Safe Bet (The Rules 4)

“What sort of task?” Sydney’s voice is muffled by her arms since she won’t lift her head.

“We want you to pretend to be Wade’s girlfriend,” Fable says, her gaze cutting to mine.

Say freaking what?

Sydney lifts her head, her expression incredulous. “You want me to pretend to be Wade’s girlfriend? Why?”

Damn. Why does she sound so offended? I don’t think I’m the shit, but come on. I’m okay looking, an NFL team drafted me, and if all goes well, I’ll have a solid income for the next five to ten years that could set me up for life.

I’m not a bad catch, especially if you’re just playing pretend. So what’s her deal?

“It would be a great distraction for the media,” Drew explains, his gaze locked on Sydney. “They’d forget all about me and you and how we’re supposedly having this wild affair. They could focus on your relationship with the new wide receiver for the Niners instead, right? We could even possibly make a special announcement—”

Fable interrupts him. “No. A special announcement is a terrible idea. They’ll just twist our words around and make us look even guiltier.”

Fable’s right. I totally agree. So I decide to speak up.

“You don’t think the media will be suspicious that we’ve made up a fake relationship to cover up your supposed affair with Sydney?” When Drew directs his thunderous expression toward me, I throw up my hands. “I’m not saying the affair is true. I know it’s not true. But I’m talking about the public perception. Will our newfound relationship look like some sort of publicity stunt to take the focus off of you and Sydney together?”

“It won’t look like a publicity stunt if you two really play up the fact that you’re crazy about each other,” Fable points out.

I look over at Sydney, whose cheeks are turning a bright pink. She’s embarrassed. She’s probably not down for this idea at all, despite all that attraction we had buzzing between us a few nights ago. And hey, when I take my personal feelings out of it, I understand. Why should she agree? Why should I? What do we gain out of this? Absolutely nothing. What they’re proposing is insane.

Yet despite the insanity, I’m still intrigued.

“I know this sounds ridiculous, but hear us out.” Drew leans forward, resting his forearms on the table. “The media is on a total rampage in search of a scandalous story. They’ve targeted me, and they’ve targeted Sydney, and they act like they never want to let our supposed affair go. So let’s give them an entirely different story. Let’s manipulate the situation so it looks like the two of you are together.”

“But how do we convince people we’re together?” I ask. “And who really gives a crap if we are?”

“The paparazzi are after Sydney still. But if they constantly see her with you instead, they’ll eventually give up talking about the Naughty Nanny affair story and move on. And we need them to move on.” He meets Fable’s gaze for a quick moment, his expression softening before he returns his attention to us. “So go out together. Be seen together in public places, at restaurants or wherever you want. Have Sydney over at your place. Have her come to the game this Saturday so she can root for you and look like the perfect girlfriend.”

“It might look like she’s there to root for you,” I point out. I’m not trying to be argumentative. I just want them to see all the possibilities.

“Not if you make a big production about her being there. Giving them no doubt that she’s at the game to support you.” Drew shakes his head, appearing frustrated. “Look, just trust us. This idea can work. A fake relationship is a great distraction. We know it is.”

Come on. How would they know?

I glance over at Sydney, but she’s not saying a word. Her lips are thin, like she’s pressing them together so tightly they’re eventually going to disappear. She looks as uncomfortable as I feel.

What Drew and Fable are proposing is totally insane.

“If we were to agree…”And no, I’m not agreeing. Not yet. “How long do you expect us to keep this up?”

“All we ask for is a week. That’s it,” Fable says with a nervous smile. “We think a solid seven days will help distract the gossips and get them to focus on something—or someone else.”

“Or we’ll just fuel their fire and have them questioning everything we do,” Sydney points out, her voice trembling.

Her statement is the only logical one in this sea of crazy. What Drew and Fable are proposing is nuts. I don’t have time for a relationship, fake or real. I’m trying to put my all into football, into the team, into my teammates. This is a distraction I don’t need, because I know spending one-on-one time with Sydney would distract me.

And the scariest part of it all is I wouldn’t mind letting her distract me either.

“Please, Wade.” Fable turns her big green eyes on me, her voice tremulous. “We need your help, and we thought this was the safest, easiest solution. We know this is a big favor that we’re asking of the both of you, and normally we would never propose this type of thing, but all this constant talk of the affair could be damaging Sydney’s reputation, and that’s not fair. She got drawn into this mess because she works for us. She never asked for any of this.” Fable directs her gaze to Sydney. “We’re so sorry, Sydney. I wish we could make all of this disappear.”