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“So again…Maddie…who is Brent?”
I yank my neck out of his hold and look away. He sighs and lets his head fall so his forehead rests against my hair. He inhales, and it’s like he’s taking the first deep breath he’s had in years.
“I shouldn’t have left you,” he whispers.
My eyes squeeze shut.
These are the words I’ve wanted to hear. They’re the words I imagined during so many lonely nights.
But they’re just…words.
They don’t change the past. They don’t repair the damage that’s already been done.
I turn away from Aiden and walk back out into the hallway, wishing I could lock him up in that room and throw away the key.“I think it’s best if I go.”
“What?! No. C’mon, we’ll have fun!”
“Sweetie, no offense, but…I’m getting in the way.”
Brent and I are in our room, and he’s packing his bag, preparing to catch an early flight back to Texas.
The jig is up, apparently.
And yes, I know. It was a stupid ruse to begin with, but it’s worked for me in the past so I figured one last time couldn’t hurt. The ol’ fake boyfriend trick was just what I needed to really stick it to Aiden and make him squirm. And maybe it would have worked! But I didn’t pick the right fake boyfriend. In the past, it worked so well when Aiden and I pretended to date because deep down I desperately wanted to date Aiden. I didn’t have to fake those feelings. My Oscar-winning performance wasn’t a performance at all.
But with Brent, it hasn’t been so easy.
He’s Dante’s partner and my good friend. Not only is he in a committed relationship, he’s also not at all attracted to me. Our chemistry was never there, hence why Aiden was so quick to see through my lie.
But I’m not ready to throw in the towel.
Even if Brent can’t play the role of my boyfriend anymore, he can still be a buffer!
Brent stuffs a few more clothes into his bag and I lean forward, grabbing his forearm in desperation. “What if I book us a spa day at the Four Seasons?! On me!”
He stops folding a shirt for a second to contemplate this. Then, coming to his senses, he shakes his head. “No. I want to be with Dante for Christmas, and besides, it’s over. He knows we’re not really dating!”
“But how will I survive without you?”
I’ve resorted to pouting now.
He reaches out to rub my shoulder. “You don’t need me. I mean…what I walked into last night was pretty telling of that.”
I let go of him and turn to flop my body down onto the bed dramatically. My face is pressed against the comforter when I respond so my words come out muffled. “That was not what you think it was.”
“What?”
“I said, that was not what you think it was!”
He laughs sarcastically. “Uhhh…looked pretty spicy to me. The guy was all over you.”
I cover my ears in hopes that he’ll stop talking.
“I wish I hadn’t interrupted. Who knows where it would have gone.” His tone is mighty suggestive, and panic spikes my blood.
Oh my god.
Where would it have gone?!
“I’m missing the part about why this is so bad,” he says, forcing me to roll over and face him.
I stare up at the ceiling, my hands on my belly. I can feel my pulse even there, racing and racing and racing.
“It’s just…not part of the plan.”
“So then screw the plan and go with the flow.”
“Easy for you to say! You don’t know what it was like to be in love with him for two years and feel like that love was unrequited. He left me and moved to New York City and now he shows up here and decides he wants to have a little holiday fling with me?! Over my dead body.”
“So what are you going to do?”
“Make him weep tears of regret.”
“That sounds healthy.”
“No one said I was healthy.”
“Yes, we’re all clear on that. Healthy adult women don’t pretend to have fake boyfriends.”
“Yeah, well…no regrets. I’m only upset it didn’t work out.”
He shrugs. “Well, at least I was found out before things got too complicated. Can you imagine if we’d had to kiss or something?”
“Would it have been so bad?” I tease.
He audibly gags.
“Nice. Thank you for that.”
“It’s not you,” he rushes to clarify. “Believe me. I mean, ask Aiden—he seemed very interested in kissing you last night.”
“Okay! Okay! No more! Run home to your perfect relationship and leave me in peace.”
He leans down to kiss my hair. “You’ll figure it out, Maddie.”
Will I?
I’m glad one of us is confident about that.Chapter SixteenAidenTick tock.
I glance up at the clock again, aware of every second that passes, or so it seems.
Maddie used James’ truck to drive Brent to the airport. She’s been gone all afternoon, and she should have returned by now.
I’m at a restaurant by myself, picking my way through a bread basket. The staff feel bad for me. One of them—a short blonde—has offered to bring me something to drink other than water, but I don’t want to get even remotely inebriated before Maddie shows up. It’s best to have my wits about me where she’s concerned.
