He lets out an inaudible sigh. “We cannot have this conversation here, Mia. We do not want to blow up our entire ruse.”
“All it is right? Just a ruse.”
“It’s not just a ruse.” He presses his lips together. “You know this.”
“Yeah. Well, maybe I don’t.”
I grab another oyster, and I down it quickly, trying to ignore the anger that is coursing through me. I’m so fed up with Luke just dismissing my concerns like I don’t matter. Like I am just going to accept whatever crumbs he gives me. I deserve better than this. From him as a friend, from him in a fake relationship, from him as someone who?—
Stop it. Mia, you’re acting crazy, the voice inside of me says,You’re not really his girlfriend. Stop acting like a jealous bitch.
I bite down on my lower lip and turn to Luke. He’s gazing at me with worry and concern.
“Hey, we okay?” he whispers, and I nod.
“You want to dance?”
“We’re in the middle of dinner.”
“The band’s playing over there, and there are a couple of other people dancing.”
“We can’t.”
“I can,” he says as he grabs my hand. “Excuse us. We’re just going to the dance floor for one dance. Mia loves this song,” he says as he pulls me toward the small floor.
“Everyone is going to look at us.”
“Let them look,” he says.
We look away from the table, and Rex is staring over at us with narrowed eyes.
“He’s so mad right now,” Luke says almost gleefully as he pulls me into his arms.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m just letting everyone know that you’re mine,” he says.
He leans down and kisses me passionately. I wrap my arms around his neck as we sway back and forth, his lips pressing against mine. His body feels warm and hard against mine, and it’s like time has stood still. I forget about my jealousy. I forget about my insecurities. I forget about everything, but being in his arms, it feels like magic. I don’t want the moment to end, but finally, he pulls away from me, and we just dance.
“That kiss was everything,” he says, his eyes gleaming as he stares down at me.
He turns to look back at the table, and there’s a wicked grin on his face.
“What is it?” I say.
“Rex was watching the entire thing.” He turns back to me with a wicked smile. “This is going exceptionally well, isn’t it, Mia?”
My heart sinks. For a few moments, I thought everything was real. When he kissed me and we danced, I thought he was in the moment, like I was, that he’d sensed that I was upset and annoyed and jealous and he wanted to make it right, but this is just all about one-upping his brother and ensuring that our fake relationship is a success. It has nothing to do with any genuine emotions that he has for me. It just has to do with the fact that he has to one-up his brother because Luke has always felt inferior. He’s always been trying to prove himself.
“I think today has been a success, don’t you?”
I look up at him and just nod slowly. I don’t really know what to say. When he kisses me lightly on the forehead, it just confirms to me that all he really thinks about me is that I’m his friend.
I’m his friend with benefits, but nothing more.
All the hopes and dreams burning inside of me, underneath the surface, are in my head, and I need to remember that. I need to remember that I can’t get carried away. This isn’t real. Luke isn’t feeling the things that I am feeling. This isn’t a romance book. This is true life, and we both know what we are doing, what the stakes are. I just need to remind myself that he is just my friend, and it is never going to be anything else.
chapter nineteen
