My Super-Hot Fake Wedding Date

She seemed nice enough. A little crazy, maybe. But not the way Katie was.

I sighed and read the last text.

Katie: Well? Are you going to text me back or not?

She really had balls—I had to give her that. I sat back on my couch and looked out the window at the trees. It was so pretty out. I loved this time of year. Fuck it. I’m not just going to sit here.

I called my buddy Ryan, and he met me at Deluxe, our neighborhood hangout.

“You doing okay?” Ryan threw a dart and fist-pumped when it got closer to the target than mine.

“I’m good.”

Ryan gave me side-eye. “Dude, I know the wedding’s this weekend.”

I shrugged. “I’m going to a different wedding with someone new. So I don’t care.”

“Nice.” Ryan ordered us two more beers. “Who is she?”

“Someone I just met at work. We’re going to Nantucket for the weekend.”

His eyeballs almost popped out of his head. “Seriously? For your first date?”

“Seriously. For our first date.” I threw another dart. “I mean, it’s not technically a date. It’s sort of… not a date.”

“Huh?”

“She didn’t really ask me out. I mean, she did, but it’s not really a date. I’m more of a buffer.”

Ryan peered at my new beer, which I hadn’t touched. “Could you explain that more clearly, or are you impaired?”

I sighed. “It’s her little sister’s wedding. She told her parents she was bringing a date, but she couldn’t find one in time. So she asked me this afternoon when I was delivering her package.”

“You ever talk to this girl before?”

“Not really.”

“Is she hot?”

I avoided his gaze. “Yes.”

“Is she crazy?”

I snorted. “What do you think?”

“I think of course she’s crazy. I mean, she sounds crazy.” Ryan shrugged. “At least a little.”

“Maybe she is. But not bad like… You know.” She who would not be named.

“I am all for you going to Nantucket and having fun, especially this weekend.” Ryan frowned.

“But?”

“But… Just be careful,” Ryan said. “It sounds like kind of a wild situation. So maybe you should think of it as a distraction, nothing serious.”

“Yeah, of course.” I shifted uncomfortably. I needed a distraction for sure. The thing was, I wanted a girlfriend. “But maybe this’ll turn into something. Who knows, right?”

“I want you to concentrate on the fun angle.” Ryan arched an eyebrow. “There’s nothing wrong with fun.”