Chapter 1
A/N I just wanted to say thank you, _Edgarfuentes for letting me use you as the cover.
Getting slammed up against a wall wasn’t a typical experience for Danny. He had seen it done before, of course, to a lot of guys in high school and even a few around his college campus. But never to him. Danny had mastered the art of keeping his eyes down and his mouth shut, and, because of this, he was rarely picked on. He was invisible, and he liked it that way. So, when Nathan Rodriguez, a business major who wasn’t even in any of Danny’s classes slammed up against a wall, Danny was quite surprised.
“Santos,” Nathan hissed, using Danny’s last name. Danny found this rather immature of him but, considering his position, found it prudent not to comment.
“Yes?” He gasped, trying to breathe in spite of Nathan’s arm, which was lodged at his throat.
“I need to talk to you.”
Here Danny came up with about sixty sassy replies, but again, he considered his position and only mumbled, “Yes?”
“You were Jamie’s fake boyfriend last year, weren’t you?”
The answer was yes, Danny had indeed pretended to be the boyfriend of a girl he knew. She wasn’t attracted to guys but her grandparents, who she loved very much, were pressuring her to get a boyfriend. Danny had volunteered and she paid him for his time, mostly in her grandmother’s homemade food. Needless to say, it was well worth his time, and it was good practice of his acting skills.
“Yes?” Danny squeaked out, as the arm got tighter.
“I want to hire you,” Nathan said bluntly.
Danny tried to swallow but was unsuccessful.
“If you’d put me down, we can talk-“
“What? Oh,” Nathan said, backing off. He seemed to have forgotten about pinning Danny to the wall. Danny took a few deep breaths and collected himself.
“Now, I’m meeting some friends in the library to study. Do you want to come?”
Nathan’s eyebrows rose. “I don’t take any of your classes, why would I want to study with you?”
“So, we can talk on the way there?”
“Oh,” Nathan replied, “Sure.”
Danny swung his backpack on his back and the two walked outside the main lecture building, following the path to the library.
“Now, how can I help you?” Danny asked.
“You pretended to be Jamie’s boyfriend, right?” Nathan asked again.
Danny nodded; they had established that point.
“I want you to be my fake boyfriend, too.”
“Why?”
Nathan’s nose twitched, and he rubbed it with the back of his hand.
“Do I have to tell you?” He asked.
Danny considered this. “No,” He said after a moment, “I suppose you don’t. Not right now, anyway. What’s your offer?”
“Jamie said she paid you five dollars an hour along with food?” Nathan said.
Danny nodded. He had forgotten about the five dollars an hour. Looking back, he probably should have done it for free as a favor for a friend. Then again, he was a broke college student. But Jamie was a broke college student, too…
Nathan was talking again. Danny zoned back in to hear the rest of his sentence.
“… any money, but how about a two-week, all expenses paid vacation to Big Bear Lake? It’s about ten hours from here, and we’re planning on driving up. All you’d have to do is pretend to be my boyfriend for those two weeks.”
A vacation sparked Danny’s interest.
“This is over spring break?” He asked.
“Yeah. We leave the Sunday before the break and get back the Saturday before classes start. Will you do it?”
“Give me your number,” Danny asked, “And I’ll think about it.”
Nathan, who had come prepared, pulled a grubby sticky note from his back pocket and thrust it into Danny’s hand. Danny took it with a nod.
“Thanks. I’ll get back to you.”
“Ok. See you,” Nathan said. They stood awkwardly staring at each other for a moment before Nathan turned and walked back to the main building and Danny resumed his trip to the library.
Danny spent the whole next day thinking about Nathan’s offer. He laid out the pros and cons of the idea very neatly in a notebook. In the pro column, he had the fact that he very much wanted to go somewhere over Spring Break but he, as an aforementioned broke college student, couldn’t afford a vacation on his own. On the other hand, he and Nathan weren’t friends. They had taken one class together freshman year and did a team project together in computer science, but that was it. Danny didn’t know if he wanted to spend two weeks with a guy that he barely knew somewhere he had never been before.
He tried to be logical and think about the dangers involved. But the promise of a free vacation was just too sweet. It took a full day of convincing, but the spontaneous, adventurous side of Danny’s mind took control and he found himself pulling out his phone.
hey, it’s Danny
He texted quickly.
Nathan answered almost immediately.
are you coming?
all I have to do is pretend to be your boyfriend, no other strings attached. Right?
Yup, that’s it.
You’re not going to drag me into the woods and murder me?
Nathan replied with a laughing emoji, which was not reassuring in the least.
I promise I won’t murder you. Are you in?
Danny’s logical side sighed and threw up its hands as he texted his reply.
Yeah, I’m in.
Good. Pack light. I’ll text you the details of where to meet us.
Ok.
Thanks, Danny.
Np.
Danny replied, using the acronym for ‘no problem’. Nathan left him on read.
Danny spent the next hour scrolling through Nathan’s social media feed. Years of stalking the internet had readied him for this moment. He was gathering useful information about Nathan, his interests, and his friends. Danny was determined to be prepared for whatever surprises this job had in store for him.
Nevertheless, Danny was not prepared for the surprises the job had in store for him. He couldn’t possibly have been less prepared.
