Fake Marriage Box Set

“She wanted it done that way,” I said.

“I know, but I know how stress fucks you up, and I could have been there to help deal with it all,” he said. “You and I both know that Mona would have wanted you to share your burden.”

A group of college-aged women arrived and sat on the other end of the cherry oak bar. They giggled as they each glanced at me and exchanged hushed whispers with one another. I turned from them.

“You only waited like a day,” I said. “Plus, I had a lot of other shit on my mind.”

“I don’t blame you,” Ron said. His attention was slowly moving between the group of women and me. “Fuck, we both have been through this already. When is life ever going to give us a break?”

We both lost our fathers at a relatively young age, is what he meant. I knew Ron’s sympathy was honest, but it still rubbed me the wrong way.

I was already drinking far too much for a Monday afternoon, but I knew no one would question a man with a dying mother. Maybe that was the problem with this town; everyone knew who I was, and that my mom was dying.

“You could tell me anything,” Ron said as I paid little attention to him and more on my glass. “We’ve been best friends since grade school; fuck, that’s over 20 years, isn’t it?” Ron chuckled as he nursed his beer. “You ever need anything, Gavin, and I got it.”

“Thanks,” I said, and meant it. I expected to hear those words from a lot of people, but it meant the most coming from Ron. Still, his voice was beginning to scratch the inside of my head, and not in a good way. I realized all I wanted was to be alone, but between mom and Ron and the rest of this goddamn town, that wasn’t ever going to happen.

“I got a call earlier from Maddie,” Ron said. “Her roommate might be moving to California soon, so she might have to move in with me.”

My fists clenched. I decided against telling Ron that his cousin was a heartless gold-digging bitch, but it still didn’t lessen the sting. I didn’t want to create any family drama, especially when I had a million other problems to deal with. Still, just hearing her name caused a headache.

“Oh?” I swallowed a gulp of my drink.

“I don’t know how I feel about it. I probably would have to stop bringing home women on the weekends,” he said. “It might be a deal breaker.”

Ron didn’t often bring women home as much as he claimed, not since his fiancée broke up with him the week before their wedding. But he definitely loved talking about it. His entire body was facing the women on the other side of the bar, and he had gotten the attention of a few of them. He told the bartender he’d pay for each of their drinks, and the women gave almost shy grins. Something told me they weren’t too shy at all

“So tell her to fuck off,” I said, my voice a little more tense than normal. Ron noticed, and he glanced at me with a frown. His skin was darker than usual after several hours in the morning sun, and his clothes had been crinkled and dampened from the lake. The women seemed to appreciate the look of a day laborer, and the bartender had returned with three of their numbers.

“For you, as well,” the bartender said and gave me a few numbers. I passed it to Ron, and he slipped them all into his pocket.

“You know I can’t do that,” Ron said. “My mom would kill me if I just let Maddie be homeless in a box off the highway.”

“She’s a grown woman,” I said. “She can take care of herself.”

But it was evident that she couldn’t take care of herself, or else she would never have tried extorting money from me. I briefly wondered what Ron would think. He’d be disappointed, upset, maybe even embarrassed. Not from the moment that I received the money from selling my father’s company did Ron ever ask for anything. Even after I offered to pay off his mortgage and school loans, he still refused it all. I had to sneak around our lunches and pay our bill before he noticed, or else he would still insist on splitting the cost. It had been difficult trying to reward his friendship, and it wasn’t until he pointed out that I refused to ever spend any money on myself that I stopped trying to shove it on him.

He was more than okay with using my boats whenever he wanted, and I did manage to convince him to let me pay for the rest of his mom’s credit card debt.

“That’s for damn sure,” he agreed and finished his beer. The bartender poured him another one, and he tipped him quickly before I could do it. “I know she’ll eventually get to where she’s going, but damn is it hard to watch her struggle.”

“Struggle?” I asked. “She lives in a two-bedroom apartment with a roommate while spending all her time on her phone, if she isn’t already posing for pictures to go in magazines.”

Ron laughed. “You’re really out of touch with reality; did you know that?”

I shrugged. “I guess, but I’d rather be out of touch than obsessed.”

“I don’t know if one’s better than the other,” Ron said. “At the end of the day, if Maddie’s asks to move in all I can do is say yes. I guess I’ll just have to get my fill of women in before then.” He gestured at the women. “Fancy any of them?”

I took another look at them. They were all tall and beautiful, with smooth skin and silky hair. A few were blonde, some brunettes, a redhead, and two dark haired beauties. I was frustrated beyond all reason, and the idea of taking a beautiful woman into my bed was more than tempting. I felt a stir in my jeans as the red-head smiled at me and pushed her curly hair behind an ear. Maybe Ron had the right idea.

I stood from my seat with the intention of introducing myself when my phone rang. Ron frowned as I unlocked it to find Karen’s name staring at me with an unanswered phone call.

I answered it immediately.

“Gavin, your mother isn’t well,” she said instantly. I leaned against the bar and gestured for Ron to leave me.

“Do you need anything?” he asked.