‘Three cheers for Ben!’ Jess said. ‘I knew he’d be brilliant! Sounds like it’s all going even better than planned, so what’s the problem?’
‘I… I kind of like Ben.’ I winced.
‘What a surprise!I never saw that one coming!’ Jess said, her voice laced with sarcasm.
‘It’s not funny!’ I sulked.
‘It is a bit. I mean, you were always attracted to him, right? He’s a good-looking guy. You should know better than anyone what happens when people fake-date.’
‘But I didn’t think it’d happen tome! And I hated him. Because he hated romance books, until he didn’t…’ I sighed.
‘You converted him?’
‘He converted himself by stealing my copy ofOffice Delight.’
‘Boom!’ Jess shouted triumphantly. ‘No woman or man can resist the magical powers of that book. What took you so long to recommend it?’
I explained my reasoning and Jess said she understood where I was coming from.
‘And it’s not just the fact that he likes romance books and basically stuck up for me with those two arseholes, it was also the whole sharing a room thing.’
‘Oh, I didn’t realise you were sharing. Makes sense.’
‘We’re not just sharing a room. Last night we shared… the bed…’
‘Classic!You’re living in a romcom! This isbrilliant. Please tell me he also got an inconvenient boner!’ She laughed.
‘Yes! And he said he woke up with my hand on his cock. I thought he was joking at first, but now I think it was true…’
‘Nooo!’ Jess gasped. ‘And you don’t remember doing it?’
‘I’m not sure? Maybe? I wouldn’t have done it consciously. I was having a lot of dirty dreams about Ben last night, so maybe I thought I was fantasising about touching it but I was doing it in real life. Please don’t report me to HR!’ I winced.
‘If Ben makes a formal complaint, I’ll have to address it, of course, but I’m ninety-nine point nine per cent sure that he likes you just as much as you like him.’
‘I don’t know.’ I chewed my lip. ‘He’s supposed to be this flirty player, but apart from that first day we properly met whenhe wound me up, he’s barely flirted with me or shown any romantic interest.’
‘So you haven’t kissed?’
‘Of course not!’ My jaw dropped.
‘Oh, I thought you might, y’know, just to convince people that you’re really together?’
‘No, that’s totally unnecessary. I never really kissed Trent in front of my family, so they wouldn’t expect it.’
‘If you say so. I just think that’s the best way to truly convince Trent and Esme that you’ve moved on and don’t give a shit. It’s the ultimate revenge move. Making out with a hot guy. You should consider it. It’s not a bad way to pass the time,’ Jess chuckled.
‘That’s exactly why I’mnotgoing to! What if I kiss him and I like it too much?’
‘Then do it again. You only live once, right? And what happens in Marbs stays in Marbs.’
‘No! I’m not going to do anything with him,’ I insisted. ‘It’d get too messy. I just have to hold it together for two more days and then I’ll be home free. I can go back to working at the library and attempt to at least write more than a hundred words for my book.’
‘Are the words still not flowing?’
‘They’re flowing about as much as dried cement.’
‘That bad?’
