Page 100 of You Fall First

She moves to the end of the long line of buffet tables, and I shift my focus back to Jo.

She’s never looked more beautiful or more conflicted.

“I don’t think we can avoid the caterer,” I say, nodding at Oliver. “You want to go talk to him and get the whole fake boyfriend thing over with?”

“Now?” she asks, reluctantly. And I don’t blame her. If I were in Jo’s shoes, I’d want to ignore this situation too.

The situation I put her in.

“Everyone’s getting drinks and hors d’oeuvres,” I point out, “which means this is probably our best shot at staying under the radar.”

“What radar?”

“I assume you don’t want everyone else to overhear us pretending to be a couple.”

“Oh, yes.” She blinks. “I mean no. I mean … we don’t want that.”

“You gonna be all right?” I ask, gently.

“Just stay close to me. Please.”

“Always,” I say.

The buffet station is a series of tables draped with white cloths and lined by silver serving trays with big fancy domes. As we approach, I pull Jo to me and slide my palm over to rest at the small of her back. “I’ve got you,” I say under my breath.

“Thanks,” she whispers.

There are at least two feet of table between us when we reach Oliver, so I don’t bother to shake his hand. Besides. My palm is securely on Jo now.

As far as he knows, I belong to her.

“Oliver.” I offer a fake smile and a head bob by way of greeting.

“Noah. Nice to see you again.”

“Jo and I figured you’d be busy,” I say, “so we wanted to stop by to say hi before the buffet rush.”

“Hello, Jojo.” Oliver’s jaw shifts under the goatee. “I trust the wedding was lovely?”

“It was,” she mumbles.

I gaze down at her adoringly. “Not as lovely as my beautiful girlfriend, though. I can’t keep my eyes off her.”

Am I laying it on a little thick? Sure. But Jo does look beautiful. And I’m a man on a mission to show Oliver that Jo has completely moved on. Hopefully she’ll get the same message.

She deserves so much better than this guy.

“Yes, well, Jo always did need a lot of attention,” he says. “Hard to keep up, honestly.”

I swing my eyes back to him, offer up a wide grin. “Guess not everyone can make her happy. Good thing I can.”

“Oliver?” Amelia moves down the table. “Do we need to check the—” She cuts herself off, and her eyes go wide when she sees me.

Me.

Huh?

“You’re Noah!” she exclaims. “Noah Stadler, right?”