie’s name and the following words:

Ronnie

What the fuck? Spill bitch

“Hey, no side conversations,” Andie whines, smacking her cousin in the arm.

“We’re not,” Ronnie retorts, leaning in closer to me when Andie attempts to pluck her phone from her fingers. “I’m merely trying to get to the bottom of this little mystery since Lexi is being so incredibly forthcoming about it.”

I roll my eyes as Ronnie thrusts her arms under the table, out of reach of her cousin. While I can’t see her hands, I can hear the manic tapping of her thumbs, and a moment later?—

My phone buzzes again.

Ronnie

Who is it????

I sigh, begrudgingly amazed at Ronnie’s ability to type coherently without even glancing at her screen.

“No secrets!” Andie admonishes me, though I’m not entirely sure why I’m the one being yelled at seeing as I’ve said and done absolutely nothing for the last twenty seconds. “If you tell her, you have to tell me!”

“Why is it a secret?” Eli asks, looking almost as dumbfounded as he did when he first walked into the bar.

In tandem, the three all look at me, wearing identical, questioning, probing expressions, and…

I can’t do it. I can’t hold it in any longer.

They’re all staring at me with beady eyes, and sweat is dripping down my back, and I’ve only just remembered that I am a terrible liar.

This whole thing is a horrible, horrible idea.

As horrible as the ugly truth, which expels from my lips now like vomit.

“It’s Damian,” I confess.

Silence engulfs the table. Actually, I’m fairly sure it swallows the entire bar, as if everyone in the general vicinity was hanging onto my every breath, waiting for the reveal, like I’m living the world’s most cliché soap opera.

Ronnie looks dazed. Andie looks like her two favorite fandoms have just gone to war. Eli’s brows are knitting together, like he’s attempting some complex mental math.

“As in…Damian Navarro?” he asks when that quiet stretches a moment too long.

“Wait, didn’t you—” He goes silent when I glower at him, my eyes sharpening like knife points, offering a wordless warning not to finish the rest of that sentence.

I may have even bared my teeth. “Never mind,” he says quickly.

I exhale, not bothering to hide my relief. The last thing I need right now is to play twenty questions when I don’t even have a convincing lie in place to explain why on earth I would willingly date a guy who only fucked me for the sake of a bet.

Stupid Andie and her stupid committed boyfriend who can’t leave her alone for five minutes.

When I texted our group chat, I envisioned the girls meeting me here and commiserating with me about my terrible luck.

Sure, I knew they’d be shocked—I might have even expected a little rage from Ronnie—but more than anything, I expected sympathy, a shared drink, and maybe a hug.

I wasn’t thinking I’d already have to play the part Damian has cast me in, and I certainly didn’t think I would need a cover story prepared so soon.

I’ve barely had time to process how the fuck this all even happened, let alone had a chance to figure out what I would actually tell people.

And thanks to this little interaction, I’m excruciatingly aware I am already doing an abysmal job of selling it.

I’m suddenly regretting running away from Touro Park like I did. If I had stuck around just a few minutes longer, the fuckboy and I could have worked out these details.

Ronnie recovers, jolting in her seat, like someone just hit her reset button. With a toss of her hair, she glances at Eli, but not before her eyes dart to mine. Not for long—just for a split second—but it’s long enough for me to notice the devious glint in their depths.

Oh no.

“No, go on,” she urges, her voice a gentle coo. “What were you going to say?” She waves a hand, gesturing for Eli to continue.

“What are you doing?” I hiss under my breath, but she just flashes me a saccharine smile.

There it is. I see it clearly now underneath that angelic exterior: the anger and sheer disbelief that I could ever be so fucking stupid.

She’s not wrong, but also…what other choice did I have?

I scowl at the side of her face, silently cursing the day she was born. I then immediately take it back—because, as savage as she can be, I love her to death—and choose instead to envy her good luck and the circumstances that have meant she’s never had to resort to such awful decisions.

Eli’s eyes dance between Ronnie and me, studying us like someone observes a dangerous bear in the woods, unsure whether to flee or stay still.

He’s probably wishing he had gotten out when he still had the chance.

Beside him, Andie is wide-eyed, watching the drama unfold.

Despite her sweet looks, she is ravenous for it. All she needs now is some popcorn.

“You were saying, Eli?” Ronnie prompts again.

Although I asked, the truth is, I know what she’s doing.

She’s hoping to prove a point. And that point is more than proven when Eli clears his throat and says, “I’m not trying to rehash shit or anything, it’s just…

I thought there was a not-so-great history there. You know, with that video last spring.”

Another sigh slips past my lips. It would be fantastic if just one person around here didn’t know about Damian’s stupid bet.

Ronnie shifts in her seat to face me. “He makes a fair point. Your rebuttal, Miss Dornan?”

Hey, brain, you know my genius IQ? It would be awesome if you could use it to give me a logical excuse as to why any sane individual would date Damian Navarro, so I can shut this shit down now .

I glare at her. “What do you want me to say?”

The left side of her mouth quirks at the corner.

“Nothing. Your silence says it all.” She clicks her tongue and then swings her gaze back to Eli.

“To answer your question, Elijah, Damian is a very giving lover, and his dick is apparently magical.” The disgust in her voice is as clear and sharp as glass.

“I mean, it must be for Lexi to forget how he publicly embarrassed her.”

“I haven’t forgotten,” I fire back.

She taps a fingertip to her bottom lip. “Is that disdain I sense in your tone? An odd emotion to feel for one’s lover .”

“Ew. First off, don’t ever say lover around me again. And second, he’s…sorry,” I finish lamely.

Ronnie lifts one pert brow. “Convincing.”

“This feels like something you need to work out amongst yourselves, so I’m gonna go,” Eli interjects, sliding out of the booth. “Ronnie, always a pleasure. Lexi…congrats?”

“Thanks,” I mumble, wondering where the hell my next drink is.

“As for you…” Eli leans down and pecks Andie on the cheek. “I’ll see you tonight?”

Her face burns cherry red, and she grins. “Yup. I’ll call you when we’re done.”

With one more uncertain glance between me and Ronnie, Eli backs away slowly, then turns and practically runs from the bar like a criminal fleeing a crime scene. To be fair, it may soon turn into one.

“What’s tonight?” I ask, desperate to escape Ronnie’s wrath for just a few moments longer now that we’re alone, and the mask of deception can finally come off. Not that I wore it very well to begin with.

A manicured finger wags wildly in my face. “Don’t change the subject!” she scolds.

I slap her hand away. “I’m sorry you had to grow up with this,” I say over her shoulder to Andie.

Ronnie gives a delicate sniff and slumps back in her seat. “That cuts deep, Alexandria. Truly.”

I snort. “I’m sorry, but you’re acting crazy.”

“ Crazy ?” she shrieks. “The only crazy one here is you since you have clearly lost your mind!” She snaps her mouth shut, closes her eyes, and exhales a calming breath, searching for her zen or whatever.

When she meets my gaze again, she says in a much lower voice, “Seriously, what the fuck , Lex. Damian? Ignoring the several questions I have, I can’t really be the only one who sees what a terrible idea this is?

” She turns to Andie, who shakes her head.

“It is pretty fucked up,” she agrees.