Just Pretend

Chapter Seven

Jason

She falls silent after she tells me that she speaks ten languages, including one of the rarest languages, and we sit in comfortable silence before she breaks it by asking me the same question I asked her.

'I work for my dad's company. I'm the assistant director,' I reply and she smiles beautifully while telling me that I was lucky, pointing out that it meant my dad wanted me to take over the business. Which is exactly what he wants, but I'm not sure that I want to take over the business.

When I tell her, she immediately asks the reason.

'I'm not sure that I can handle the amount of pressure he's under without going the same path as him,' I say softly. Not even Alyssa knows why I don't take over the company, something that my dad's been wanting since our mom died. He's working himself to death and I don't want that to happen to me.

'Understandable. One doesn't make the same mistakes of those before you, otherwise you just end up in the same ditch they did,' she nods as her words fall from her lips and I'm surprised at her insight. From there we move away from family and on to relationships.

'No girl can keep me down,' I say and she goes to put her joint out on the pavement beside her, lifting her feet out of the pool but I wrap my hand around her wrist and pull her back down. When she looks at me, there's amusement in her eyes and a smirk on her lips.

'Cocky, aren't we?' she asks as she checks the length of her joint, her eyes looking past it to me and I shrug coolly, unable to keep my smile to myself. She sticks her tongue out at me and I have to hold myself back from kissing her.

'I'm kidding. I haven't found someone who gets me and understands my family, or who I want to stick around for long periods of time,' I say and she nods in understanding before stubbing out her joint on the pavement and standing up to drop the roach in the bin near the edge of the pool and I couldn't help but watch her until she returned.

'Just some tics that people can't stand,' she says and takes a drink of her water, before adding that I'll find my someone one day. I snort and it earns me a slap on the thigh and I look at her questioningly, my eyebrows raised.

'So, you're telling me that you found yours?' She turns her head to look at the gate and I can see her biting her lip as she turns back to me with a shrug.

'No. I'm saying that there's hope. Not everyone has to be trapped, like me,' I can see her eyes widen as the words slip out but I let it slide, knowing that it's a whole new can of worms to go into that topic, so I let it go, skipping over it and the gratefulness in her eyes almost has me standing and walking to Mark and punching him in the face.

'So why can't your person be out there?' I ask turning the question on her, forcing myself to stay with her and not get put in jail for a woman I just met. She laughs, but there's no humour in it, the expression on her face turning bitter as she looks back at the gate, a frown marring her forehead.

'I suppose, but after that, I'm sure I'm too damaged for anyone to be willing to fix me,' she says and there's sadness in her voice as she looks back at the water, slicing her legs through the water before stopping and leaning forward to catch a leaf floating toward her.

'Too damaged, huh?' I ask, trying to get her to elaborate but the look she gives me begs me not to try, but she takes a deep breath before casting one last look at the gate and turning her body to face me, keeping one leg in the pool and folding the other under her.

'Yep. I probably can't tell you if the way he treats me is abnormal. It's my normal, I live it every day. Mark is a classic narcissist,' she explains and I wince, feeling a wave of pity rush over me but I push it down, knowing that it's the last thing that she wants. No one wants to be pitied by someone else.

'I'm sorry,' is all I can say and she smiles sadly before draining her water bottle and nodding toward my burnt out joint.

'I think that's finished,' she says as she starts to get up again, but I pull her back down and she raises her eyebrows at me in question as she sits down again, this time keeping her legs out of the water.

'Are you okay with what Mark asked me?' I ask, for some reason needing to know that she wants to spend time with me as well. She looks surprised at my question but her expression turns thoughtful.

'I am. Now that you mention it, now I don't have to rush to get inside,' she says replies and slides her legs back into the water and looks at me with a small smile.

'Alyssa and Will are back,' I start and she hold up her hand, casting a look toward the gate before looking back at me with a grin.

'I may not be able to predict his every move, but I know him well enough to know that he'd prefer you in the house. That way, if the worst happens there's someone in the house with me.' I stomp down on the feeling of excitement that runs through me at the thought of seeing her every day for a week.

'I'll bring stuff Monday night?' I ask and she nods before a frown passes over her brow and I raise my eyebrows at her before asking what's wrong.

'Nothing. It's just that I don't normally do well with new people,' she says softly and I frown with a tilt of my head, waiting for her to explain but when she doesn't, I ask her what she means. She explains that she has a mild case of social anxiety and that she tends to feel uncomfortable around new people, but that it was different with me.

'Does Mark usually ask strangers to keep an eye on you? Not that you can't take care of yourself, you look quite capable,' I add when she opens her mouth, but she laughs with a nod.

'Not usually strangers. He asks someone to keep an eye on me because he thinks I'm going to sleep around. He usually asks his best friend, who, thankfully, is now on the other side of the world. He was a creep,' she says and shudders with a scowl. I chuckle softly and she grins before shaking her head at the gate.

'I wouldn't mind being on my own for a bit, but so far I enjoy your company,' she says with a laugh and I scowl playfully, bumping her arm with my elbow.

'You're not so bad yourself,' I retort and she laughs, her eyes shining with amusement.

'I'm not a takeout person, so prepare yourself for a homecooked meal, Jason,' she says menacingly with humour underlying her words and I chuckle, widening my eyes in mock shock and putting my hand over my heart after putting the roach of the joint beside me.

'Not a homecooked meal,' I gasp and she laughs, the same real laugh I'd heard earlier, and goosebumps of pleasure rises on my skin at the sound. I grin and she punches me in the arm before standing up and shaking the water off of her legs.

'I would love to sit and chat for a bit more, but Mark's probably starting to get hungry. Do you have your phone?' she asks and I nod toward the gazebo and she quickly walks over to my towel and grabs my phone before heading back to me and handing it to me.

'Take my number, then we continue this conversation?' she asks but I'm already unlocking my phone and handing it back to her. She takes the device from me and looks at the screen before meeting my eyes with a smirk. She doesn't say anything about what I'm about to save her number as, and typed it in, her fingers flying over the screen. When she hands it back to me, I look down at the screen to see the name changed to Gorgeous Gwen and I look back at her standing there with her hands on her hips and a smirk on her lips.

'It needed a little alliteration,' she explains and I chuckle with a nod, not wanting that amused expression on her face to disappear. It makes her look carefree and years younger. I stand up and slide my phone into my pocket as her head tilts back to keep looking me in the eyes, and the sudden urge to hug her takes over me.

I give in to it, reaching for her, oddly surprised when she steps into my arms and wraps hers around my waist. She feels fragile in my embrace as her head rests against my chest; her shoulders are the length of my forearm and her hair tickles my throat as a cool breeze lifts it. The need to protect her rose up in my chest and I know it's going to drive me insane knowing that she's in a house with a guy like that when I'm not here.

She's the first to pull away, turning her back on me instantly before saying a quick goodbye and patting her pockets to ensure that she didn't forget anything and reminding me to throw my roach away. As she walks away, I see her lifting her hand to her face but I don't stop her from walking away from me, I don't have that right.

Yet.