The Love Wager

Jack

Jack pocketed his keys and headed for the door to Hal’s building, a tiny little pouch of catnip in his jacket pocket. He’d landed a few hours before, and he’d had to force himself not to come running over to her place the instant he’d touched down.

Because he was dying to see her.

He didn’t know exactly what he was going to do or say, but something had changed in Minneapolis. He had changed in Minneapolis. He’d realized that as scared as he was of screwing up what they already had, he wanted to move forward.

God, was he out of his mind?

He went into the lobby and pressed the up button on the elevator, wondering when the best time was to confess his terrifying feelings.

The elevator doors opened, and a blond guy stepped out. He took a step forward but paused when he saw Jack.

“Hey, you’re Hal’s friend. Jack, right?”

Jack looked at the man’s face and realized who it was. Also, did he really have to call her “Hal,” like it was that hard to say her full name?

“Hey, Alex. How’s it going?”

“Good, good. Are you going up to see Hal right now?”

Jack gave him a nod and didn’t think he could take it if the douchebag said Hal one more time. Also, where the hell else would he be going?

“Would you mind taking something up with you?” Alex put his hands in the pockets of his bomber jacket and said, “I bought a few toys for Tigger but left them in my car.”

“Sure.”

Jack followed the guy to his car, hating the fact that Alex was spending time with Hallie every day. Hating that he was buying toys for her damn cat, even as Jack’s own pocket burned with the catnip he had taken care to bring. Alex popped open his trunk—a goddamn Camaro, of course—and Jack stood there, feeling lower than ever as Alex dug around, rambling about his life like they were buddies.

“Hal is such a sweetheart. I have no idea how I got lucky enough to land her as a girlfriend.”

Jack squinted, forcing himself not to say that it was way too early for Alex to call Hallie his girlfriend, even though it absolutely was. “It’s, uh, yeah—she’s great.”

The fact that she’d invited Alex to her sister’s wedding was still mind-boggling to him, but he refused to think about it.

Alex kept digging—how much shit could one person have in their trunk—and said, “But I’m blown away that someone like her was even on the app, y’know?”

Jack felt like his jaw was going to break from clenching it so hard. “Yeah.”

“I’m a huge believer in fate, in things happening because the cosmos wanted them to, so her reaching out to me feels epic, y’know?”

Alex stopped digging and said with a grin, “Listen to me—I sound like a fucking lovesick little girl.”

“Now you sound like a fucking sexist.”

“Right there I did, didn’t I?” Alex laughed, which bugged the hell out of Jack. “Thank God there are no feminists loitering in the parking lot to overhear.”

“That would be the worst, right?” Jack said, unsure if the guy was serious or not.

“The last thing I’d want to do is look bad in front of Hal, so for sure the worst. Although, honestly, she seems way too sweet to care about something like that.”

“You’d be surprised,” Jack said, remembering her at the speed dating event.

“No, I wouldn’t.” Alex looked one hundred percent confident in his opinion as he said, “Even though we haven’t known each other very long, I feel like I already know know her.”

Jack didn’t even know what to say to that, so he just muttered, “Is that right.”

“I think it’s that fate thing.”

Jack couldn’t stop himself from saying, “I wouldn’t really put much stock in fate on this one, by the way. Sometimes you get lucky, but this sure as hell wasn’t because the stars aligned.”

Alex said, “Says you.”

“Says life.”

“Nope.” He shook his head and grinned like Jack was the one saying ridiculous things. “It’s fate, my guy, and you just don’t get it.”

“Listen, buddy,” Jack said, really fucking irritated at this point. “Don’t tell Hal I told you this, but we had a bet. We made a wager on who could find love first. So her feelings for you might be real and you might be the luckiest son of a bitch on the planet, but it wasn’t the cosmos or your good karma that made her swipe right on you. It was the will to beat me and win a free vacation.”

“Are you serious?” Alex’s face fell, and Jack immediately regretted telling him. Regretted it, but still felt the tiniest twinge of satisfaction.

“Hundred percent.”

Alex rubbed the back of his neck and muttered, “Huh.”

Dammit. Jack sighed and said, “I mean, it sounds like she really likes you, so it still worked out, right?”

Alex looked distracted and upset. “I suppose so.”

“If I were you,” Jack said, backtracking because he wanted to respect Hal’s relationship regardless of his feelings for her or his utter annoyance with Alex, “I’d forget you ever heard this and enjoy the ride.”

“That’s probably good advice.” Alex smiled half-heartedly and handed Jack a grocery bag. “Here are Tigger’s toys.”

“Thanks.” Jack took the bag, turned, and had only taken one step when Alex spoke up again.

“So . . . you and Hallie.”

Jack stopped and turned back around. “What?”

Alex put his hands in his pockets and gave Jack a knowing look. “Is there something going on? Something more than friendship?”

Jack wanted to hit him again, which was weird because he rarely wanted to hit people. He gave his head a shake and said with total honesty, “No.”

“Do you want there to be?”

“If I did,” Jack said, exhaling, “I would talk to Hal about it. Not you.”

Jack left Alex at his car and went back inside the building. He felt bad about getting in the guy’s head and being a general asshole, but he’d apologize next time he saw him.

Right now, he just needed to see Hal.

Hallie

“You really need to buy a couch.”

Hallie and Jack were sitting side by side on the floor with their backs resting against the wall, their legs stretched straight in front of them. They’d been watching another episode of You on Netflix, and it had just ended. She looked at him and said, “Is this hard on your old man back?”

“Funny girl.” He put his hand on top of her head and tousled so hard she kind of tipped over, making her squeal and laugh. “It’s hard on my one-year-older-than-you ass when your chunky boy won’t get off of me.”

Tigger had plopped his huge body on Jack’s lap the minute he’d sat down and hadn’t moved since.

“So I didn’t even ask—did you have any fun at all in Minneapolis?” Hallie felt a little bad that she knew almost nothing about his job, but they had so much fun when they hung out that neither of their careers really ever entered the conversation.

“It sucked.” He scratched behind Tigger’s ear with one hand while grabbing the remote and flipping through Netflix with the other. “The work was fine, but usually when I go up there, I stay with my uncle and it’s a whole big family thing. He passed away since my last trip, though, so it was just, I don’t know, weird now.”

His uncle Mack. She remembered his sister mentioning him. She didn’t want to pry or make him sad, so she just said, “That really sucks.”

He nodded and looked like he was casually watching the TV as he scrolled for something to put on, but his Adam’s apple moved around a big swallow before he said, “I kind of wasn’t prepared for what a gut-punch it would be, honestly.”

She reached out a hand and squeezed his arm. “I’m so sorry.”

He shook his head, like it was nothing. “It’s no big deal, so quit looking at me like I’m a weepy little kid.”

That made her pinch the arm she’d been softly squeezing. “I’m doing no such thing.”

“Bullshit.” He grinned at her and said, “By the way, Kayla dumped me over the phone yesterday.”

“Oh, no.” Poor Jack. “The PhD candidate?”

He nodded.

“Did she say why?” She couldn’t imagine anyone not being into Jack. He was hilarious, charming, and damn pretty to look at; what the hell was wrong with Kayla? Even though he hadn’t said a lot to Hallie about her, she suspected he’d kind of been hoping it would pan out into a real relationship.

“Ah, you know,” he murmured, his eyes still on the TV.

“No, I don’t know.”

He shook his head and made a dismissive noise.

“Well, what did she say exactly?”

“Hal.” He started laughing, and the sadness in his eyes went away when he looked at her, thank God. “Settle your ass down—she just wasn’t feeling me. It happens.”

She laughed with him, because regardlesss of everything else, she was so incredibly happy Jack was back that it was hard to stop smiling. She liked Alex as a romantic partner, but she realized she had the most fun hanging out with Jack. They’d gobbled down ice cream as they watched TV, and he hadn’t even judged when she’d licked the bowl and then helped him finish his ice cream as well.

Her phone buzzed. It was a text from Alex, but she didn’t feel like texting him until after Jack left. But when she looked at the text, it read: Can I call you? It’s important.

Hallie swallowed and wondered what was up. Was he regretting saying yes to the weekend in Vail? She responded: Of course.

“I have to take a call—I’ll be right back. Just sit and watch the movie,” she said as she stood and went into the bedroom.

“Like this guy will let me do anything else,” Jack muttered, scratching Tigger’s big head.

She went into the bedroom, closed the door, and sat down on her bed. When the phone rang, she answered with, “Tigger loves his toys.”

“Oh. Good.” Hallie heard Alex clear his throat before he said, “Listen, I’m really bad at this stuff, so I’m just going to say it. You seem really great, but I don’t think this is going to work.”

Hallie’s heart started beating in her neck as he continued to speak uncomfortably. “Some guy is going to be really lucky, because you’re an awesome girl, but I just don’t think I’m that guy.”

Hallie felt a little light-headed. “You’re, um, you’re breaking up with me?”

“I . . . I guess I am.” Alex’s voice sounded thick. “It’s not you, it really is just a me thing.”

“Okay. Uh, got it.”

“Hallie, please don’t—”

“Is this because I invited you to the wedding? Because if it’s too soon, I’m fine—”

“No, the wedding sounded like a blast. I just . . . I just don’t think we’re meant to be together.”

Hallie felt suffocated with the weight of rejection. She wasn’t enough for him. He didn’t want her. He didn’t want to go to the wedding with her. He’d rather be single than be with her. She managed to croak, “Okay, um, I have to go. Take care, Alex.”

“I’m sorry, Hal—”

She disconnected the call before she could embarrass herself further. Tears immediately filled her eyes, and she bit down on her lip to keep herself quiet. She felt like sobbing, like giving in to a big, sad cry, but Jack was on the other side of that door and she couldn’t bear the thought of him seeing her like that.

Especially when he’d also gotten dumped and was handling it like a champ.

But every time she got close to having her emotions under control, she thought of her sister’s wedding—where she and Ben would both be in the wedding party—and she lost it again.

The tears wouldn’t stop, and after a while she forgot about Jack entirely.

Until she heard the knock on the door. “Hal? Are you okay? Did you fall asleep?”

She wondered if she were quiet he’d assume the latter and leave.

“If you don’t make a noise in the next ten seconds, I’m coming in just in case you’ve fallen and can’t get up.”

“I’m fine,” she said, but he must’ve heard the tone because he said, “I’m coming in.”

The door opened a crack, and when he saw her, his face went from relaxed to dead serious. He swallowed and said, “Holy shit, what happened?”

He walked into the room, and in a second, his arms were wrapped tightly around her, which made her cry harder.

“It’s no big deal,” she said, kind of snuffling it out in a hiccupping sob, “but Alex broke up with me.”

“Oh, God,” he said, and she felt tension in his arms as he asked, “Did he say why?”

She shook her head and said, “Just the whole ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ bullshit.”

She tried to sound unaffected as she said it, but she felt unlovable at that moment, which made her too sad to act cool.

“Well, it is bullshit. You know that, right?” He was talking into her hair, his voice low. “He’s a moron, because you’re incredible and any guy would be lucky to scoop your cat’s fucking litter pan, do you hear me?”

That made her smile a little.

“Honestly, I didn’t know you liked him enough for him to hurt you this way.” He cleared his throat and sounded emotional when he said, “God, I’m so sorry that I didn’t know how hard you’d fallen.”

A tiny part of her was incredibly touched by that apology, by the fact that her friend felt bad for not reading her feelings better. But as Hallie lay there, staring into space, his first sentence gave her pause. I didn’t know you liked him enough for him to hurt you this way. When she pictured Alex’s face, she didn’t feel that sad. When she thought about no more dinners with him, she didn’t feel that disappointed.

“I didn’t know, either,” she whispered. “Hell, I don’t even know now. Is it awful that I think I could be sadder about getting dumped than about actually losing Alex?”

“Not at all,” he said into her hair, his arms staying tight around her. “I’m the same, Hal. Rejection feels like shit, even when it comes from someone who might not matter that much.”

“Don’t enable my bad behavior,” Hallie said around a half laugh.

“It’s true, though, horrible human.”

She laughed again and started to face him, Jack’s grip loosening so she could. She knew she looked hideous when he looked at her with a pitying smile. She said, “Shut up, I know I look good.”

He gently swiped under her lower lashes with his thumbs. “No comment.”

“The thing is,” she said, blinking fast to stop more tears, “I just really hate starting back at square one; with Alex, at least I had hope that I was maybe on the way.”

His eyes traveled over her face, and he said quietly, “I get that.”

Of course he does.

“And now I have to go to my fucking perfect sister’s wedding alone next week!” she cried, unable to stop herself from full-on bawling over that one. “I was so happy to call my mom the other day and casually drop that I had a boyfriend who would be coming with me, and now I have to roll into Vail with my tail between my legs.”

“No, you don’t.”

“And I don’t think I’ve ever told you about my ex, other than the fact that we broke up, but Ben is going to be IN the wedding. With me.” She pictured his face and groaned. “I’m going to look so pathetic.”

“You don’t have to go alone,” he repeated.

“Yes, I do. I don’t have anyone.” Her eyes filled with tears again.

“No. You don’t. Listen,” he said. “If you want, I’ll go with you. You can pretend I’m your boyfriend, and we can be the greatest fucking couple they’ve ever seen until we return home from the trip and break up.”

She sniffled and looked at his face. He looked serious. She asked, “You’d do that?”

He gave a little shrug and said, “Sure. I love Colorado.”

“So,” she said, unable to believe what he was offering to do, “you will let me tell them you’re my boyfriend and you’ll act like you love me?”

“Hallie Piper,” he said, his voice low and husky as he looked at her, “from the second we enter the airport to depart until the moment we return home, I will be head-over-heels, worship-the-ground-you-walk-on, wildly obsessed and madly in love with you.”

Hallie felt a little buzzed at the sound of those words. God, he is good, she thought as he looked at her like he meant every word. His jaw flexed as his eyes stayed focused on hers, and she sat up in the bed. “I can’t believe you’d do that for me.”

He shrugged again. “It’s not a big deal. We’re friends.”

She could feel a smile coming as she said, “Thank you so much for being my friend, Jack.”

“Right back atcha, TB.”