The Dating Deal

Ch. 8: The Fake Date

Kris

Were flowers a little too much?

As I made my way inside Ashley's dormitory, I kept getting glances from the other women residing there. I'd bought the bouquet of pink tulips thinking that red roses would be too much for a first date. First fake date.

Honestly, I was still trying to wrap my head around the idea of fake dating, but Ashley was confident that it'd work and I was desperate to try anything. After she'd proposed this scheme to me that day in the café, I was more than bewildered.

Because let's be honest, it sounded ridiculous. Who in their right mind would agree for something like that? It made no sense whatsoever.

But then on Wednesday, Bethany had showed up to my morning practice. Inside the facility where she wasn't supposed to be.

The moment I saw her, I got so distracted that I ended up having an accident. Thankfully, no one was hurt but it could have been worse. With the team aiming for the championship this season, we couldn't afford having accidents and injuries.

I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if someone had gotten injured because of me. The worry etched on Coach and my teammates' faces as they hauled me and the junior I'd bumped into up on our feet cemented my resolve. If the only way to get Bethany to back off was putting up this fake dating act, I was willing to do it.

My grip tightened on the bouquet as I knocked on Ashley's door and waited. I hadn't been on a date in forever. Since Bethany and I were already friends, our dates never really seemed like dates.

We usually just hung out together like we always did. And after our breakup, I'd sworn off women. Forget about fake dates, I had no clue what someone did on real dates with someone they didn't already know.

Because I was so clueless about this whole thing, Ashley had taken it upon herself to plan everything and had asked me to just show up at her door. Going empty handed felt wrong, hence the flowers. But now, I was questioning that as well.

The door swung open and I was greeted by April's coy smile. "Someone's really excited for the date huh? You're like twenty minutes early to pick up our girl."

My eyes widened and I immediately lifted my hand to check time. Crap, I really was. I overestimated the time I'd require to go to the florist and drive back here.

What did someone fake dating do in this situation? Pretend that my watch was broken? Act smitten and say something cheesy? I was so unprepared for this.

April let out a bubbly laugh, waving me in. "Come on in. Lucky for you, Ash is an obsessive planner and perpetually paranoid of being late. She's been ready since half an hour ago." She then glanced at the tulips in my hand and took a step back. "While tulips don't usually trigger my pollen allergy, can you please hold them a little away from me?"

"Sorry," I said, immediately holding them behind my back.

What if Ashley was allergic to flowers too? I hadn't even thought of that before buying them. This wasn't going to work. I was already messing things up.

I let April walk ahead of me before following in after her and closing the door shut behind me. As soon as I stepped in, I was hit by the scent of tea. In the middle of the living room, Ashley's other roommate, Nicole, was doing a yoga pose that looked like it'd snap me in two if I tried it.

She met my gaze while her face was upside down. "Oh, hey," she said, smiling.

"Hi," I replied, returning her smile.

Not wanting to make her uncomfortable, I quickly averted my gaze and glanced around the room. The suite style dorm room was bigger than I'd expected. The large window on the right wall let in enough natural light to brighten the living room and the open plan kitchen.