It was all fake, of course. It was just for show.
But I’d noticed something: whenever Topher knew the answer, his arm would tighten around me just before he shouted it out. And then there were his fingers, drawing lazy lines up and down my arm. Was he doing it on purpose? He was so good at pretending, and I was terrible at being the one he pretended with—because the flutter in my chest, the gentle pull low in my stomach, the urge to lean into him and rest my head against his chest? That all felt very real.
The TV droned on in the background, the voice of the game-show host filling the room. Topher, naturally, was dominating. Another question flashed on the screen, something about the structure of DNA, and before I could even blink, Topher said, “What is a double helix?”
I raised an eyebrow. “Okay, Mr. Know-It-All, is there anything you don’t know? Like all the numbers of pi?”
Topher grinned, “3.14159?—”
“Stop, stop!” I waved my hand, laughing. “I was kidding.”
He chuckled. “I could keep going, you know.”
Josephine piped up from her chair, “Don’t tempt him. He once spent an entire road trip to Pennsylvania telling me every single detail about every NASA mission ever launched.”
“Hey, Apollo 11 deserves respect,” Topher said, mock offended.
“True, but I don’t need to know what everyone on the crew ate for each meal,” Josephine joked. “Remember that road trip? We were headed to see some... what was it? That ridiculous science museum?”
Topher grinned. “Ridiculous? Mom, it was the Franklin Institute, and it was incredible. They had an entire exhibit dedicated to the history of space exploration, not to mention the Foucault pendulum. That thing swings for hours without stopping as proof of Earth’s rotation.”
I stared at him, blinking. “You drove across the country to watch a pendulum swing?”
“Uh, yeah,” he said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “It’s physics in motion. And also, they had a giant heart you could walk through.”
Josephine snorted. “Let’s just say it was the longest eighteen-hour drive of my life. He kept me entertained by listing all the prime numbers up to one thousand.”
Topher grinned. “It’s a mental challenge. 2, 3, 5, 7, 11...”
“You’re giving me a headache already,” I groaned.
Topher grinned down at me. “I’m a delight to go on a road trip with.”
Josephine shook her head, eyes twinkling. “You get used to it. After a while, you just learn to nod along. Or make him take breaks to decorate for Halloween.”
“Right, the decorations.” I glanced over my shoulder at the window, where our over-the-top haunted beach display was still proudly standing outside. “I think the skeleton lifeguard has officially won over the neighbors.”
Topher smirked. “Yeah, he’s been pulling in the crowds.”
But it wasn’t solely the holiday decorations that brought the constant stream of neighbors to the house. It was Josephine. Everyone wanted to hug her or make sure she was okay. People stopped by daily, dropping off gumbo, crawfish pies, and enough jambalaya to feed a small nation.
And she sent each neighbor off with a homemade gift, from scarves she knitted, jars of her famous pickles, or pumpkin-shaped soaps she whipped up in her kitchen. It seemed like everything in her house had her personal touch. The cozy throw blankets on the couch? She’d sewn those herself. The lavender-scented candles on the table? Yep, made by Josephine.
Everyone loved Josephine. How could I not?
And then there was Topher. He had this endearing way of being utterly ridiculous without even realizing it. Take movie nights, for example. It was never just ‘watching a movie’ with him. We’d sit down with Josephine for a lighthearted comedy, something simple to unwind to. But five minutes in, Topher would be deep into an analysis about how the director completely botched a prime opportunity to play with shadows to enhance the emotional depth. “This scene isbeggingfor a chiaroscuro effect,” he’d say, munching popcorn like it was the most normal observation in the world.
Then, of course, he’d follow it up with, “And why is that character holding a coffee cup likethat? Nobody drinks coffee like that unless they’re hiding something! He’s the culprit!”
The more time we spent together, the more I found myself charmed by his quirks.
I tried really hard not to fall for the cozy family moments, the neighbors treating us like a unit. But with every oddball thing he did, every glance he shot my way, the harder it was to remind myself this was all just pretend. The lines between what was real and what wasn’t were starting to blur, and I was finding it difficult to keep my feelings in check.
Just then, the host started reading a brain-busting clue, and before he finished, Topher rattled off the answer. “What is the Treaty of Westphalia?”
Josephine rolled her eyes, shaking her head. “Honestly, who even knows that?”
Topher shrugged. “Uh, anyone who’s taken a college course in Advanced Diplomatic Relations of the 17th Century.”
