Knot So Lucky (Destination Love, #1)(58)

“Are you texting the guys?” Eleanor throws out from her lounge chair, interrupting my thoughts. As I look at her, she smiles. “Yay. This version of you is way better than the machine.”

She says the last part like a bad impersonation of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

“Machine?” I laugh.

She nods, propping herself up on her elbows.

“Yeah. You work hard, but sometimes you gotta play hard too. And you never do that.”

My forehead wrinkles. “I just borrowed a car and took you out on a whole drive-in date. And if memory serves, you played with something hard.”

She giggles. I’ve never heard that from her. Oh fuck, it’s cute.

My phone vibrates, but I choose to ignore those two jackasses because the pool attendant comes to the cabana to take our order, and Eleanor lets out a dramatic celebratory groan in the name of snacks.

“Gil!” she squeals.

My brows draw together.

Who the fuck is Gil? His brother better be named Flounder.

My arm extends, dropping down behind her as Gil starts talking.

“What can I get for the happy couple?” She smiles at him as he adds, “You finally got him down here, huh?”

Finally? The fuck? Who are you, and how do you know where I’ve been? She’s too friendly. No more roaming the casino.

This feels like when I visit TJ’s grandma with him, and she makes me do the rounds, saying hi to all her friends. They know me, but I don’t know them.

But also…she talks about me?

Eleanor’s hand absentmindedly slides up and down my six-pack as she looks at the menu.

“What do you want for later?” she says to just me. “We can put in our order now, and then Gil will bring it then.”

How nice of Gil.

“Absolutely,” everyone’s favorite pool attendant chimes in. “Anything for my favorite resident.”

My phone vibrates again, so I glance down, the caps jumping out at me.

Nate: And now we got a YOUR girl coming at us.





Wait. What? I scroll up, seeing what I last said. Oh shit, why’d I write that?

Me: It’s a typo. You’re tripping.





TJ: We’re tripping, but you fell…in love. *heart eyes emoji





Nate: Wow. And you don’t even tell us? Your best friends.





TJ: Your best men.





Fuck these two. They’re never going to let me live that down, even though I didn’t mean it like that.

Nate: Exactly. Of all people, we should know that you fell in love with your wife.





TJ: Frankly, I feel betrayed.





For fuck’s sake, they need to stop. It was a typo. We’re not even a real couple, but as I think it, my eyes drop to her hand, still rubbing my stomach.

Nate: He’s not the same guy we used to know. Love’s changed him.





TJ: *GIF of Snoop Dogg pouring out malt liquor





Oh shit. This is my girl territory…I’m a boyfriend. No, no, no, no, no. I swallow hard, reading the last text.

Nate: RIP Crew Matthews’ balls. It was a good run, but we’re pouring some out for you, homies.





Crew Matthews has left the chat.

I’m still deep in my thoughts. Not thoughts, more like sheer-ass panic. My heart is actually beating too fast. I can feel the flutter. She’s not mine. I mean, she is, but like in an I can’t get rid of her because I’m legally obligated kind of way.

Right?

I definitely don’t have feelings for her. That would be crazy.

Yeah…right.

I mean, there aren’t zero feelings…but… I wipe my brow, looking at Gil.

“Is it hotter out here? Like more than usual today?”

He shakes his head, staring at me like I’m high.

Just high on the demise of my life, buddy. Fuck.

My throat suddenly feels thick, so I clear it as I squint before running my hands through my hair.

I like her more than I should.

Eleanor’s face shifts to mine, her smile peeking out.

“Did I tell you Gil here has a nephew that might get drafted?”

She looks at the attendant and then back to me as I mutter, “Congratulations. That’s awesome.”

But I’m still staring at her, just shaking my head because of course I didn’t know. But I’m sure you were going to tell me during our weekly trip to Costco before we did some gardening together.

Holy fuck. We became a couple…like for real. I can’t be trusted with my own life decisions. Next up, I’ll be living on a commune, calling some dude named Sunshine Twig my leader.

She laughs and raises her brows. “Are you good? Do you want me to just order stuff you’ll like?” She looks back to the choices and then points to something I can’t see because I’m about to pass out before she adds, “Maybe the French dip. You love that. You eat it like…” She winks. “Like you like it a lot.”

I just keep nodding because what am I supposed to say?

Hey, stop acting like my girlfriend and go back to being my fake wife?