The Mess I Made // A Jamie Benn Love Story

Chapter 4 // Long Story Short

"Okay, what about this guy?", Gwen asked holding her phone up to my face. The man in the picture was named Lucas, he was wearing a Carhartt hat and was holding up a fish, his caption read: 'Gods, Guns and Freedom'.

"Gwen, you've got to be kidding me." I retorted back, shoving her phone out of my face. We had downloaded every dating up to see if there is a candidate for my date with Gwen, Stevie, Jamie and his girlfriend. So far, we have found no one. It seemed that every single guy in Texas on these apps loved to hunt and fish and were only looking for a good time.

"Marra, your date is in two days and we have nobody! You only need the guy to show up for one night!", she said to me seemingly annoyed. "Gwen, they have to look good." I said back matching her tone.

Gwen rolled her eyes and got up off the couch to the kitchen. She grabbed a water bottle out of the fridge and leaned against the counter, "I still think this is the stupidest thing you have ever done.", she said.

I signed and rolled over on the couch on my stomach, putting my head in my hands. I knew how stupid it was but at that moment I wasn't thinking clearly. The last thing I wanted was for Jamie to think after all this time that I hadn't tried to date anyone else and that I was so lonely without him. I wanted Jamie to see that I had moved on and that him breaking my heart so many years ago didn't affect me anymore. The only problem I had was how could I portray that to him if I couldn't even portray that to myself.

"I didn't think this would happen. I didn't think Jamie would go out of his way to ask Stevie to go on a triple date.", I said trying to not meet Gwen's gaze. I know that she and Stevie were frustrated with me, and that's the last thing I wanted.

Gwen came back over and sat beside me, "Stevie and I were talking, and we think that maybe you should just show up alone. Just cut your losses, you don't want to carry on this lie." I sighed before I could respond I heard my phone go off. I looked down at it and it was a notification from a guy named Timmy, one of my new classmates, I felt a lightbulb go off. Gwen glanced over at my phone and then at me and shook her head.

"You're not going to ask Timmy to pretend to be your boyfriend", she retorted at me getting up off the couch. I started to laugh and nodded my head, "Timmy would be perfect! He's cute, smart and he plays football. Jamie is going to hate him!" I said with glee jumping up off the couch. Gwen shook her head and started walking towards her room, "Just remember, I told you this was a bad idea". I tuned her out and started to craft up a text to Timmy.

Jamie's POV:

"What about Audrey? She's super hot." Jordie said, scrolling through the contacts in my phone. I was sitting down on the couch, trying not to lose my cool with him. I told him that I didn't want to bring a girl to dinner. I didn't want to lie to Marra off the bat, I already had put her through a lot and I didn't want to do that to her again.

"Oh my god, how about Keigan? She was all over during the summer."

I got up and took my phone out of Jordie's hands. "What the fuck?", Jordie asked angrily.

"I already told you, I'm showing up alone. This is stupid, I should let Marra be happy." I said as I grabbed my car keys. Jordie rolled his eyes at me as he followed me outside, "Jamie, she's going to show up with somebody to spite you. You need to do the same thing." I tried to ignore him as I got into the car and started to make my way to the arena.

As I was driving there I just kept thinking of Marra and what I would do if she actually showed up with another guy. Marra has always been in the back of my mind the past five years, I broke up with her because I thought I needed a fresh start, yet Marra was the best thing about me. I didn't want to lie to her, but if she really has found happiness I didn't want to make it seem like I didn't either.

As I pulled into my usual parking spot, I saw Stevie walking into the arena.

"Stevo!" I shouted at him. He looked back and smiled at me and waited for me at the door. We fist-bumped as we both walked into the arena. "Looking forward to our dates tomorrow?", I asked laughing. Stevie laughed nervously as he scratched the back of his neck, "Yeah! It should be fun, we're looking forward to you showing us Dallas". I laughed as we made our way to the locker room. I was very hesitant to ask Stevie, but I had to know, "So, how are Marra and her boyfriend together?".

Stevie looked back but before he could respond I heard Jordie calling my name, I turned around annoyed – "What?" I asked. Jordie was standing there with our neighbour Casey, "I thought your girlfriend would want to watch practice today."

Marra's POV:

"She's a model?", I shouted at Stevie pacing the room. "That's what he said, she was beautiful. Blonde hair, blue eyes and oh my gosh her bre-", before he could finish his sentence Gwen gave him a dirty look. "I mean, she was alright.", he said getting up off the couch trying to avoid Gwen's gaze.

"Marra, who cares. You're hotter then her and Jamie is going to be so jealous of you and Timmy!" she said reassuring me. I looked up at Gwen, her smile met her eyes and I knew she was being genuine. Gwen always knew how to make me feel better. I smiled back at her and nodded.

"Who knows, maybe me and Timmy will end up really liking each other", I shrugged smiling.

The Next Night:

Jamie had made reservations at a fancy Italian restaurant. When we were dating, we were regulars at this tiny little Italian restaurant in Victoria every single Thursday - the owners knew us by name. I wondered if he and his new girlfriend were regulars at this new place too.

"You look beautiful, Marra" Gwen said, pulling me away from my thoughts. She was looking at me from the front seat smiling, she reached for my hand. I smiled and grabbed it, "I hope Timmy thinks so too" I said laughing. Gwen giggled and I could see a grin slowly appearing on Stevie's face. I was wearing a strapless sweetheart black top with red paper bag pants and my brown hair was in nice loose curls. Jamie always loved when my hair was curled. 

My phone started to buzz and I looked down to see a text from Timmy:

Here, just grabbing a drink at the bar.

I could feel butterflies in my stomach as I started to text back. 

Just parking, see you soon! :) 

I took a deep breath as Stevie put the car in park. "I'm kind of nervous", I said taking a deep breath as I opened up the door. I stepped out of the car and waited for Stevie and Gwen to get out, "Don't be. Everything is going exactly to plan." Stevie said reassuring me as we started walking up to the entrance.

Stevie opened the door for both me and Gwen and as we walked in I immediately locked eyes with Jamie. He was sitting alone but got up out of his seat to wave us over, he was wearing a grey suit with his hair gelled back. God, he knew how much I loved that grey suit. I didn't see anyone else sitting at the table with him. 

"You guys go ahead, I'm going to grab Timmy." I waved Gwen and Stevie away. They started towards Jamie and I started towards the bar. As soon as I walked over I could see the back of Timmy's head and he had his arm around a blonde girls waist. 

"You've got to be kidding me", I said. 

"What's going on here?" I heard a voice say behind me. I turned around and there I saw Jamie holding his hands out, looking very angry.

"Are you talking to me?" I asked. He shook his head, "No, that's my date" he said pointing at the blonde. I tried to suppress my giggle, "Oh yeah? Well, that's mine" I said pointing at Timmy who's arm was around Jamie's date.