The elevator doors slide open, and I lift a hand to thesmall of her back, guiding her forward and through the lobby. Outside the hotel, the bus is idling, Theo and Jordo waiting outside to climb on. Jordo sees me first, then he nudges Theo who turns, eyes widening when he sees Sarah and me leaving the hotel together.
I shoot him a look that hopefully makes it clear he’d better not react beyond that, then I steer Sarah to the curb in front of the bus. I hail her a cab, then open the back door for her.
She turns to face me, taking a deep breath before offering me a smile. “So I guess this is goodbye for now.” She bites her lip in that way I love. “I had a really nice time last night.”
“Yeah, it was nice.” I glance back at the bus, noticing several teammates standing toward the front, obviously watching us. I sigh and turn back to face Sarah, suddenly feeling a little sheepish.
She must see them too, because there’s a smile playing on her lips.
“So what do the rules say about this particular situation?” I ask, running a hand over my hair.
“Good question,” she says. “Wearein public, and since your whole team is watching…I think you probably have to kiss me goodbye.”
I look at her and shake my head. “The sacrifices I make…”
She grins, then I lean forward, slipping a hand inside her coat to grip her waist. I brush the tip of her nose with mine. “See you next week,” I say softly, then I press a kiss to her lips, ignoring the cheers and jeers of my teammates coming from inside the bus.
She leans into the kiss just long enough for it to feel like more than a peck, then she pulls back, eyes sparkling. “Bye,Carter,” she says, then she smiles one last time and ducks into the cab.
I close the door, then watch as the driver pulls away from the curb. When I turn to head to the bus, I find myself face-to-face with Miles. I’m not sure if he was on the bus and got off or if he just exited the hotel. Either way, he doesn’t look happy.
I hand my bag to one of the equipment managers, then push my hands into my pockets, trying to look casual, despite the nerves suddenly making my stomach tight. We can’t look like we’re having a confrontation—why would we be?—but Miles’s body language is anything but chill.
“You want to explain to me why my sister was in your hotel room last night?” he practically seethes.
“It’s not what you think,” I quickly say. “We were out last night, getting engaged,being seengetting engaged, and by the time we got back, it didn’t feel right to send her back to Soho. But nothing happened.”
He grunts. “It looks like something happened.”
I lift my eyebrows. “That’s the point, right? We’re engaged.”
“You weren’t supposed to hook up,” he says. “Even if you are engaged.”
“We didn’t,” I say. “Iwouldn’t.”
He holds my gaze for a long, uncomfortable moment, like he’s peering all the way into my brain. I hope not, because I’ve had more than a few thoughts about his sister I wouldn’t want him to see.
He finally sighs. “Fine. But did you have to kiss her goodbye? You aren’t really together.”
I glance past him, looking around to make sure no one could have heard him. “Can you be a little more careful,please?” I say. “Sarah and I have talked about this. We came up with rules to handle our public relationship in ways that we’re both comfortable with. That part of this is not your concern.”
His jaw tightens, but he doesn’t say anything else.
“You need to get used to this,” I say. “Sarah and I will be living together. Looking like we’re together to everyone else. You can’t freak out if you see us kiss. It will only make it harder for us to sell this.”
He gives his head a little shake. “You’re right,” he concedes, his shoulders relaxing the slightest bit. “Sorry I freaked out.”
I reach forward and clap him on the shoulder. “No problem. Now, can you smile like you don’t want to murder me so our team doesn’t think we’re in the middle of a family fight?”
He tugs my arm off his shoulder and pushes me to the side with a good-natured shove. “Get off me and get on the bus.” I grin and step to the side to move past him, but then he stops with a hand on my forearm. “Just stick to the plan, all right? Don’t make things more complicated than they need to be.”
I lift my eyebrows. “I don’t know what that means.”
His jaw tightens, his brown eyes an uncanny reflection of his sister’s. “Kiss her because you have to,” he says. “But don’t kiss her because you want to. That way nobody gets hurt.”
With those parting words running circles in my brain, I climb onto the bus and step into the aisle. My teammates erupt into applause and cheers as soon as I appear, slapping me on the back and offering their congratulations as I pass by. I nod and smile, taking it like I know I should, but when I finally drop into the empty seat next to Theo, I feel a strange twinge of sadness I can’t quite shake.
All these things I’m experiencing, the engagement, the celebration—it’s all happening for the first time. I’ll never get any of these firsts back, and I don’t like feeling like it’s all based on a lie.
