All I've Never Wanted(34)

“Well, what does it say?”

“Mr. Fiori, I don’t think these types of quizzes are necessarily accurate—“

Roman made an impatient noise. “Let me see that!” He snatched the magazine from Richard’s hands. “The girl you like is someone who is strong, determined, and not afraid to speak her mind. However, despite her toughness, she is looking for a partner who is sweet and sensitive—“

Richard grimaced. Sweet and sensitive? Roman didn’t stand a chance.

“—and is not afraid to embrace his inner child.” He threw the magazine down. “Inner child? What is this, Parenting Magazine 101? This is such bullshit!” He glared at Richard. “You need to pick better magazines, Richard!”

Richard refrained from reminding his boss that he was the one who had chosen the magazine. “Don’t be mad,” he said soothingly, flipping to the next page. “Look, they have tips in the back.”

“Tips?” Roman narrowed his eyes. “I don’t need tips!”

“Oh, okay, then I will just throw this away for you—“

“Wait!” Roman grabbed the magazine. “I’ll throw it away myself.”

Richard hid his smile. “Of course, Mr. Fiori.”

* * *

“I am so sorry, Parker.” I sighed as I opened the door to my house, flicking on the lights. “I feel like it's my fault that Roman punched you."

After I’d ran out of the parlor, I’d almost gotten lost because the Fioris’ house was so huge. Luckily, Parker had followed me and managed to save me from getting stuck in the maze of hallways.

“Oh, don’t worry about it.” Parker shrugged. “I’ve known him since kindergarten. Trust me, I’ve seen him at his worst. Besides, we used to play fight all the time.”

I grimaced. "Yeah, but this time wasn't exactly 'playing'." I eyed his bruised jaw. "I can't believe he hit you that hard. Actually, I can't believe you're not mad at him!"

"Yeah, well, if I got mad at him every time he acts like a dick, we might as well stop being friends."

I shook my head. "And you don't think you'd be better off not being friends with him?"

Parker stared at me seriously. "I'll admit, Roman may not come off as the nicest guy sometimes--"

I snorted.

He smiled slightly. "Ok, he never comes off as the nicest guy, but we've been friends our entire lives, and we've been through a lot of shit together. You may not see it, but he actually is a great friend."

"You're right, I definitely don't see it." I shook my head. “God, when did my life get so messed up? Today has to be one of the worst days ever. And that's saying a lot."

Parker smirked, playfully toying with one of the straps of my dress. “At least you got a dress out of it.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, that makes everything so much better,” I said sarcastically. “I don’t want to keep anything of his. I’m giving this back to him.”

“Why? That dress is worth $2000. Just consider it partial payment for everything you’ve been through.”

“$2000?” I was stunned. “Holy hell, that’s more than some people’s monthly salaries.”

Parker made himself comfortable on the living room couch. It was pretty late, and my parents and grandmother were thankfully already asleep. “Welcome to the high life, sweetheart.”

“I don’t feel like my life is very high right now,” I muttered, wrinkling my nose at my feet. After running around barefoot, they were disgusting.

“Trust me, it’ll get better. Especially now that we’re dating.”

I rolled my eyes and cast a furtive glance around to make sure my grandmother wasn’t lurking in the shadows. “We’re not really dating,” I hissed.

Parker gave me a wounded look. “Not even after I saved you from Rome? You hurt me, Maya, you really do.”

“I’m sure you’ll survive,” I said dryly.

“Nevertheless, Roman thinks we’re dating.” Parker laced his fingers behind his head and gave me an assessing look. “And…uh, I kinda told Zack and the rest of the guys we’re dating too.”

I groaned. “Why?”

“Well, I needed to tell them what happened,” he pointed out defensively. “Anyway, if we’re going to keep up this fa?ade…we need to coordinate.”

I dropped down on the couch next to him. “What do you mean?”

“At school,” he explained. “If we’re going to play the part, we need to act the part, which means you can’t go around talking about how much you hate me anymore.” Parker smiled cheekily and patted me on the head. “You need to act like a good little girlfriend.”

I swatted his hand away with annoyance. “I’m not a dog, Parker. And define ‘act like a good girlfriend.’” I left out the ‘little’ part. After all, I was five foot seven! It’s not like I was a midget.

“Well, you should probably try to get along with my friends. We need to kiss, hold hands, spend time together…”

I stared at him in disbelief. “And you’re ok with all this? Won’t that ruin your reputation as an eternal bachelor or something?”