“Yeah?”
“Say that last part again.”
I frown. “What? The murder thing?”
“No.”
“The not being into girls thing?”
“No.”
“…Say you have a girlfriend?”
His posture straightens and his gaze settles on me, those green eyes suddenly focused in a way that makes me suspicious.
“Yeah,” he says after a second. “That.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “Why are you smiling at me like that?”
“Because,” he says slowly, “this might actually be the first useful idea you’ve ever had.”
I stare at him. Completely blank. What is he getting at? Ryan just keeps looking at me, eyebrows slightly raised, like he’s patiently waiting for the exact moment it finally clicks in my brain. And then it does.
Oh.
Ohno.
My jaw drops. “Absolutely not.”
He lifts his hands. “Hear me out.”
“No.”
“It would solve your Jacob problem,” he says calmly. “And it would solve my getting-set-up problem.”
I cross my arms. “You’re out of your mind.”
“Am I?” he asks, still way too composed. “We already convinced a stranger we were together in under ten seconds.”
“That was different.”
“How?”
“That was forone minute,” I say. “This is—you’re suggesting—”
He shrugs. “Leaning into it.”
Has he actually lost all his senses?
“Ryan that’s—” I throw my hands up, words failing me. “—INSANE.”
“You literally just said you wanted to get back at Jacob.”
“Yeah, like… in theory,” I say. “Not in a practical, real-life-application way.”
He smirks. “You say that. But deep down, the thought of him being jealous feels good. You know it.”
I lift a finger, ready to argue—but stop. Because he’s right. The image flashes in my head. Jacob seeing me with someone else. His face tightening, that confidence cracking just a little. He’d absolutely lose it. The realization sneaks up on me, and before I can stop myself, I’m smiling.
