I swallow hard. Part of me wants to set the record straight, but Noelle is standing there with her chin high, her arms wrapped around herself like armor. Her eyes beg me to go along with the charade, so I nod. “Yeah. It’s true.” The words land heavy, as real as the pounding of my heart.
Brooks’s skin turns redder than a hot pepper. “Un-fucking-believable,” he snaps, his fist closing around the necklace. “You really are a liar, Noelle. And you…” He glares at me, his voice breaking. “You’re pathetic.” He tosses the bag at her feet and storms out, shoving past Greyson so hard the doors rattle behind him.
She picks up the necklace and throws it across the room.
For a breathless moment, the room is silent except for the echo of Brooks’s exit and their grandmother popping champagne in the background. She steals the show at every family event I’ve been to, but not this one. No one can top what just happened here.
Noelle holds her hand over her heart, and I take my place beside her. Her brothers exchange looks—Greyson is furious, J.D. is betrayed, and both are looking at me like I’ve just punted a puppy off the porch.
Mr. O’Ryan steps between us—tall, broad, and protective. “Matt, this—this is wrong.” The words cut deeper than I expected.
Noelle hugs herself tighter, trembling but silent. I slide my arm around her back and whisper, “It will be okay.”
Greyson rounds on us, his voice low and cold. “You’ve got to be kidding, Matt. I trusted you. You’re my best fuckingfriend.” I’ve never seen Greyson’s face as hot and red as it is right now.
I try to speak, but I need to let them get their anger out.
“I don’t want to hear it.” J.D. glares at me. “You know better, Matt. She’s just a kid compared to you.”
The disappointment in their eyes stings like nothing else.
Noelle looks down, her shoulders slumping. For a second, I wish I could disappear. We end up cornered in a quiet dining alcove when the uproar dies down. Noelle’s shaking and won’t look at me.
“Can we all go into the private dining room? I promise I’ll tell you everything. Please,” Noelle begs.
Her immediate family and I go into the other room, her brothers fuming. “What the hell is going on?” Greyson asks, his voice taut, laced with fury. “Matt, I swear I’m going to kick your ass.”
Greyson bumps his chest against mine when Noelle shouts, “Stop. Stop! Just listen to me. It’s not Matt’s fault.”
Parker mumbles, “Sure seems like he’s taking advantage of you.”
“No. He’s saving me from the humiliation of Brooks Pendleton. Please, just everyone sit.” Noelle commands everyone’s attention.
Sitting around a table decorated for a princess, with pink crystals flickering against the lights and dark pink flowers as the centerpiece, everyone takes a breath and waits for Noelle to speak.
“I overheard my teammates say that Brooks was cheating on me. When I talked to him, he apologized and promised it would never happen again. But at our last college party… I found him in the bathroom getting… I’m sorry,” she whispers. “I just… I needed Brooks to believe I’m over him. I just wanted him out of my life for real.”
Risking a glance at her older brothers, I see the emotion on their faces. The one that can’t believe Brooks hurt their little sister. It’s J.D. who blurts out, “I’ll ruin him and his career. Where does he live?”
Greyson scoots his chair back, and it scrapes across the floor, sounding nearly as angry as J.D. Noelle gets up, wraps her arms around his waist, and lays her head on his back. “Just let me deal with him. My way.”
Her voice thickens as she looks at me, tears blurring her eyes. “Will you—can you please just go along with it for a while? Just until it blows over? Give Brooks a taste of what it feels like to not be wanted anymore.”
I take a shaky breath. For a split second, hope flickers in my gut—hope that maybe this could be real, not for revenge, not out of desperation, but because she wants me. But the look in her eyes douses it.
“Yeah, if your family is okay with pretending,” I manage, my voice rough. “Whatever you need, Noelle.”
Even if it leaves me without my best guy friend.
Greyson’s not a fan of the idea, based on his jaw grinding.
She nods, relief and regret warring in her expression. “Thank you, Matt. Just… until Brooks gets the message.”
I force a smile. “Of course.” But inside, disappointment gnaws like an open wound, and I wonder if I’m really the one who just got played.
“Dad? J.D.? Greyson?” she urges them to say something. “I just want Brooks to understand how it feels to be tossed out like last night’s leftovers.”
Witt, the youngest, mostly silent brother, says, “Fake it ’til you make it, right?”
