Bet.

two

 "Hey do you have anything going on right now?" Taylor asks as we leave the lounge after cleaning. Everyone else had left barely before, but Taylor stayed to help me finish cleaning our little area.

"Just going and scrolling through tiktok for too long." I shrug and let out a small laugh.

"Wanna join me for a walk and we can make a game plan? I think us winning could be good for both of us and honestly I think we could pull it off."

"Me too honestly. Let's do it."

Taylor holds the door open for me and I exit back outside. The warm breeze greets me, and I fill my lungs. A few stars dot the sky, but not much thanks to the light pollution of campus.

"I know where we can go." He grabs my hand and starts to lead me away from my apartment complex.

"You know we aren't around anyone and don't have to hold hands?" I say, knowing fully well it's actually really nice to have that contact with someone. I spot a small rose tint on Taylor's cheeks.

"I mean if we're planning to win we have to get comfortable with some level of PDA, so why not?"

"I guess that's true."

"Come on, it's not too far of a walk."

- - - - - - -

"Come up!" Taylor yells down from the treehouse he brought me to. It's built right off the beach, outside of a house he apparently lived in a few years growing up.

"Is now a bad time to admit I'm scared of ladders?" I mentally face-palm myself, feeling just as lame as I sound.

"Ha, get up here."

"Taylor I'm serious."

"Trust me." His words send a shiver down my spine. His head pokes out from the opening at the top of the ladder, and I see him reaching an arm down. "I promise I won't let you fall. Do you want me down there at the bottom or up here?" He stares at me with concern painted on his tan features, and my heart skips another beat.

"You stay there. You can help pull me up at the top, assuming I make it there." I take in the ladder one more time, before grasping a rung slightly above my head.

"Just look at me. I promise it's not as scary as you believe. I'm right here." Taylor's crooked smile is above me like a cheshire moon, and I trust it. I look right at him as I slowly work my way up the rungs.

A gust of wind blows the ladder a bit and I let out an involuntary squeal. I feel a hand grab mine though, and look right back up at Taylor who is holding onto me from above.

"Come on, you're so close!" He grabs both of my arms and helps me make it inside the little treehouse. It was surprisingly spacious, and obviously well loved. Taylor pulls a flashlight out of his bag and turns it on before setting it to the side to use it as a light.

"Only a night show employee would casually whip out a flashlight like that." I laugh.

"Wanna prove your office-secretary preparedness and whip out an invoice?" He smirks, obviously proud of his little joke.

"Ha." I glare at him.

"Fake dating though. What are we doing?" He leans backward, placing his weight on his elbows behind him.

"Good question. I have no idea. Maybe we start by getting our story straight?" I adjust to get a slightly better view of him, even if in the dark.

"Yeah that's a good starting point. How did we meet?"

"Well honesty is gonna help authenticity," I start. "So just from working together? Then we started hanging outside of work and just hit it off."

"Okay,"Taylor begins, "Wait. On that topic, what are we going to do about work?"