Page 51 of Faking the Shot
“We didn’t spend the night together,” Zac said quickly.
“Not what I said, but good to know.”
“That’s not something Christians do, is it?”
“Have sex?”
Chris’s question made Zac sound like such a newb. “Obviously they do, because otherwise you wouldn’t be a dad, but I’m guessing not for a while, huh?”
“Yeah, like marriage.” Chris tapped his ring finger. “So you probably can’t be fake-dating if that’s what’s on your mind.”
“It’s not. No, really. I held her hand a couple of times and that’s it.”
“No kissing?”
“Nothing. Not even a hug goodbye.” Though he’d been sorely tempted. Just like he had been tempted to hug her when she’d come back from the washroom after crying half her makeup off. He’d been right about her. Natural Ainsley was just as pretty as the made-up version.
“So why are we even having this sex talk?”
“We’re not.” His neck burned. “I was just asking a question.”
“I get there’s a lot to figuring out how to be a Christian in a relationship. And you’ve just complicated things with the fakeness of it all. Just remember, your goal is to be unselfish, okay? So be her friend. That’s all she said she wants from you, isn’t it?”
“Yep.” That hadn’t changed.
“So that’s all you can give. Friendship. Nothing more.”
Friendship. Like listening to her. Talking to her. Encouraging her. Oh, and, “I prayed for her last night. Aloud, I mean.”
“You did? Awesome.” Chris fist-bumped him, just as if Zac had scored a goal. “Look at you, preacher man. We’ll have you delivering a sermon soon.”
“Yeah, right.” His dad would flip his lid. He didn’t even know Zac had prayed the “sinner’s prayer”. That was a conversation to have one day. Like maybe in several years.
But Chris’s tease tugged another memory from last night’s intense conversation. Something Ainsley had said about finding a man who was strong in God, who could help husband her.
“What do you think it means to be a good husband?” he asked.
Chris coughed. “Whoa. One minute we’re talking fake-dating, the next we’re talking marriage?”
“No. Well, not really. Not for me. Not yet anyway.”
“Hey, if you’re following Jesus and you want to do the deed, if you know what I mean, then you’ll need one of these.” He tapped his wedding ring again.
“Good to know. Thanks.”
Chris chuckled. “I sometimes can’t believe that I’m the one who gets to be giving the great Zac Parotti relationship advice.”
“The feeling’s mutual, man.”
Chris laughed, the boom of sound filling the car. “So, a good husband? That’s what you want to be?”
“One day. Someone who a woman like Ainsley might see as a candidate.”
“Wow, this fake-dating thing really isn’t working for you, is it?”
Nope. He kept his answer locked behind his lips.
“Okay then.” Chris whistled. “Obviously, I can’t speak for what Ainsley in particular might like. But from my many years of married bliss, and from what the other guys have said over the years, a woman wants a man she can trust. One who does what he says. Who loves her unselfishly, and helps her become her best. That’s what Diana has said, among many other things. And I meanmanyother things.” Chris sighed.