But nope. That’s not enough.Thanksisn’t the point. I holdher gaze, making sure she knows I’m dead serious. “While we’re doing this, while we’re fake dating, let me show you what it means to be treated with passion and honesty. That social-climbing fuckwad should not be your last impression of romance. I want to be. I want to show you what it means to put you first. That’s what I mean by rebound.”
She dips her head, like she’s hiding a smile, or maybe emotions, since when she raises her face, her eyes are shining. “Show me how to rebound, Lake.”
This is the real hat trick. “I will.”
I slide another piece into place, feeling better than I do on the ice. There’s just one more thing. “About those rules. I don’t think we ever established an important one. So let me be clear. While you’re fake dating me, I won’t be dating other people and?—”
“You better not!”
I jerk back. I wasn’t expecting a little jealous dragon in Remy, but I like it more than her chai latte snort. “Tell me what you really think, Remy,” I tease, feeling a little cocky too.
“Will you?” she asks sharply, not playing games.
I don’t play either as I look her in the eyes again and say, slowly and clearly, “No. Fucking. Way.”
She lifts her chin. “Same for me.” She slides in an orange puzzle piece with a flourish.
God, she’s hot when she’s jealous. But her anger seems to cool as her eyes go thoughtful. “But what happens when this ends?”
My chest squeezes sharply, like someone’s tied a rope around it. I know it’ll have to end. That’s always been the plan. And the plan is to treat the end with the respect she deserves. “It’ll be controlled. It’ll be easy, since we’ve planned it. It won’t be on a Jumbotron. I won’t make you a fool,” I say, in a promise that feels as important as any other one.
“I’d like that,” she says, then takes a sip of her chai, sets it down, and hunts for another piece, finds it and puts it in place.
I do the same, and soon we’ve finished our drinks and completed the puzzle.
I can’t stop the clock anymore. “I should go…get a puzzle for my dad,” I say, a little sheepishly.
“I like the dogs-with-jobs one.”
“I’ll get that.” I grab it and buy it.
On the way out, she turns to me and says, “Will you tell your dad we spent time together here?”
It’s an easy answer. “I will.”
“Will you tell him it was a date?”
“Unless you don’t want me to?”
Her mouth goes soft. “If it makes him happy, you should.”
It’s said as if she already cares about this person she’s never met. The person my mother left, along with my brother, Clem, and me.
I swallow roughly. “It will,” I say, and that’s more vulnerable than I’d planned to get tonight. But my fake girlfriend seems to have that effect on me.
14
SUCH A BAD LIAR
LAKE
My dad’s already sound asleep when I get home.
But Gavin isn’t. He’s in the stables, checking that stall doors are closed for the night, and after he tells me that Dad went to bed, he asks, “You got any time in the morning before you go to practice? There’s a new owl box for the bird sanctuary. Can you hang it?”
“Course I can,” I say as he secures the stall door for Nutmeg, then pats her on the muzzle.
He brushes one hand against the other then tugs off his gloves. “Good. Just don’t fall, like you fell on the ice the other night.”
