Never Say Forever (LAMS READERS CHOICE)

Chapter Twenty

Option One: Invite Alex to Dinner

“Hey, Alex, glad I could catch you. Er, no, I invited you over. Glad to see you here- Okay that’s weird.” I clear my throat. “So, now that you’re here, will you pretend to be my boyfriend at a dinner with my ex boyfriend so he doesn’t spill my secret to everyone?”

I stare at myself in the mirror and groan. This was terrible. Maybe I should just cancel the whole thing after all. Tell Alex myself.

Who am I kidding, I could never do that. He would hate me.

My panicking increases as I hear the doorbell ring and I rush to grab it. I open it to see Alex standing there, smiling until he sees my expression. “Oh, shit, John are you alright?”

I nod. “I’m fine, just come inside.”

He nods and steps inside, and then turns to me after I close the door. “What’s this about-”

“Alex, will you go to dinner with me?”

He freezes and stares at me. “To dinner.. With you?” He chuckles nervously and rubs the back of his neck. “Uh, I mean, I wasn’t exactly expecting this so soon, but-”

“I need you to pretend to be my boyfriend in front of an old friend of mine.” I say.

He raises an eyebrow at me. “You want me to.. Pretend.. To be your boyfriend..?” He asks, blushing gently. I nod in response. “Why?”

“My ex won’t leave me alone. He keeps bothering me and I told him I was taken out of instinct and I just need you to pretend you and I are dating.”

“Ex? John, you never told me you dated someone.” Alex frowns gently.

“What, you just thought I was single that whole time?” I ask before sighing. “We only kind of dated, it wasn’t really a relationship. Long story short, I really need him to just go away, and I think this is the best way to do it.”

He takes a deep breath and nods. “Uh.. Alright.. Well.. When are we going to dinner with him, then?”

“Tonight.” I say, hoping he wouldn’t get angry. His eyes widen.

“And you’re just now telling me this?”

“Listen, I was worried you would say no! I didn’t know how to ask.”

He nods slowly. "Alright then. This was not what I was expecting, but uh, yeah, sure. I could pretend." He says, blushing slightly.

"It's just for this one night, and then we can go back to whatever we have between us right after, I promise."

"Right, whatever is between us.." He sighs softly. "What is between us?" He asks.

I raise an eyebrow at him. "Nothing, it doesn't matter. We can talk about it later, after we get this guy to leave me alone."

Timeskip brought to you by sweeping up the years of sadness and tears and throwing them away

"Are you ready for this? You seem pretty nervous.." Alex says, giving me a worried look.

I look at him and shrug. "I just.. I really don't wanna be here."

"If you want, we could go-"

"No!" I say quickly before clearing my throat. "Uh, no, it's fine, I'll be fine."

Alex nods, still not looking one hundred percent sure, and I start to go. He grabs my hand, stopping me in my tracks. I blush and look down.

"Uh, to calm your nerves." He smiles. "That, and we may wanna make it believable that we're together."