The Dating Deal

Ch. 11: Close Call

Kris

Silence reigned over our booth at Ashley's declaration and all eyes turned to me. Beads of sweat formed over my brow under the weight of their questioning gazes, and as panic began to bubble in my gut, I did the only thing my anxious brain could think of.

I laughed.

A full body, chest-rumbling, shoulder-shaking laugh that would probably make the onlookers worry that I was having a seizure. I had seen my grandfather dispel many tense situations with his loud, potbelly-shaking laugh and I hoped it would help me as well.

Except, it didn't. It only made others look at me weird.

"Not yet. She meant not yet," I said, still laughing "We just started seeing each other and haven't really put any labels on our relationship yet. Right Ashley?"

"Ooh, fries!" Was Ashley's very helpful response.

I made a mental note to never let her get drunk when we were with others. Without her commandeering this whole fake dating act, I felt like a headless chicken just flapping around aimlessly until I bled out and died. Well, in my case it was more like getting caught in my lies and embarrassing myself in front of everyone. But it felt equally painful as the first one.

Just when I thought I would have to admit that Ashley and I were not really dating, Dylan came to my rescue.

"I would have been more concerned if it was the other way around to be honest," he said, snorting. "If it were up to Kris, Ashley and him would be on their honeymoon, planning their first kid's career."

Ashley chose that moment to pay attention to the conversation. "I want to go to Switzerland for the honeymoon," she said, clapping her hands excitedly.

A ripple of laughter went over our group, lightening the mood again. My shoulders slumped with relief and I leaned back in my seat, more than happy to have the attention off me. With my arm wrapped around Ashley, she collapsed into me and curled up on my lap, placing her head on my chest.

Giggling, she adjusted the plate of fries in her hands, holding it closer to her chest. It weirdly reminded me of the goblins from Dylan's video games holding treasure close to their body and a smile formed on my lips.

Ashley looked up at me, her blue eyes shining bright under the warm lights of the diner. "We should go to Switzerland. It's amazing!"

I picked up a tissue from the dispenser and wiped the corner of her mouth. "I'll make a note of it," I said.

Pleased with my answer, she snuggled more into me while munching on her fries and smearing more sauce on her lips. She was an adorable messy eater.

"You better start saving up for that trip," Dylan said when my gaze collided with his. He grinned before taking a sip of his drink. However, the look in his eyes had me worried.

Dylan liked to put up this facade of dumb jock, and hide behind his jokes and sassy quips. But I knew him well enough to not fall for it. He was smart, perceptive, and a little too good at reading people and situations. There was a good chance he saw me struggling to come up with an excuse for Ashley's words and stepped in to get the spotlight away from me.

And if that was true, it meant he had several doubts right now which he would surely dig answers for. Ashley and I would need to be more careful moving forward.

"But jokes aside, I would be careful if I were you. Don't get your hopes up," Shane said from the other side of the table. "I have known Ashley since high school and she can be flaky at times, you know what I mean?"

Shane looked at me as if we were sharing some kind of inside joke. Like he hadn't just insulted Ashley in front of everyone when she was right there. Rage coursed through my veins and I wished I could smack that annoying smirk off Shane's face.