4. Chapter Four

Iinhaled a slow, deep breath as I stared out at the fjord and the mountains beyond from the patio of my favorite local brewery, a glass of a sour beer sweating on the table in front of me, my two closest friends—besides Jared—chattering nearby. My mind was swirling with thoughts of Linnea, Jared, and America.

"Hallo? Earth to Matt."

I blinked several times and focused on the hand waving in front of me, belonging to my friend Jakob. "Sorry," I murmured. "I zoned out."

"Apparently so." Jakob nodded. "What's got you so distracted?"

I shrugged and took a sip from my glass. The chilled beer hit my tongue and slid down my throat, leaving a hint of the sour flavor behind. "Broke it off with Lina this week," I said finally.

Benjamin, our other friend, leaned forward at the table. "Seriously? Why?"

I felt I'd explained myself too many times in the week since the split, but I took a deep breath and dove in once more. "Different goals. Different ideas for the future. Plus, I don't know, something didn't feel quite right."

They both nodded. A moment later, Benjamin ran his hands through his strawberry-blond hair. "Well, now what? Do we celebrate or are we in mourning?"

I chuckled and shook my head. "Neither. It just… is."

Jakob nodded in understanding and sipped from his glass. "Perhaps a rebound would do you good?"

I lifted an eyebrow, mostly amused at their attempts to cheer me up, but before I could firmly reject that idea, a burst of laughter caught our attention. The three of us simultaneously looked in the direction of the noise, which came from a group of women who had just stepped onto the patio.

"Let's go, ladies," the one in the lead said in a clear American accent.

Benjamin nodded toward the group as they disappeared into the building, smiling widely. "Speaking of rebounds…"

Jakob grinned. "Perfect timing."

Jared's words came back to me then. "You just gotta find an American to rope in with those Norwegian baby blues. Get yourself a marriage visa." I shook my head. "Pass."

"Come on, when are you going to let yourself settle down?" Jakob protested.

"Ja," Benjamin said. "Besides, American women are hot. Especially those American women." He tilted his head in the direction of the bar.

I rolled my eyes. "You two are impossible." As Jakob and Benjamin discussed the relative merits of American women versus Norwegian women, I fell quiet. A few minutes passed as I let their discussion wash over me, ignoring whatever they had to say, before the aforementioned American women came bursting through the door, spilling onto the patio and taking up residence directly behind us, despite the large number of empty tables around us. Barely a few moments passed before one of the women, a petite brunette, approached our table.

"Unnskyld meg," she said slowly, stumbling over her words. "Snack-er, um, English?"

Jakob turned on his thousand-watt smile and leaned in. "It's snakkerduengelsk. And yes, we do. Most Norwegians do, in fact."

Her face relaxed, relieved. "Oh thank God. My friend over there—" She gestured at a wide-eyed blonde who was blushing hard. "She doesn't speak, um, Norsk, but she thinks you're hot. She wanted me to ask if you're single and if you'd be interested in joining us."

Benjamin elbowed me hard in the ribs. "She's talking to you," he hissed.

"Thanks, but I… I mean, she's lovely, truly, but I just got out of a relationship. I'm…" I didn't know how to finish the sentence. When Jakob cleared his throat, I barreled on. "Not quite ready." I knew the excuse was weak, but it was still true. Mostly. I didn't want to attach myself to the first American who came along. I wanted… companionship. Caring. Similar interests and goals. I wanted someone who wanted me, not someone who was just looking for a hookup. I pushed my chair back and stood. "I should get going, anyway."

She pressed her lips together, attempting in vain to hide her disappointment, before nodding and looking at the other guys. "How about you two? Care to join us?"

My friends glanced at one another and both nodded in a hurry. "We'd love to," said Jakob.

I took that as my cue to leave. "Goodbye," I said, waving as I departed. I waited until I was on the bus back to my apartment before I pulled out my cell to text Jared. I needed someone to talk to and I wanted it to be him. To my surprise, I had missed a message from him.

Jared: Are you busy?

Matty: Sorry, I was out, but I'm on the bus home now. What's up?

Jared responded almost immediately.

Jared: I was hoping you'd hop on a call with me.

My chest fluttered in relief. I glanced at the time, did a little mental math regarding the bus schedule, and typed out a quick response.

Matty: Give me thirty minutes.

By the time I was settled at home, laptop carefully placed on the tray I used for a writing desk—for those rare times I felt like writing in bed—I'd gotten several more messages from Jared, mostly telling me to hurry up because he was too excited to function. I had no idea what his deal was, but I was happy to oblige.

When I finally dialed into the call, Jared was already on screen, grinning from ear to ear, drumming his fingers loudly on the table in front of him. The moment my camera lit up, letting me know it was broadcasting, Jared exhaled a deep sigh of relief as his shoulders relaxed.

"Finally."

I smiled softly and shrugged. "Sorry. The bus was running a touch behind schedule."

"Are you… are you in bed?"

I looked around. After setting up my laptop on the portable desk, I'd lain sideways, propped slightly on a pillow. "Do you mind?"

"No, I… um…" Jared's Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed.

"Yes?"

"Nothing." He shook his head. "Nothing."

"So, what's going on?" I folded my arm under me and rested my head on it.

"What if we got married?"

I sat up, jostling my laptop. "Sorry, come again?"

His grin widened. "There's this American TV show called Destination Love. They take international couples and help them get the K-1 visa—the fiancé visa. They're doing a call for auditions now, and next season, priority will go to queer couples."

"Only one problem. I'm… not queer." At least, not openly. The rare passing attraction to a man doesn't count as queer, does it?

Jared grinned. "I know that, and you know that, but they don't have to know that."

I covered my face with one hand. "You're…"

His grin turned cocky. "A genius?"

"I was going to go with vattnisse, but we can go with yours instead."

He laughed, his grin widening. "Is that what vattnissemeans?"

"Not even close."

Jared casually gave me the finger and shook his head. "So, what do you say? Want to get married?"

"I have many, many questions."

"Starting with?"

Sighing deeply, I racked my brain for where to start. "Do we have to actually get married?"

"Yes. Within ninety days of your arrival to the US, once we get approved."

"What else?"

"I have to come to Norway for a visit and we have to do interviews to prove we're really in a relationship."

"That's all?"

He shrugged. "I mean, we have to be on TV so we have to make it convincing. But as far as I can tell, it's as straightforward as that."

"And how long does this process take?"

Jared bit his lower lip briefly. "The show's website said they can fast-track visa applications. So maybe… six months? A year? It wouldn't take any longer than that."

"From acceptance on the show to our… wedding day? One year?" He nodded and my mind began to race. One year. I could be living in America just a year from now. I could do that, right? I could pretend to love him. Hell, I did love him, like a brother at least. We could pretend to be partners for that long. And at the end, I'd be in America with my best friend, like I'd always dreamed.

"One last question—why are you doing this for me?"

His smile faltered. "Can't a guy just do a favor for his friend?"

I laughed a little. "I know you better than that. Not that you wouldn't do me a favor, but you've never been keen on getting married. Why now?"

He exhaled slowly. "Remember when my manager said I needed to get some attention on my music career?"

I nodded knowingly and cracked a grin. "Ah. Now it all makes sense." I ran my fingers through my hair as my mind worked through his offer. It felt like I considered it forever before my mind was made up, but Jared sat patiently on the other end of the call, waiting. Finally, I sighed and nodded, against my better judgment. "Okay. I'm in. What do we do next?"