Page 245 of Faking the Goal

"If that's really what's keeping you from sleeping..." He hesitates. "Maybe I could help."

I blink.

"...What?"

"I mean..." For once, Kentaro actually looks uncertain. "You're my girlfriend."

I give him an incredulous look.

"My fake girlfriend," he corrects immediately. "I know."

"Ken-chan..."

"I'm just saying, if we were actually together and you came to me telling me you hadn't slept properly in weeks, I wouldn't sit here and do nothing when there was something I could do to help."

I stare at him, completely caught off guard.

"You'd really...?"

"I don't like seeing you like this, Trouble." His voice is quieter now. "Every morning you look more exhausted than the day before. You keep telling me you're used to it, but that doesn't mean I have to like watching you go through it."

My heart gives a stupid little flutter.

"But..." I shake my head. "You know this isn't real."

"I do."

"Then doesn't this feel like... I don't know. Crossing a line?"

His eyes stay on mine. "Maybe. That depends on where you want the line to be."

I look away.

The room suddenly feels too small. Too warm.

"I don't know," I admit after a long moment. "We made rules when we started this whole thing, but they were about dating other people and making this look convincing. Holding hands, kissing, cuddling... all of that was fair game because it was part of selling the relationship." My fingers worry absently at the edge of the blanket draped over my legs. "We never talked about what happens when it goes beyond that."

I finally look back at him.

"And this would definitely be beyond that."

Kentaro doesn't answer right away.

Instead, he looks down at his hands resting loosely in his lap, his thumbs rubbing together as though he's carefully sorting through his thoughts before letting any of them leave his mouth. It's something I've noticed about him a long time ago. He never rushes conversations that matter. He'd rather sit in silence for a minute than say something careless.

When he finally lifts his eyes to mine again, there isn't an ounce of uncertainty in them.

"Yeah," he says quietly. "It would."

My eyebrows lift slightly.

"But I also don't think that line is as clear as it was when we started this."

"What do you mean?"

He holds my gaze for a moment. "Think about how we are when nobody else is around, Trouble. We still hold hands when there's no one here to convince. You curl up against me every time we're on the couch. Half the time you end up in my lap without either of us even thinking about it. We kiss goodbye when one of us leaves, and when I come back, you're usually the first person I go looking for." His mouth lifts slightly. "You sleep in my bed every night, and somehow waking up with you wrapped around me has become normal."

Heat creeps slowly into my face.