The Fill-In Boyfriend(25)

“Bec, I was serious about the friend thing. It wasn’t a ploy. It’s so obvious he wants his ex back.”

“You see that too?”

“Yes.” He may have been claiming some closure thing, but it was obvious.

I picked up my purse from where I had left it on the floor of her bedroom. “At least he’s agreed to let me go, right?” On her dresser as I was leaving the room I saw several bottles of hair product. “I’m borrowing one of these.” I held up a small tube of gel and shoved it in my purse.

“Do your job,” she said as I left. “It’s not too late to save him from her.”

I was not going to force my fake girlfriendness on anyone tonight, so I just laughed and went to find fill-in Bradley.





CHAPTER 12





I pulled the seat belt across my chest and clicked it in place. “Did you know that your sister never uses your first name? It’s just ‘my brother this’ and ‘my brother that.’ It’s maddening.”

He laughed a loud laugh that made me smile, then he pulled out of the driveway and onto the road.

“It’s actually really cute. I think that’s how she thinks of you always, as her big brother.”

His amused look softened. “So you still don’t know my name?”

“No. And I need it for tonight.”

He didn’t provide me the answer but instead asked, “What have you been calling me in your head, then?”

“What makes you think you’ve been in my head?”

He just smirked like he knew he had. And he was right.

“Fill-in Bradley.”

He laughed. “Wow. Creative.”

“It’s all I had to work with so help me out here.”

“Here’s the problem. There’s this huge buildup now. I almost feel like I need to make up a name that fits this moment of anticipation.”

I gave him a stare of impatience. “Spit it out, fill-in Bradley, or that’s what you’re going to be from here on out.”

“Do you realize the acronym for fill-in Bradley is FIB? It’s kind of ironic, right?”

I smacked his arm playfully several times while saying, “Tell me your name.”

He laughed and grabbed my hand, pushing it down onto the center console then trapping it there with his. “My name is . . .”

“You’re right, this is super climactic. I don’t think there is anything you can possibly say that will match the anticipation I feel right now.”

“You’re not helping.”

“Should I guess?”

“We have about fifteen minutes, so you might as well.”

“Okay, let’s play Twenty Questions.”

“All right. Hit me. Not literally, though.” He squeezed my hand then let it go.

I smiled. “First question. Were you named after anyone famous?”

“Hmm. Well, yes and no. I mean, there are famous people with my name but I was named after someone not so famous with my name.”

I tilted my head at him. “Really? You have to be confusing like that?”

“Is that one of your questions?”

“No, if you’re going to be so strict with the rules, it’s not. My next question is, can your name also be a last name or close to a last name?”

“What do you mean ‘close to a last name’?”

“Like by adding a letter or something. William isn’t necessarily a last name, but Williams is. Phillip to Phillips. Edward to Edwards. You get it.”

“I do.”

“Then there are the unmodified last names that can also be first names, like Taylor, Scott, Carter, Thomas, Lewis, Harris, Martin, Morris—”

“You think my name is Morris?”

“Just an example.”

“You sure think about names a lot. Wait, don’t tell me, you’re one of those girls who’s already named all her future children.”

“No, I’m not.” Well, not all of them.

“That’s good. And yes, my name can be a last name.”

“A modified one?”

“No.”

“A common one?”

“Not so much.”

I pursed my lips to the side, thinking. “Is it a name that can also double as a word?”

“Explain.”