Instead, I say, ‘Unless the circumstances demand otherwise, how about keeping our distance?’

May’s Plays

– Keep our distance. Unless the circumstances demand otherwise.

– Minimal PDA. We refuse to be that couple.

– When in doubt, do as our overly romantic parents would.

– No deep conversations about deep life things (henceforth).

– These terms end when Colt leaves.

Chapter Eleven

Talk of the Town

Colt

‘If we’re going to pull this off, you’ll need to know the team backwards and forwards, inside out. The Riders are May’s whole thing.’

Jordan Gutierrez-Hawkins hefts her lacrosse stick to point at a photo on the slide deck she’s showing on the lecture hall projector. We’re somewhere in the business building, I think, where she’s taken over one of the biggest auditoriums on campus to walk me through what she’s deemed crucial information for me to know in order to succeed in this fake relationship.

Jordan, with enough personality for a twelve-person team, uses her whole body to gesture avidly as she gives me her rundown. I remember her pretty well from our time at Prosperity. She and May were joined at the hip from the first grade, the earliest we all went to school together because Eagle Rock was too small to have one to itself. By the time we got to high school, I had my group, primarily consisting of the guys from my team, and Jordan and May had theirs, primarily consisting of the girls from their team. A couple of the dudes would try to shoot their shot with the girls’ team, but oftentimes to no avail.

I’m trying to pay attention to what Jordan’s saying, but my brain is still hooked on the ‘fake’ in all these terms – fake relationship, fake boyfriend, fake date nights. Sitting in that restaurant with May, I had to spend the whole dinner forcing down the feeling in my gut that just wanted it all to be real. I craved again that shred of enjoyment she’d shown at the bar that night, but I could see it on her face, and how she’d laid down the law with her voice: this was all business for her.

‘COLT!’ Jordan calls from up on the stage, voice bouncing off the high ceiling of the auditorium, her brow creased in disappointment. ‘Are you listening?’

‘Uh, yeah!’

‘Sure.’ She narrows her eyes in disbelief, but continues with her spiel. ‘We’ll circle back to May shortly. As for me, you’ll get to know me pretty well, considering I’m the only one on this team besides Coach who knows what’s going on. This is—’

‘Wait. Pause.’ I raise a hand. ‘You and Coach orchestrated this thing?’