
“All right, all right,” Gabe said. “I’ll be serious and help you.” “Thank you,” Ben said, happy he had the support of both his best friends. The three had been practically inseparable since they’d met in college and roomed in the athletic dorm. All three had been lucky enough to play professionally, Gabe as a shortstop for Philadelphia and Jace as a quarterback for New Jersey. His friends’ close proximity to one another was the reason Ben chose to get an apartment in Philly and spend his time here in the off-season. “I knew you were kidding when you mentioned the bet, but—” “I wasn’t kidding. I have an idea that might work.” “No,” Ben said sternly. “Didn’t you learn anything from me, Torres?” Jace asked Gabe. Now that the bet they’d made last summer was behind them, they could all joke about it. But a year ago, it would have been a different story. Jace had nearly lost Aly when the three friends had competed to see who could bring the hottest date to an awards ceremony. Jace had unexpectedly fallen hard for the beautiful doctor, but all of that had almost crumbled when she’d learned he’d initially asked her out because of a bet. “Okay, I get why doing a bet again would be a bad idea, but I do think that finding some arm candy as a distraction is a solid plan. A buddy of mine brought some chick he met at an airport to his parents’ anniversary party, and everyone thought they’d been dating for months.” Ben was skeptical. “Like a fake girlfriend? There’s no way that’ll work.” “I don’t know, man,” Gabe said. “It might. The secret to a good lie is you gotta believe it yourself.” “You’re so wise,” Ben said flatly. “I’m serious,” said Gabe. “The chick I was telling you about ended up getting my buddy’s grandmother’s crab cake recipe, and that shit’s for family only.” “Just to make sure I’m understanding you right, I should believe you because of a crab cake recipe?” Jace raised his eyebrows at Ben and Gabe. “It’s actually not a bad idea.” Ben rolled his eyes. “Not you too.” “You got any better ideas?” Jace asked. When Ben was silent, Jace continued. “I didn’t think so. There’s a decent chance this could work. We just need to figure out who to get to pretend to be your girlfriend. You’re gonna be up there for a few days.” Ben rubbed a hand over his forehead in frustration. “I don’t know. Fuck. No one’ll want to spend that much time with my family. A few hours with them is more than enough.” “She doesn’t have to want to spend time with them,” Gabe said, a look in his eyes that told Ben he was up to something Ben was probably going to want no part of. “Should I even ask what you’re talking about?” Ben said. “Probably,” Gabe said. “Because I have the answer to your problem.” Ben looked at him expectantly, but when he realized that wasn’t enough, he said, “Fine, you’re really gonna make me ask, aren’t you? Why doesn’t it matter if she doesn’t want to be there?” A smile spread across Gabe’s face. “Because you’re gonna pay her,” he said simply. “Like a prostitute?” Ben replied. “Not a prostitute,” Gabe said. “An escort.”

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