Twenty-Nine // J.G.

twenty-six.

Day 28.

     J A C K     

If I could control life with a push of a button, I'd pause and watch the morning over and over again. There was nothing extravagant going on, but that's the thing: even though it was just me and Marley in the bedroom, nothing could possibly make this morning more perfect. Something was different with her. She seemed happier, brighter, and maybe it was just the right angle of light coming through the curtains, but she seemed to be glowing. Reaching over, I carefully brushed her hair back and traced my finger over the side of her face. A soft smile painted her features, bringing out a faint outline of her dimple.

"Good morning, baby." I whispered, smiling when she opened her eyes.

"This is real... Right?" She asked, still in a bit of a daze.

"As real as it gets." More so, as real as a supposed fake relationship can get. I would kill to make this into something more than a bet, and after I win, the only thing I want is to make her mine for real. If I told her anything now, she wouldn't believe it because even after all this time, after I've really fallen in love with her, she was still stubborn enough to think that everything I do is for this godforsaken bet.

Stretching her limbs, she let out a yawn while rolling onto her back. "Mm... Good morning, Jack."

"You have a good sleep?" I asked even though the answer was obvious. I wondered what she could have dreamed of, or maybe this whole week had been good enough to etch its way into her sleep.

"Yeah, it was amazing." She beamed as she scraped her muddled hair into a messy bun. Oh, how far we've come from me telling her not to do anything to her hair. I guessed she wasn't going to elaborate, so I nodded and sat up as well.

"Let's have dinner tonight." I decided on the spot. "We don't have to call it a date or anything. I just wanna take you out."

"Really? No special occasion or hidden motives?" She gave me a quizzical look, but I could detect excitement in her eyes. I shook my head. "Well okay, Mr. Gilinsky. A non-date it is." I smiled, leaning over in an obvious attempt at getting a kiss, and she followed – stopping just an inch away. "Morning breath." She giggled while sliding off the bed.

"You are so misleading, you know?" I chuckled.

"You love it though." She retorted from the bathroom.

"Yeah, I love all of you." I sighed to myself, shaking my head. How could I have gone from trying to get her to accept me to falling head over heels in love with her? It was such an unexpected turn of events. She was so frustratingly lovable, and even though I hated that I couldn't have her, at least it gave me something real to chase after.

The morning went on like normal: we had breakfast with the guys, hung out at the beach for a couple hours, then hit the gym. It was like every other day on this vacation. Until I got a call from someone I hadn't spoken to in almost a month.

I excused myself from the others and stepped outside as they cleaned up after the gym session.

"Hey, what's up?" I answered, a little concerned about the sudden call. My manager had promised not to contact me while I was here unless it was an emergency. "Is everything alright?"

"Jack! Hey, yeah, everything's great. How are ya', buddy?"

"I'm amazing. Actually, I met this girl–"

"Okay, listen, I know you said not to call without a legitimate reason, but I've got great news, man!" He paused as if to allow me to prepare for whatever he was going to say. "You're going on tour!"