Playing For Love

by Dana Burkey

  "Did you see the look he gave me?"

  "Nick?"

  "Yup, did you see it?"

  Thinking back over the night, I remembered the look I had not seen before. I nodded my head to Josh, my mouth busy with the ice cream.

  "He was jealous of me." Josh shrugged as if that answered all my concerns.

  "...and?" I demanded, giving him a light punch on the arm.

  "Okay, okay," he laughed, scooting away from me. "I didn't mean for it to happen, but I saw the way Nick acted when we were in line for popcorn. So, I kept an eye on him when we left the theater and sure enough he was shooting me daggers for putting my arm around you."

  "So what does that mean?" If Josh kept this up he might have to buy me more ice cream to make up for my growing annoyance.

  "Don't you get it?" He turned to look me in the eyes, no longer focused on his sundae. "He was thinking I was your boyfriend, and he was jealous."

  I immediately wanted to tell Josh just how wrong he was, but thinking it over it made sense. Nick was not his usual happy and fun self once Josh was a little more hands on. Not to mention the fact he all but dragged Gina out of the theater to get away from us.

  "Told you," Josh laughed, seeing the realization dawning on my face.

  "So what does that mean?" I asked, not sure if I liked this new revelation.

  "I think it's time you got a summer love of your own until lover boy sees he needs to ditch Gina."

  I almost spit the ice cream out of my mouth. Coughing, I set my ice cream down and took in big breaths as Josh patted me gently on the back.

  "Okay," I tried again once I caught my breath. "So if Nick even was jealous, not that I am saying he is, then why did you keep messing with him?"

  The pause that followed was palpable. Josh took a long time to take a bite of his ice cream, clearly letting it melt completely before swallowing it down and answering me.

  “It was not fun to see how hurt you were in September and then again at your birthday.” He refused to make eye contact, looking instead at his ice cream spoon as if the cure for cancer were printed on its handle. “I just want you to be happy. And if it means getting Nick to see that Gina was not the right choice, then I’m more than happy to play the part of your fake summer boyfriend.”

  “Be my summer boyfriend?” I repeated, not sure I had heard him right.

  “Yeah,” Josh shrugged, finally making eye contact with me. "Maybe seeing you happy with me will make him wish he was the one with you instead."

  I took some time to think, taking our now empty ice cream dishes to the trash near the door of the shop. Running my hands through my hair I let out a sigh as I returned to my seat. The plan was simple enough I guess. Josh could pretend to be my boyfriend for a little while until Nick figured out that he liked me as more than a friend, and before too long I could pretend to break up with Josh and date Nick. Gina would just have to hit the road, maybe literally, and deal with the fact that I was the right choice for Nick. It sounded kind of harsh, but at the same time, last summer and the heartbreak that followed were more harsh than this could ever be.

  "So, what do we do?" I turned and put a smile on my face, trying to hide any doubt I was still working through.

  "Well, I guess we just start by hanging out all the time like we were going to do anyway," he added with a grin. "But we might want to add some hand holding and stuff, in case we run into Nick. Then when we do run into them we make sure to plan some group activities so he can spend more time seeing just how happy with me you are."

  "Sounds easy enough." I shrugged as we both stood up.

  "Ready to go?" Josh held his hand out between us, clearly ready to start the facade now.

  "Sure." I laughed, placing my hand into his. We walked to his car as our fingers intertwined. I was not sure this was the best idea, but it was better than sitting by and watching the guy I liked so much with a girl he thought was better than me.