My Forged Wedding

Chapter 3: The Move

"It's too close to pick up a cab," Jason told me. "I guess we'll walk home."

"Um..." I trailed off, following behind him.

"You better remember how to get to the bar too, I might have you come get me when I'm drunk."

"Um, excuse me!" I yelled.

"What's wrong pouty?" He asked, smirking at me.

"I have a ton of things I need to ask you."

"Well I don't want to answer all of them. Pick three."

"Three..."

"Yeah, we'll talk while we walk." He told me, and I walked down the street beside him. My luggage must've been heavy, because he adjusted his grip a few times.

"Do you want me to take it?" I asked him, slightly amused.

"No. It's alright."

"But it looks like you're struggling with it."

"Shut. Up!" He frowned, sounding annoyed. "Just stay quiet and follow me."

"But-" he cut me off, stopping in his tracks.

"Quit talking back to me, pouty." He sighed, and I blinked in response. "So what three questions are you going to ask me?" He asked, starting to walk again. So clearly, this is a don't speak unless spoken too kind of relationship.

I sighed in defeat, trailing behind him. "Um... Why are you calling me pouty?" He stopped walking again, then looked down at me wide eyed.

"You only have three questions and that's what you ask me?!" He looked at me puzzled and I shrugged. "Don't you wanna know what my place is like? Or what king of life you're gonna have? I could totally live in a one bedroom shack and only have beer in my fridge. Aren't you worried about those things?"

"No, I do want to know that too but I couldn't let it go."

"Alright," he sighed, walking again. "I call you pouty because..." He grabbed my cheek with his free hand and pinched it.

"Ow!" I yelled in protest, pushing him away. "What're you doing?"

"You pout so easily. That's why I call you pouty. Isn't it a cute nickname?" He grinned.

"That's mean!" I pouted.

"See? You making that face again." He smiled, and I rolled my eyes at him. "And we seem more like a married couple if we have nicknames. So I'm gonna call you pouty."

"What about you?" I asked him.

"I don't need one. I don't like nicknames." He said, making it simple. "First question down, what's your second question?"

"My second question is..." We continued walking side by side, and it was late but a few cars passed us by. "Why me?" I asked him, honestly curious.

"Huh?" He asked, surprised.

"You look like you wouldn't have any trouble getting a woman, and I'm sure there are plenty of people would want to be your fake wife."

"Well I won't deny that I'm popular with women," he smirked, and I gaped at him. He doesn't deny it. "But I don't want it to go from pretend to real."

"What do you mean?" I asked him, furrowing my brows together.

"I don't want someone who'll want to stay. I don't wanna argue over it later. And you don't seem clingy. Plus, Will has something over your head. So you'll listen to him."

"I see," I nodded, feeling disappointed for some reason. I mean it's not like I expected him to say "cause i thought you were pretty" I mean, that would be crazy. Besides its not like I like him or anything.

"What?" He asked me, studying me closely.

"You're not going to say we look like a good couple?" I smiled.

"Oh, that too."

"What?" I laughed. I was joking with him. I didn't expect him to answer like that, and my heart skipped a beat.

"I'm sure I'll marry a woman like you. After dating plenty of beautiful woman I'll realize people aren't all looks. And I'll lean towards a safe and relaxing woman like you," he grinned, and I gaped at him in shock.

"Isn't that a little rude?"

"I only speak the truth."

"Oh, I'm sure you've dated a lot of women."

"I dunno, I've never counted," he answered honestly. "What about you?"

"Huh?"

"It doesn't really matter, but how many guys have you dated?" He asked, and I blushed for some reason.

"Well..." I trailed off.

"Don't count boys you've liked as a kid. I'm talking about real relationships." To be honest, I've only dated a few people. Three I think. If I tell him the truth, he might make fun of me. Should I exaggerate? Yes! He won't know, so I'll just lie about it.

"Fi- six. Six guys," I said matter of factly.

"Five or six?" He asked, not sure if he believed me. "Which one?"

"Six."

"Wow," he said, shaking his head. "A girl who can't lie and has no romance skills gets to pretend to be my wife. You should feel lucky." When he said that to me, I suddenly realized, there's no sweet talk at all between us.

Not even when we first met. All we did was bicker the whole time in the bar, and I feel like now he's picking at me just for the hell of it. And even with all this bickering, we can go on talking forever. It was actually kind of fun.

"We're almost home, you think you can keep going?" Jason asked me, pulling me from my thoughts.

"Like I have a choice," I responded, looking up at him.

"Well I was gonna offer to carry you, but since you're such a pessimist then you can walk," he joked. "What's your final question anyway?"

"Huh?" I asked him.

"You have three questions, so you have one left." That brought me to think on my final one. To be honest, I've been winging it this entire time. But there is something that I really wanted to know.

"Your school doesn't employ single men, right? But you lied to get hired."

"Right, that's why I need you to pretend to be my wife."

"So why did you pick that school?" I asked him. "There are a lot of schools out there. So why pick one that you have to lie to get hired for?" Jason stopped walking abruptly, and the smile on his face quickly faded.

I watched Jason as he just quietly stared ahead, and I was going to say something when Jason slowly turned to look at me. "Pouty?"

"Yes?" I answered, raising a questioning brow. He reached around my back, wrapping his arm around me and pulling me closer to him. Me, being the awkward person that I am, was caught off guard by his sudden display of affection, so I tried to wiggle away from him. "H-hey. L-let go of me." I stuttered, my heart beat speeding up from being so close to him.

"Just stay still," he whispered in my ear. His deep voice making something stir inside of me. At first I thought he was joking around, but when I looked at him his face was serious.

Holding my shoulders, he bent his head down until it was face to face with mine, and our foreheads touched. "Nina."