Have This Wish
an excerpt

They met in the mall in front of the movie theatre. After they bought popcorn and sat down in the theatre, Hunter said, “I had a good time with you last night, but after I got home, me and Tyler talked. I think I figured something out.”
Bella swallowed the handful of popcorn she was chewing and said, “What’s that?”
“You’ve got a thing for Kevin Nichols.”
“Yep,” Bella said. “I’m sorry, Hunter. Maybe I shouldn’t have gone out with you knowing how I feel about Kevin.”
Hunter smiled and elbowed Bella’s arm. “Are you kidding?” he asked. “Do you know how many phone calls I’ve gotten today because I had the prettiest girl in school as my date last night and I got to ride in that killer Mercedes?”
Bella giggled. “You don’t need to make up the pretty part. I’m sure your friends were all calling about the car.”
Hunter turned serious. “Hell no,” he said. “You don’t even realize how beautiful you are, do you? You hide behind that camera of yours way too much to know what other people are thinking.”
“A male tenth grade philosopher,” Bella joked. “I think your kind must be few and far between.”
“I’m not stupid, Bella, and I know what I see,”
Bella’s face reddened. “Sorry,” she said. “I don’t think you’re stupid. I guess you just made me uncomfortable.” She paused and looked around the theatre. It was almost empty and none of the other patrons were sitting near them. Whispering, she said, “Do you really think I’m pretty? I’ve never seen myself that way.”
“Bella, I think you’re beautiful. As a matter of fact, when Tyler and I were thinking about asking you and Kristi to the dance, we had a fight over who would get to ask you.” Hunter smiled and jokingly puffed out his chest. “I won,” he said. “But I never thought you’d actually say yes.”
“So how exactly did you win?”
“We wrestled. I pinned him.”
Bella covered her mouth to stifle her laughter.
Hunter threaded his arm through hers on the theatre seat armrest. “So…now that I know how you feel about Kevin, I have a proposition for you,” he said.
“A proposition?”
“A proposition. You see I like you, Bella. You’re fun to be around, and, truthfully, hanging out with you gets me a lot of notice. So, I was thinking, maybe we could hang out, you know, pretend to be a couple. You’ll make Kevin jealous…you saw that look on his face last night when he saw us together, right? And I’ll get to spend some time with the gorgeous rich girl. It’s a win-win situation.”
“I’m going to have to think about this,” Bella said. “But, no matter what I decide, I’d like us to be friends and spend some time together.”
“Good,” Hunter said.
The movie previews started, so Bella and Hunter stopped talking and settled back in their seats to watch. The movie couldn’t keep Bella’s attention, though. She kept thinking about Hunter’s offer. She had to admit she liked the idea of having a boyfriend, even if it was only a pretend one, and she liked the idea of making Kevin jealous. Plus, she could do a lot worse than Hunter in the faux-boyfriend category. Hunter’s arm was still wrapped around her own, so halfway through the movie Bella leaned in a little closer, letting her head rest just inches from Hunter’s.
“I’ll take that as a yes to my offer,” he whispered.
“Absolutely,” Bella said. Now that she had made that decision, Bella’s big worry was whether to tell Kristi about the arrangement.