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Ivy offers me her pinky, and Scout follows suit. “Pinky promise.” She makes a locking gesture over her lips and pretends to throw away the key. “I’m a vault when it comes to girl talk. Besides, Leo hates it when he knows I’m keeping a secret from him.”

“Isn’t that a bad thing?” I ask.

Her smile widens. “Trust me, it isn’t the hardship you think it is…”

Scout blushes, eyes dropping to her feet. She may seem innocent on the surface, but something tells me she’s got some secrets of her own.

The alcohol’s starting to get to me. Besides, I’m growing curious about their secrets. “All right. I’m in.”

“I’ll go first,” Ivy says. “Never have I ever…” She taps her lip. “Gotten my best friend arrested,” she says with a grin.

“Damn you,” Scout mutters, taking a sip of her champagne. She holds out her glass as she says, “Never have I ever let my fake-fiancée finger-bang me underneath the table in front of his entire family.”

My jaw falls open. These two are trouble.

“That’s fair,” Ivy says, taking a sip. “Honestly, I’d do it again.”

We all fall into a fit of giggles. I’m not sure how to follow that since I clearly don’t share the same history as these two, so I go with something a little more neutral. “Never have I ever had sex in public.”

Their giggling dies down as they look back at me. Ivy finally speaks, “Are we talking strictly penetration or⁠—”

Without a word, Scout tosses her drink back, her cheeks and neck flushed bright red.

Ivy pauses, then throws hers back, too.

We continue the game a few more rounds, and I learn these two are even more adventurous than I first expected. Especially Scout, whose rap sheet is steadily growing longer and longer.

“Never have I ever been happily married,” Ivy says with a giggle.

Scout takes a sip of her drink, and I feel their questioning gazes burning into me when I don’t.

“What?” Ivy gasps, her eyes dropping to my empty ring finger.

Scout’s eyebrows furrow. “Wait, does that mean you and Augustus aren’t happy?”

I shake my head and purse my lips, trying to choose my next words carefully. “I think at first I thought I was happy…but most of the time I was just pretending.”

Ivy moves to her knees, like she’s bracing herself. “So earlier, when you mentioned having to maintain an image…does that also include being married? Are you saying it’s all an act?”

They lean closer, eyes wide as they exchange a look.

I open my mouth, the same practiced lie I’ve told a thousand times already primed on my tongue. But instead, I surprise myself. “Yep.”

They let out a synchronized gasp, both leaning even closer. “And in the spirit of being honest…” Ivy whispers, “Is there something more than work-related going on between you and Roman?”

The porch goes completely silent.

“You could say that,” I finally admit.

Their mouths fall open.

“I knew it!” Ivy jumps off the couch, pulling Scout up with her. The squeals they let out have my ears ringing.

Matilda raises her head, then lies back down.

“Shh. You can’t tell anyone,” I say, looking around to make sure the coast is clear.

“I knew I felt the sexual tension between you two!” Ivy yells in a whisper.