The next day,I slam the barbell back into the rack and let out a long breath. Sweat drips down my spine. My chest is on fire, and my head’s no better.
Ty’s mid-curl beside me, smirking like the bastard he is.
“You’re quiet,” he says. “Which means one of two things: either you’re constipated, or you finally hooked up with the girl and it gotweird.”
I shoot him a look. “You’re the worst.”
He laughs and racks his dumbbells. “Tell Daddy Ty everything.”
I wipe my face with a towel and sigh. “Alright. We hooked up. In the truck.”
“In the truck?!” His voice echoes through the gym like I just told him I got married. “You did it. You full-on roleplayed her into the truck. What are you, some kind of erotic trucker Batman?”
“This is a complicated scenario. I’m not perfect. No one is. And yeah, maybe I should have told her sooner. But Itriedto tell her before we hooked up. And she stopped me. So I told her the morning after.”
Ty cackles, hands on knees. “You dog. You absoluteferal raccoon.”
“It wasn’t like that,” I mutter. “It was…different. Real. I mean, yeah, it was hot as hell—insane, honestly—but also…I liked her. Like,likedher. I still do.”
Ty pauses, then gives me a look. “Hunter. Buddy. You realize you’re admitting you seduced a girl under a fake identityandcaught feelings.”
I run a hand through my hair. “Yeah. Thanks for the recap, Captain Obvious.”
“Does she know you’re Hunter Holloway now?”
“Oh yeah.”
“And?”
“She’s pissed.”
“Bro.” Ty throws a towel at me. “You’re gonna be in a romance novel calledLies and Lattesif you don’t clean this up. What’s your plan?”
“I don’t know,” I mutter. “I think she hates me. She sent me a half-nude photo last night, followed by a text reminding me I’m a liar.”
“Okay, yeah, that’s definitely hate. Hate with a boner.”
I laugh, in spite of myself.
Ty shakes his head and claps me on the shoulder. “Here’s what you do. Man up. Tell her the whole truth.”
“I did!”
“Well… in that case…you’re fucked.”
I laugh. “Thanks. No more games, no more masks.”
“And best-case scenario? She forgives you. Worst case? You go back to jerking off alone to that voice memo.”
I grab the bar again, but my hands are shaking slightly.
Because he’s right.
It’s mostly out of my hands.
And I just might be fucked.
After my shower, I lie in bed, twisting my phone in my hand. I can’t do this over text. That’s not going to work. I need to see her. I need to make her understand that, sure, I might have lied about my identity. But those moments we had? They were real.
