Page 59 of The Do-Over

“All right. Let’s do it.”

“W… what?” I stammered.

“I’ll play along.”

“No. No, you can’t do that.”

He tucked a bowling ball under one arm. “We’ll play it light and easy. Lilah doesn’t need to get confused by all this.”

“But why? Why would you do this?”

Grinning, he grabbed my hand and tugged me back toward the group of gawking family and friends. “Why not?”

Nate proved to be an exceptional fake boyfriend. He stood firm against my mother’s daunting interrogation. Although she walked a fine line between politeness and wanting to bleed him dry of information, he kept his answers simple and evasive.

“It’s new. We’re not telling Lilah right now,” he explained, while she was out of earshot.

Mom bought every word.

It was impressive.

As was the way he sat beside me most of the night and played the part of my attentive boyfriend with award-winning realism. How the weight of his arm rested on my shoulders or how my head fit perfectly in the crook of his neck. I remember he kissed me on the corner of my forehead two times when Lilah wasn’t looking, and my mother was.

In fact, everyone bought it.

When Phee made fun of my throw, it was Nate who volunteered to help me with my stance.

“What are you doing?” I asked as he stood behind me, barely a breath of air between us.

He trailed his hand down until it rested on top of mine. I shivered. “I’m helping you. It’s all in the wrist.”

“But you don’t need to do this.” I sounded like I’d just finished a 5K in record time.

“Yeah, but your throw is really bad,” he said, leaning a little closer so his breath skated across my ear. “I’m doing this as a service to the bowling ball.”

Danged if I didn’t bowl a spare that turn either.

Nate was so good at this, I had to remind myself it wasn’t real. He was putting on an act, being kind so I wouldn’t embarrass myself in front of my family and friends. He was a good guy, a gentleman, a neighbor, a knight in shining armor.

On the other hand, Joel Allen and Mathias seemed to be entrenched in some unspoken competition but with bowling balls. When Mathias destroyed him by over fifty points, Joel Allen swore and shoved his hands in his pockets. “I need another drink.”

“Great idea,” Mimi said. “Bring us back some pizza.”

“Olivia and I are going to go check out the arcade in the back. I’m on a winning streak. Lilah, you want to come too?” Mathias winked at the crowd, threaded his arms through theirs and the three strolled away.

Mimi plopped in a seat and propped her feet on the chair next to her. Using a cup of ice water on the table, she dabbled drops on her chest. “Hotter than hell in July in this place, doncha think?”

Scowling, Mom sat across from Mimi. “Mama, could you please get your feet off the chair? We are in public.” She shot Nate a pointed look. “And we have company.”

“‘We are in public,’” Mimi repeated in a fair mimicry. “It’s a bowling alley, Bobbie Jo. Relax. Besides,” she winked at Nate, “our guest might be family someday. Young man, you do look like you work out.” She reached for his arm and Nate obligingly flexed it. “Oh, my.”

“You like that? I got another one right here,” he said with a grin and flexed his other arm, the one right next to me.

“Perci, give that a feel,” Mimi said.

I hesitated, unsure where feeling up my fake boyfriend fell on the list of acceptable actions when on a fake date.

Nate nudged my shoulder. “Go ahead. I don’t bite.”