She playfully elbows my shoulder. “He was cute.”
You’re cute.
I swallow the sentence before it escapes, and good job I do because the next second, Addie and I nearly jump out of our skin at Cody’s voice.
“Aren’t you an adorable fake couple?” He’s a foot behind us with Conor in tow, stealthy as fucking ninjas.
“You’re supposed to knock,” I say, getting up to fetch them a beer.
“Next time,” Cody promises, plopping down a safe distance from Addie in case she tries falling asleep on his shoulder again. “How’s the meet-cute going?”
Conor helps me with the beer and passes over a second bottle of wine. As always, he goes straight for the fridge, rummaging for leftovers. That guy eats more than Cody and I combined, I swear.
For the first time since I moved here, he hits the jackpot.
“Anyone want any food?” he yells, pulling out boxes.
“I could eat,” Cody yells back, and Addie follows suit.
“Fine, heat it all up. I’m on a tight schedule here, so you’re alone, Chef.” I leave his Corona by the coffee maker, heading back into the living room, but pause midway. “Conor?”
“Yeah?” he looks over his shoulder, hands busy opening takeout containers. “What?”
“You and Vee good?”
He pinches his eyebrows together. “Of course. Why?”
“You don’t usually spend any time away from her, and you’ve been here without her two days in a row now so... just checking.”
He drops the box on the counter, turning toward me, clearly uncomfortable with what he’s about to say. “I’m sorry. I... I should’ve been here for you more. It didn’t occur to me until the last get-together at Mom’s that you’re lone—”
“I’m fine,” I snap, cutting him off. It’s not real if he doesn’t say it aloud. “Don’t make a mess here.”
He parts his mouth but decides against talking, just bobs his head, sending me back to the living room.
“What have you talked about so far?” Cody asks, taking the bottle I hold out to him.
“Family, the story of how we met, work, and my pets,” Addie lists, bending a finger for each topic.
“What pets does she have, Colt?”
“Playing the gamemaster, are you? Let’s see... at the moment... two parrots, a tarantula, and two hamsters.”
“Remind me not to visit you!” Conor yells from the kitchen.
“He’s not keen on spiders,” I explain when Addie cocks an eyebrow. “Until recently, she also had a pet pig Emmanuel and Jasper, who happens to be an emu.”
“An emu...” Cody muses. “The big-ass murderous bird?”
“Hey!” Addie cries out, arms akimbo. “Jasper wasnotmurderous! He was a baby.”
Cody pulls aseriously?face at me out of Addie’s view.
“A tap-dancing baby,” I add, prompting my fake girlfriend to whip out her phone and show my brothers the clip while Conor sets the table for round two of Italian takeout.
We eat while Cody continues testing our knowledge.
“No one will suspect you’re pretending,” Conor says around a mouthful of bruschetta. “Onlyyouknow the truth, and you might end up overcompensating, making a show, so no one doubts you. Don’t do that.”
