“Yeah…this is our last fake date, and we haven’t really discussed what we’re going to do.”
My lips twitch as Julianna turns to lay her head against my chest as she continues sucking on her sippy cup. “What did you want to do?” I ask hoarsely. It’s been a week since we’ve seen each other, and the first thing he wants to talk about is our fake breakup. My hands feel clammy as I clutch the baby to my chest.
Dean shrugs dismissively. “I don’t think we have to do it here in front of everyone. If we did, I think Lynsey would interject and try to counsel us back together before we’d even get out the door.”
“Oh yeah, that’s not good.” I force a laugh, but my mouth must be sucking on about eighty cotton balls at the moment.
“A quiet breakup should be fine. We can change our relationship statuses tomorrow online and let people figure it out like they did when we were first together.”
“Okay…sure,” I reply, suddenly wanting to pass off Julianna and storm off. He’s being so cold, so distant…so…mean. My heart begins to hammer in my chest as my temper rises. I clench my teeth and narrow my eyes at him. “I’m sorry, but should I even be here?”
“What do you mean?” Dean asks as he mindlessly plays with the burlap table runner in front of him.
A strange noise bubbles in my throat, and I see Julianna blinking, like she’s going to fall asleep in my lap any second now. I take her cup that’s falling from her hands and set it on the table in front of me. “Maybe I should leave early, and you can tell everyone I dumped you right here.”
Dean finally turns to face me, his brooding eyes searching mine. “Norah, what’s your problem?”
My lips pull into a sneer as I protectively clutch a sleeping Julianna to me, like I’m holding on to my own bare heart. “My problem is that I was looking forward to tonight. I played nice with your friends for the past two weeks. I went shopping and got a new dress. You know I don’t go out much, and I thought…silly me, maybe we could actually have fun tonight,” I whisper yell so I don’t alarm Julianna.
“We can have fun,” Dean balks, shrugging his shoulders casually.
“No, we can’t because I haven’t seen you in a week and sixty seconds into our first conversation, you’re talking about dumping me. I’m afraid I don’t see the option for fun anywhere in sight.”
Just then, Josh returns with an open bottle of red and a smile. “I have booze!”
“Sorry, I have to go.” I stand awkwardly because I’ve never had a kid fall asleep in my arms before yet manage to pass off the sleeping flower girl to her father before grabbing my purse.
“Norah.” Dean says my name, but I can’t bring myself to look at him due to the really annoying knot of rejection forming in my throat. I make my way through all the wedding guests, praying like hell I don’t look as awful as I feel.
“Norah!” Dean is right behind me as I exit the glow of the reception hall and head down the gravel path toward the cars. The sun is nearly gone, and the chill in the air now matches the vibe I was getting from Dean.
A warm hand wraps around my arm and turns me around. “Come back in with me.”
“No,” I snap, yanking my arm out of his grip, a twinge of anger roiling in my belly. “What’s the point?”
Dean falters, his eyes blinking nervously behind his glasses. “Because we had a deal.”
I huff out an incredulous laugh. “Well, the deal was supposed to be fun, and this is officially not fun.”
“What do you want from me, Norah?” he asks and shoves his fingers through his hair, leaving it disheveled. “Tell me what to do here.”
Standing before me, he looks…dejected, as though he’s in pain. His eyes seem full of sorrow and confusion as they search mine for answers. I want to grab his face and tell him right here, right now that we should stay together. That we shouldn’t plan our fake relationship breakup. But he’s not ready for that. He’s forgotten what we’re like together. He’s forgotten we’re good for each other. I need to remind him. I need to show him how much fun we are together.
I inhale a shaky breath and steel myself to sound cool