“Right,” I drawl. I cut into the stack of pancakes and stab the piece. “So what are the plans for today?”
He pushes away from the table and piles a plate for himself. “We’re gonna fool the internet—and Brandon—into thinking we’re together.”
I catch my fork before it drops onto the plate. Aiden raises an eyebrow as he rounds the island and sits beside me.
“Wait. Hold on. Fool the internethow?”
“By taking pictures and posting them on Instagram.” He cuts into his stack of pancakes and pops a piece into his mouth. “Brandon follows you on there, yeah?”
“Yeah, he follows me, but so do Olivia and Madison.” I pick at the hem of my sleep shirt, then tug at a strand of my hair.
“Then we don’t show my face.” Aiden peeks at me from the corner of his eye. They narrow right as I pluck a strand of hair.
I shift in my seat, and my gaze drops to his hands. “Crap. Your tattoos.”
“Ah.” He glances at his hands with a pinched expression.
If my friends find out about this, it won’t be the end of the world. I’m sure they’d understand why I’m doing this after I explained it to them, but I’d like to avoid that awkward conversation. Besides, it’s not like we’re doing anything wrong by pretending to be together. The most that will happen is an awkward conversation and laughing about it later.
“If you’re sure about hiding your face, then we can still do that,” I say. “If Olivia and Madison figure it out, it won’t be a big deal.”
“We have no other options. Besides, it’ll still get the job done, and I don’t know how you feel about pictures with me wearing my riding gloves to hide the tattoos. Because that’s all I can think of to solve that problem.”
My cheeks warm. “Yeah, let’s just stick with you being faceless. What sort of pictures were you thinking?”
“Typical couple stuff.”
I roll my eyes. “That isn’t very specific. What does ‘couple stuff’ look like for you?”
Aiden turns to me with an apologetic smile. “I’ve never done it before. Situationships, remember? But we need to do something that will show we’re together and not just friends.”
“Then I’ll look for ideas.”
I grab my phone and pull up Pinterest. It’s been my go-to for pose inspiration when I take cosplay pictures for Instagram. I’ve stumbled across couples’ aesthetics in the past, but a lot of them were risqué, and I don’t think that’s something I’m okay doing.
He ditches his fork on the counter and grips the bottom of my chair before dragging it closer to his side until our legs touch. I snap my head up and look at him. He just grins, wraps his arm around my shoulder, and leans in until his head is next to mine so that he can look at my phone screen.
I scroll through the photos. They start off sweet, featuring hugging couples or a guy holding a girl in the air. Most of them utilize a sunset as the backdrop. As I continue, the pictures tunnel into darker themes, like a man’s tattooed hand wrapped around a woman’s throat as he looms behind her. Another shows a man pinning a woman’s wrists above her head on the bed. I quickly scroll past that one and refuse to peek at Aiden to gauge his reaction.
Again, there’s no way I could do anything like that. We made rules, and we’re keeping to them; even for pictures, I don’t want to insinuate sex.
After scrolling through a couple more, Aiden plucks the phone from my hand and stands.
“All right. I’ve got ideas now.” He turns to me and flashes his signature cocky smirk. “Are you ready to let the world know we’re dating?”
My phone chimes with a new text message, and Aiden glances at the screen. His eyebrows twitch, and the corner of his jaw tightens before he raises his head and grins at me.
“It’s your man.” He hands the phone to me. “Tell him you’re going on a date.”
Butterflies fill my stomach, and I snatch the phone to read Brandon’s message. A smile creeps onto my face as I read it overseveral times, even though he’s asked me this question every single day since we started texting.
Brandon
Good morning, princess. What are your plans for today?
Aiden’s comment sinks in, and my head whips up. “Tell him I’m going on adate?”
He nods and pops a piece of bacon into his mouth. “You’re gonna flake out on him. He’s used to you being available all the time. Hell, I even suggest you don’t message him back right away. Wait a couple of hours before telling him.”
