I decided to take a page out of Aiden's book. Silent treatment 101. Sanders was officially on my "I'M TOO ANGRY TO TALK TO YOU RIGHT NOW LIST" and I planned on staying silent until I could wrap my head around the betrayal.

The only thing Sanders had said once she followed me out of the InternationalSisters Studio, was... "Look through the list and just pick one. Better yet, have one of the bodyguards help you. They guard all kinds of people. They may have a good idea of what each boy is like."

But instead of responding, I just walked faster and climbed into the car that Aiden had opened up for me. Sanders had tried to open the door, but I locked it and after Aiden climbed into the driver's seat, we peeled out of the parking lot.

I dropped the black folder with the "potential boyfriends list" onto the ground at my feet like it was made of fire. It might as well have been for all the damage it was threatening to do to my personal life. "Okay... so maybe, and apparently my life is like this all the time..."

"I got that impression when we left your agent standing in the parking lot."

"She has her own ride," I muttered.

"I know."

"And I'm surprised you were willing to do that. Isn't she the one paying you?" I crossed my arms and turned to stare at him suddenly amused. "Pretty sure that's frowned upon."

His lips quirked up slightly. "It's not recommended. No."

"And yet you drove off anyway?" My mind began to spin, surprised by the unlogical decision that he made to ditch Sanders when she clearly wasn't done talking to me. "Why?"

Aiden suddenly looked uncomfortable. "My job is to remove you from situations which could cause you harm."

"And you thought she was going to harm me?" I asked, surprised.

He paused, hesitating for a moment before continuing. "I knew that being around her was causing you a lot of emotional turmoil."

I bit my lip and looked out the window, self-conscious of his constant gaze. "You're observant."

We pulled up to a stop sign and Aiden turned to look at me. "And you are easy to read."

I really hope he can't read everything. Oh my gosh please be bad at reading some things.

I snorted to cover up my obvious flustered face and waved my hands around in what I hoped was a casual gesture. "Yep. Always been a terrible liar." Then I dropped my hands into my lap and sighed. "And now I'm supposed to be in a fake relationship... and make it look real... this is going to go TERRIBLY."

This has the potential of being the worst trainwreck of all time...

"Well... we better find you a good acting partner then," Aiden said. "Someone's gonna have to carry your poor acting skills." He motioned to the folder at my feet. "Who's on the list?"

Shuffling the pictures of Tate and Aiden to the back so Aiden wouldn't see, I pulled up the first name on the list. "Decklan Blake," I read aloud. The name was vaguely familiar. I scanned information under his name. "Apparently he's a... photographer and—."

"Not him." Aiden's tone was dark. A clear warning in his words. But before I could ask him why, Aiden hit speed dial on his phone as placed an airpod in his ear. "Tate, wake up."

I heard a string of cuss words on the other end of the phone followed by the phrase, "I'm gonna kill you."

I suppressed a smile. That poor guy is never going to get a normal night— day of sleep.

"Yeah, yeah. You can have a swing at me later. Get out of bed and head over to Malarkey's."

After a bit more grumbling from the other end of the phone, Aiden shot me a concerned expression. "Because we have to find Summers a boyfriend that won't suck."

...

Tate nearly spat out his beer as I finished catching him up on my current problem. "Are you serious?!?" he said behind his hand as he tried to keep the beer in his mouth.

He started laughing but then stopped when neither Aiden or I joined in. "What? That wasn't a joke?" He took another swig of his pint and leaned back on his bar stool.

The three of us sat inside of Malarkey's Bar. A colorful Irish pub with oak tables and colorful bottles which lined the back of the bar that made up most of the place. We were sitting at one of the only high-top tables. A pool table, jukebox and the bar stools that lined the bar made up the rest. The song "An Irish Pub Song" by The Rumjacks played in the background.

"How did you even end up in a forced boyfriend contract?!?" Tate asked, with a groan.

"Because I was an idiot and didn't read the contract carefully!" I replied, placing my head on the table with a thump.

"Well... I guess you'll never forget to read the fine print ever again," Tate replied with a forced chipper tone.

"Not helping," I muttered.

"Hang in there kid, we'll figure this out," Tate said poking me on the head in what I guessed was supposed to be a comforting gesture.

I tilted my head up and looked at him with a dejected look. "How?"

He gave me a sad smile. "Well, your agent was right. We have a pretty good crap radar." Tate took another swallow of his pint and then rubbed his hands together, growing excited.

"We've worked with a lot of people. Chances are we can find someone who doesn't suck... Or at least, the least sucky one."

I crossed my arms, unconvinced. "You make it sound like this is going to be fun."

Tate shrugged. "It can be."

"Then YOU date one of them then!" I snapped.

Tate snorted. "Pretty sure they are all pretty boys and that isn't really my type. So hand me the list of YOUR future boyfriends and let's get the party started."

I shot him an annoyed look before pushing the folder across the table towards Aiden and Tate. Aiden opened the folder without a word and both boys ducked down over the files scanning the names.

As they looked over the pages, Aiden's eyes went wide and Tate whistled, their faces transforming into incredulous looks as they glanced at each other.

"What?" I didn't like the reaction they had. It made it look like they were looking at pictures of a bloodbath. Crap. My love life is a crime scene.

Tate hesitated before standing to his feet. "I'll be right back. We are gonna need a few drinks. What do you want?"

"Long Island Ice Tea," I answered feeling numb.

Tate walked off, leaving me alone with Aiden.

I tapped my fingers against the table, ticking out a beat of nerves. "I really don't like this Aiden."

He nodded, jaw tense as he continued to scan through the pages. "I know."

I had wanted him to say more. To say that it bothered him. That he didn't want me to date a stranger. But he didn't. He sat there, eyes glued to the list, like it was just another day of work. Which it probably was. I hadn't known him long enough to be thought of as anything other than a work assignment.

Tate came back with three drinks. He set down his own pint of beer, handed Aiden his whiskey, and slid me my Long Island Ice Tea. "I also ordered some chili cheese fries, some buffalo wings, and a bucket of onion rings."

The dude knows how to order. "That sounds amazing."

"Oh..." Tate looked embarrassed. "That was just for me... did you want something?"

Aiden rolled his eyes. "You have a problem."

"I eat when I work. It's part of my process!" Tate threw up his hands. "And you aren't going to make me feel bad about it."

Aiden turned his fantastically terrifying stare on Tate, causing him to bristle. "Fine! I can share." Tate looked over at me and sighed, sounding heartbroken by the idea. "Laliana, would you like some of my onion rings?"

Aiden continued to stare at Tate, causing him to blurt out, "and some of my chili cheese fries?" Aiden's eyes narrowed. "And some of my buffalo wings?"

I smiled, unable to bring myself to eat any of Tate's food, even though the idea of chili cheese fries was mouth-watering. "That's okay."

Tate looked relieved and relaxed as he settled onto his barstool and stared down at the names.

Then Aiden turned his eyes on me. "You don't want any?" I shook my head. "I thought the food sounded amazing?"

"Okay, now you are just trying to take my food," Tate scoffed.

"I'm fine. Seriously. Let's just..." I waved my arm towards the folder.

"Find you a boyfriend?" Tate asked with an annoyingly large grin.

"...Sure."

"Anyone pop out as not terrible?" Tate asked.

Aiden rubbed his temples and slid the black folder over to Tate. "Half of them have been in terrible scandals."

Tate sighed and scanned the pages. "How about Carter Royal? He's an artist and probably the least crazy one in this bunch."

He passed me a photo of Carter. A twenty-two-year-old boy with a strong jaw and chocolate curly brown hair stared up at me with inquisitive emerald green eyes and immaculate features. He wore a dark shirt covered in splotches of paint and his fingers were covered in silver rings. He screamed tortured artist, but looked approachable. Like you could crawl into his world and be welcomed into his story.

I wasn't sure how to respond. "Is he... nice?"

Tate laughed. "I'm not sure. I just know he doesn't tend to get into scandals. He's a loaner who got shoved into the spotlight because of his work." I perked up at the information. I can relate to that.

"He may be worth meeting. No harm in checking him out," Tate added.

I looked over at Aiden. "What do you think?"

Aiden closed the folder and placed it under his folded hands. "If you agree to meet him, you may be able to buy yourself time. The studio just wants to know that you are a team player."

"That doesn't sound like an opinion to me," Tate pointed out like the clever hungry boy that he was.

"Yeah, I have to agree with Tate on this one. What do you actually think Aiden?" I asked, leaning forward, and leveling him with a stare of my own. I was dying to know what was going on in that brain of his. "You've been very quiet about all this."

Aiden looked unphased. "I'm always quiet."

I laughed, "That's true. But you do have an opinion on this, don't you? Don't be shy, share," I said with an amused grin.

"Yeah Aiden," Tate leaned forward, and placed his elbows on the table, imitating a gossiping girl. "Share."

Aiden looked at me with his twin storm blue eyes and answered with a matter-of-fact tone. "Go out with Carter."

The words hit me like a ton of bricks. I felt my heart constrict, cutting off my ability to breathe for a moment. What?

I didn't realize how much I had cared about his opinion on this until he answered my question with as much emotion as a block of ice. I had no clue how much I had hoped for him to offer me a way out until he had given the last answer I wanted.

I leaned back and rolled my hands into fists against my knees so neither boy could see how crestfallen I was. I didn't know what to do with my hands. Or my face. Or anything really. Apparently, I was a bad liar, so moving was out of the question. Maybe if I sit completely still, I can blend into the background and disappear completely.

I had fallen for Aiden Dalton like a very predictable, very naive idiot. The stalker picture that Mr. West had shown me made it undeniable. And now I was sitting across from Aiden, trying to wrap my head around the fact that he wanted me to go out with a stranger and sign a fake relationship contract instead of telling me to fight it.

I realized I had fallen for him, and how little he cared about me all in a single moment.

It's official, I'm dying inside.

"Okay. I'll meet Carter."

---

Have you ever been on a blind date? Or know of anyone who has been on a blind date? How did it go?