“Oh, man, of course I’ll do it for you,” I sighed, and wrapped her up into a tight hug.
“That’s my good boy,” she squeezed me back. “Now, about finding you a celebrity to date…”
I sighed and stepped back. “I mean, I know a few celebrities through social media but none that owe me a favor or would even be available on such last-minute notice.”
Nona cleared her throat as she poured the rest of her ginger ale into her glass. “I do a class every week with a pretty famous local celebrity who might be able to help you...”
“Are you talking about –” I started.
“You know who.”
“Nona, please. No,” I put my glass down on the bench and shook my head.
“He's a good option,” she said, raising her eyebrows as she took a sip of her ginger ale.
“Absolutely not.”
“Absolutely yes. He'd do it for free, too. You know he would.”
“There has to be another option.”
“Can you think of one?”
“Oh my god, Nona! No,” I groaned and put my head back in my hands.
“Drink up, Decker, and go ask him.”
4
Tripp
I finally finished editing the fart out of my hot yoga video and was celebrating by stretching while I waited for it to upload. My legs were high over my head with my knees slightly bent and I was holding my big toes with my thumbs and forefingers, just zoning out and thinking about what to put in my next smoothie, when the doorbell rang. My wolf’s ears perked up and I felt it cock its head to the side in intrigue. I wasn't expecting anyone and was only wearing stretchy black shorts and a cutoff tank top — I believed in comfort and cuteness. I rolled backwards onto my shoulders and then forwards with enough momentum to pop up onto my feet and hurried to get the door. I tried to remember if I had ordered anything online recently.
Oh, sweet, maybe my new stretch bands are here!, I thought as I swung the door open.
Instead of a delivery guy, I found Decker Savage standing on my front porch.
Uh, finally, I thought to myself. I didn't even have to chase him down. He fell right in my lap. My self-defense moves must have really impressed him at Tuck It the other night.
I smiled dreamily at him, sighed, and outstretched my hand in a gesture of acceptance.
“I knew you'd come around one day, Deck,” I purred.
He rolled his eyes but I caught the hint of a blush on his cheeks. The boy had a tendency towards rouged cheeks and with how many pranks I had pulled on him, I had come to not only expect him to blush when he looked at me, but I also delighted in it every time. Decker had such a sexy confidence about him until you got to know his weak spots. If I didn’t know him as well as I did - albeit from afar - I never would have picked him as shy. But it just made him more irresistible to me.
I was silently squealing inside, at the pitch of a seven-year-old child getting a free lollipop, as I waited for Decker to explain his presence on my doorstep.
“Can I, uh...Can I come in?” he asked, then bit his lower lip.
Obviously, I thought. The opportunity was too good for me to pass up. I smiled at him sweetly and scratched an imaginary itch on my stomach, requiring me to push my tank top up a little in order to expose my belly button to him as I answered. Decker's blush had already begun to deepen to a dark pink.
“You can come in me whenever you want,” I emphasized while baring my midriff to him.
Decker rolled his eyes and put his hand up in a gesture of protest as he replied, “Turn down the dial on horndog mode for a second, please, I have something I need to ask you.”
I pouted and wondered, “Where's the fun in that? You need something from me, and I'm not allowed to fluster you with my good looks and tight body?”
Decker shook his head but I could tell he was fighting a grin. That was enough of a concession for me, and I stepped aside so he could walk through the door. I sashayed towards the kitchen and he followed behind.
“I was just going to make a smoothie,” I said, turning around to see if he was checking out my ass like I hoped he would be. If he was, he didn't let on. Pouting, I asked, “Do you want one too?”
“Yeah, sure, that'd be great, actually,” he said with an innocent smile. God, he was just too precious and wholesome. It was destroying me.
“Great,” I said, grinning like a thirsty vampire.
I tossed some spinach, almond milk, banana, and frozen berries into the blender. I added a scoop of protein powder, blitzed it, and poured half into a glass for myself. Then I added an extra scoop of protein powder for Decker and blitzed it again. I was well aware he had more muscle mass than me so I knew he needed extra nutrients to stay beefy. I liked how big he was and the idea of feeding his giant muscles actually made the hairs on my arms stand on end.
I slid the glass across the kitchen island to him. After taking his first sip of the smoothie, Decker let out a moan. My dick immediately stood at attention, pushing hard against my tight shorts, and I said a silent prayer of gratitude that we were on opposite sides of the counter.
“Wow, that's so good,” he moaned again.
“Only the best for you, big boy,” I said, my mouth watering. I couldn't help but imagine him saying the same thing in a steamier situation. As much as I wanted to jump him right then and there, I was also dying to know why he had shown up at my house.
“So, to what do I owe the pleasure?” I asked him.
He seemed to get nervous, staring at his glass. He chugged the rest of the smoothie, then wiped the berry-colored mustache off his lip. I looked at his big, strong hand hungrily, wanting to lick the smoothie off him myself.
“I'm in a bit of a situation, and I could use your help,” Decker began.
A situation? I thought. Now this is interesting.
“You need my help? All right. Dish, honey. I need all the deets about this situation.”
“Well, my parents and I don't get along, for starters.”
Oh, a tragic backstory, I thought to myself. This is good.
“My Nona - my grandmother,” he stammered. “She’s supported by the money they send me every month. Except, I don’t need it, so I give it to her. But now they’re, uh, concerned that I have a deadbeat celebrity boyfriend and are coming to town in two weeks to check up on me, and this celebrity boyfriend that they’re worried about.”
“Mhm,” I nodded, following along. “Do you have a deadbeat celebrity boyfriend?”
Decker let out a short laugh and I felt my heart flutter. It was a rare occurrence to hear him laugh, and I felt particularly joyful whenever I was the one to bring it out in him.
“No,” he chuckled. “I don’t have a boyfriend.”
“Well, that is good news. For me.” I was grinning like a demonic cat and my cheeks were starting to cramp. I knew where this was going but I wanted so badly to hear him say it himself. “So, how are you going to rustle up a fake celebrity boyfriend in only two weeks? Sounds stressful. And expensive. Even for someone like you who looks like he stumbled off a designer runway in Milan and onto the streets of Blackwater...”
“Yeah...” he said, staring intently at my dirty blender sitting in the sink. Then his eyes drifted over to mine. “That's kinda why I'm here.”
The question burst forth from my very core: “Decker Savage, are you asking me to be your pretend boyfriend?!”
Decker's blush rose from his neck all the way up to his face and to the sharp line where his closely buzzed hair met his forehead.
“It's only for a week,” he said plaintively before adding, “And I'll do whatever you want in return. If you can help me out…”
I felt like I had been riding a bike that hit a concrete block. I was now sailing over the handlebars and into the sky. I was elated but disoriented and afraid of the crash landing that might follow. The universe seemed to be testing my self-restraint. I had had a crush on Decker since the sixth grade. What I wanted so badly for years was dangl
ing right in front of my face. Actually, it was dangling in his gym shorts, visible enough to add more potency to the situation. I was tempted to rush into it with humor, but I knew that Decker was too timid for that. Plus, I wanted him to see me as more than just a prankster. I had been clowning him for years but this was an opportunity to help him... To show him my compassion and selflessness. I might ruin my chances with him forever if I messed this up. So I put on a show of considering his offer, stroking my chin theatrically and frowning at him across the kitchen island. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other.
“Okay,” I said solemnly, my chin raised proudly. “I'll do it.”
Decker inhaled and looked relieved. “Thank you, Tripp,” he began, “How can I—”
“I want you to do a collaboration video on my channel.”
“Uh… I don’t know…”
“You said you’d do whatever I wanted in return.”
“Yeah, okay, but I don't do yoga or Pilates,” Decker countered.
“I know. That's what's going to make the video so awesome,” I said with a smirk.
He groaned and it reminded me of the deep, guttural sound he’d made when he’d tasted my smoothie and I felt my dick pressing harder against the counter.
“Is that all?” he asked hopefully. I couldn't resist pushing him just a little bit further out of his comfort zone. And into mine.
“Well, if we're going to be convincing as boyfriends, we'd better spend some time together leading up to the big day,” I raised my eyebrows. “You're going to have to get to know me over the next two weeks. You know, what's my favorite movie, how often do I go to the gym, how do I take my coffee, what position do I sleep in, all of that boyfriend stuff. It's got to be authentic by the time your parents arrive.”
Decker nibbled on his lips as he watched me list these intimate details of my life that he was going to have to study, as if they were subjects in school. I stared at his mouth and wondered if his lips were as soft as they looked.
Finally, he sighed, “I guess you're right.”
“I know I'm right. I’m always right.”
“This is going to be a lot of work,” he mumbled, looking down at his smoothie glass.
“As a personal trainer, you should know that's what gets real results,” I said in my best upper-class motivational voice.
“True,” he admitted. He smiled and seemed a bit more relaxed. I was pleased that he seemed to be taking me more seriously already. Maybe I could convince him once and for all that I was a far cry from the wild child from the trailer park I was back in high school. Even if I still had a flair for the dramatic…
“So when do we start?” I demanded.
“Uh, I think I’m free on Thursday after practice. We could meet for lunch?” he suggested.
“It’s a date,” I giggled, but saw no recognition on his face of the great joke I’d just made, so I explained it to him like speaking to a child, “It’s a date, Decker. A real date, because we have to seem like real boyfriends.”
“Oh, don’t worry — I get it,” he said in a completely deadpan tone.
I rolled my eyes, took him by the arm, and showed him out of my house. I stood in tree pose in the doorway with one leg balancing on the other and waved goodbye to him as my wind chimes banged on and on in the cool fall breeze. He gave me a curt wave and a nod before turning around and heading down the path. I watched his perfectly round ass as he passed through the gate and wandered down the street, before I skedaddled back inside, slammed the door, and did a celebratory dance of gratitude to the spirits of love, lust, and fate — it was finally happening! Decker was paying attention to me! Now all I had to do was not fuck it up...
5
Decker
I was putting together my team's gear bags for football practice on Thursday morning when a storm warning came through on my phone.
Extreme weather. Stay indoors.
“Shit,” I grumbled, kicked the bag I was working on, and sent out a mass text to call off practice. I suddenly had the whole morning open before lunch with Tripp. I sat on a bench in the locker room while I thought about what to do.
Free? I asked Nona.
Not this morning. Painting up a storm. Literally. oxoxoxo – N, she replied.
Got time for brunch? I asked Nash.
Kids are sick and so am I. Welcome to come around if you want some germs.
I groaned and scrolled through social media until I hit a post that took my breath away and I immediately knew exactly what I should do with my morning - even if I really, really hated the idea...
Tripp's yoga studio was just off Main Street, out the back of Leti's Diner. I walked over from my apartment, stood outside, and took a deep breath. I looked into my front-facing camera of my phone and gave myself a pep talk.
“You have to be polite. You have to be considerate. You have to get the hell through this class without laughing, or scoffing, or even thinking thoughts about how stupid it is. You have to work with Tripp as your fake boyfriend, and do this stupid collaboration thing. Your grandmother's livelihood is depending on it. You have to get to know him, and what he does, and you have to keep your feelings under control,” I hissed at myself.
I nodded back to myself in agreement, when the sky opened up and rain started to pour down on me. I quickly dried off my phone and headed inside. The walk through Leti's Diner was surreal, as always – the whole place was decked out in creepily authentic ‘60s décor and the waitstaff all wore genuine uniforms from the era.
A waitress in a bright pink poodle-skirt took one look at me and asked, “Are you looking for the yoga studio?”
“Is it that obvious?”
She laughed and shook her head in apology.
“You just look, uh... familiar,” she grinned and blushed.
“Oh, do you follow my channel?” I asked, always happy to meet a fan.
“Of course I do, Decker!” she slapped my shoulder. “You’re Blackwater’s favorite fitness instructor. You’re helping us all get into shape.”
“Well, you won’t get that way from yoga,” I scoffed, then physically bit my tongue to scold myself for dissing out the class before I’d even been in there.
“Oh,” she frowned like she was utterly confused. “Oh, yeah, Tripp’s studio - it's out the back. Just head through those doors, and down to the garden. You can't miss it.”
She was right – you couldn't miss it. Tripp's studio was a domed yurt made from hessian, with a manicured garden that stretched to the back of the diner. The yurt was surrounded by polished decking and strung with wind chimes, buntings, bells, and Tibetan prayer flags. I grumbled to myself that I bet Tripp had never set foot off the continental United States, let alone traveled to Tibet.
I stepped out of the rain and onto the landing where stacks of muddy sneakers and Birkenstocks were piled high beside the front door – or, well, the hole in the wall that was covered by a heavy bead curtain. I slipped off my Nikes and wiped the sweat from my palms. I told myself that I couldn't care less about this class, but my heart was pounding in my chest.
I could hear Tripp's voice trilling from inside the studio. “Everyone – get yourself set up for the most life-changing class we've ever had. Let's make this the best day ever!”
I swallowed my distaste for his optimistic cheerleading, took a deep breath, and pushed my way through the bead curtain. I felt my wolf sniffing around intently, and I assumed it was because it was a new environment for us to be in.
The beads rattled behind me and alerted everyone in the class that someone had arrived late to class. All eyes were on me. I'd expected the class to be populated with peace-loving hippies but the glares I was getting were anything but chilled-out vibes. In fact, I was surprised to find that most people in the class looked like people I'd seen at the gym. I gave an apologetic shrug and tried to make myself as small as possible.
I was practically backing out of the room when I caught sight of Tripp. He stood at the front of the stu
dio where he was lighting a stick of incense, wearing nothing but a pair of yoga pants, a skimpy crop top, and a silk scarf around his neck. His hair was piled up on top of his head in a yoga bun, exposing his long pale neck, and almost drawing my attention away from how pert and round his ass looked in those yoga tights that were printed with a weird galaxy pattern all over them.
He let out a dramatic gasp when his eyes met mine. A smile broke across his face and I felt my heart leap in my chest, and my wolf tried to bound forward towards him. I stayed put. Too quickly, his smile turned into a mischievous smirk. My breath stopped. I knew that shift in him all too well – it was exactly what had happened every time he'd locked eyes with me at high school, right before he'd tried to humiliate me with a stupid or mean prank.
“Well, look who it is,” he breathed, then snapped at his class, “Hey, stop drooling over my lover!”
A chuckle spread through the class and his students went back to warming up, while I felt myself turning bright red. Tripp sauntered over to me through rows of amateur yogis, gleefully waving his incense side to side as he came closer. The scent got to me before he did. I felt my wolf sniffing at the air hungrily. Pure sandalwood washed over me and I took in a deep inhale that made my head spin, just as Tripp approached. He pushed himself right up against my front and purred, “Hi there, lover,” as he kissed my cheek.
I groaned and rolled my eyes, but my whole body felt like it was melting into a hot puddle on the floor. As he pulled away, my wolf pushed for me to get closer to Tripp, but I refused to move and kept my arms at my sides.
“What brings you to the studio, hm? Weren't we going to meet for lunch?” Tripp asked as he stood back with one hand on his hip and the other absently waving the incense around.
“My practice was canceled because of the storm –” I started.
Claimed By My Pretend Boyfriend: Blackwater Pack Book Six Page 3