The Decoy Girlfriend(16)

Freya tells them everything. Which makes it even harder that she can’t tell them how impossible, how unsustainable, the dream has become for her. Calling it a nightmare might be too strong, but what else can she call the bottomless pit of dread in her stomach that never seems to go away, even though Mike’s Hard pink lemonade, Haribo gummies, and buttercream donuts love to try?

Her muse is missing. Or her motivation. Or something.

She’s ashamed to admit that writing is hard for her because it never used to be. She’s not the same writer she once was, and she doesn’t know how to get that girl back. If she tells them, they’ll all want to help. In fact, they’ll probably lovingly (read: bullyingly) insist on it. And the last thing Freya wants is to be another to-do on Ava’s Medusa-like list: Ask Freya about writing tucked between Schedule kids’ annual checkup and Shave for weekly scheduled sex with hubby.

Freya is already Stori’s project. If she becomes theirs, too, she’ll lose the last shreds of her pride.

“She’d need to have sex first,” Ava says with an evil little glint in her eye. “And the last time you shared anything about a guy in the group chat was . . . Remind me when, exactly?”

“Nope, no way, not happening. This is Steph’s night,” Freya says pointedly.

“And that means you have to do what I want.” Steph smirks. “And I really want to hear the answer to that question.”

“I could just scroll back and try to find it,” says Hero. “But I don’t think Facebook Messenger will go back all the way to the Dark Ages.”

Mimi’s face is the kind of innocent it’s never been for as long as Freya’s known her. “Did you even have Wi-Fi capability in your ancient cave dwelling?”

“I hate you all,” Freya states, pointing her finger at each of them in turn. “Unequivocally.”

“Let me hook you up with my little brother,” says Mimi, not for the first time.

“My brother is single again, too,” says Hero. “He always has the best lollipops. And all the floss you could want! Mouthwash in tiny bottles!”

“I cannot fathom that man’s sweet tooth,” grouses Ava. “He’s a children’s dentist!”

“If she dates him, she’ll need a dentist,” mutters Mimi.

Freya winces. “Please stop pity-throwing brothers at me! I’m focusing on my career right now. And for the foreseeable future. I’ll date when I meet a man who isn’t going to be a distraction.”

“Um, hello, that’s all men,” Steph quips with an indelicate snort. “It’s their blessing and their curse. Speaking of your complete and total avoidance, when are we going to get a look at those chapters you keep promising us? You’ve missed the last three critique swaps.”

Freya’s teeth lock behind her Rouge Dior 999 lipstick. Great. She’d done so well keeping them at arm’s length all night, even though they tried to corner her at the bookshop with questions about how far she’d come on book two. The only thing worse than talking about her nonexistent love life is talking about her nonexistent writing progress, but somehow they’re two for two.

“How am I supposed to find a boyfriend when my standards are supportive, bookish, cinnamon-roll fictional men written by women?” Freya demands—quite reasonably, she might add.

“You could start by turning a little to your left,” suggests Steph. “You’ve got an admirer. He’s been looking over here for a full minute with a glazed expression. Don’t stare.”

Naturally, all of them crane their necks at the same time to stare in his general direction.

Hero is the first to spot him, releasing a low whistle.

Mimi pretends to fan herself.

“I said ‘don’t stare’!” Steph hisses.

The throbbing music recedes. Freya’s friends’ voices dull to a low buzz.

Because there is no mistaking the man staring at her like she’s the only person in the room, even though there are four jaw-droppingly beautiful women next to her.

Steph squints. “Hey, isn’t that the dude from Banshee of the Baskervilles?”

Taft Bamber is staring at her with obvious recognition. Freya’s heart slingshots straight for her throat, and she teeters in her heels, which are several inches too high for her even on a good day, which is pretty much any day other than this one.

Oh my god. What are the chances? Running into him twice in one day.

Her heartbeat is so loud that she hears it over the pulsing music. Goose bumps prickle all over her exposed skin, making her shiver in her red cutout dress.

She thought she was in dangerous territory with her friends before, but this is . . . She doesn’t even know how to describe the vulnerability she feels when he looks at her like that. For the millionth time today, Freya doesn’t have any words.

“He’s even hotter in person! And he’s totally staring at us!” squeals Ava.

“Calm down, married lady,” says Hero with a laugh.

“Crap.” Mimi gets there first. “Freya, I’m so sorry! We should never have asked you to pose as his girlfriend to get us in here tonight. You should—”

Freya interrupts her. “Get ready to run like Cinderella before the clock strikes twelve?”



* * *