Page 60 of A Perfect Fit

The whole fake-dating thing and alcohol from last night is really messing with my head.

My phone continues ringing.

Letting out a groan, I roll over on my bed and lean forward to grab my phone, which is sitting on my nightstand, fully charged and with the charger plugged in. Funny, I don’t remember placing my phone there last night, let alone pulling out the charger and charging it. But the majority of last night feels like a blur.

It’s my mom calling me. Surely, it must be urgent if she’s calling me this early.

I answer the call and lie back down. “Mom, it’s seven a.m.,” I mutter.

“I’ve been worried about you.”

I draw my brows together. “I’m okay.”

There’s a long silence before she speaks again. “Is there something you’re not telling me?”

“I don’t think so?”

Mom expels a breath. “Ivy said you have a new boyfriend.”

I blink, still half asleep and not yet fully recovered from my dream. It’s way too early for this, and I haven’t had my morning coffee yet. “Ivy said what?”

“She said she saw you with him and you introduced him as your boyfriend. She also said his name is Jackson.”

Confusion flutters through my veins. I don’t remember Ivy being at the reunion last night.

“Why would Ivy—” I freeze. A spike of cortisol rushes through my body, and I jerk forward, sitting up straight and nearly dropping my phone.

The encounter with Ivy last night—that wasn’t a dream. Reality hits me like a truck, and embarrassment floods through me like an overflowing cup. If I was only half awake moments ago, I’m wide awake now.

I lift my other hand to my face, taking in the repercussions of what drunk Isabelle did last night.

Oh boy. I’ve messed up big time.

“Isabelle?”

I gulp. I should confess the truth before this situation escalates. That’s the logical and sensible thing to do.

“Ivy was saying she doesn’t believe you,” Mom adds. “She thinks you haven’t fully gotten over Oliver. Is that true?”

Pain twists in my stomach when I hear Oliver’s name and remember the vicious words he said to me last night.

But Ivy’s wrong. Seeing Oliver at the reunion last night with Veronica has only solidified that I’m over him. Maybe I’ll never get an apology or proper closure from him as to why he ended things, but that’s okay. I’ve moved on, and I don’t want or need anything from him.

What’s not okay, however, is Ivy thinking she knows everything about me. My body goes tense the more I think about it. Of course, she had to go and tell Mom what she saw.

“Isabelle? Are you still there?”

“I do have a new boyfriend. Jackson,” I say, the words leaping out of my mouth. “What Ivy said about me not being over Oliver isn’t true.”

And … chaotic Isabelle strikes again.

There’s a long pause before Mom finally speaks. “Right.” Incredulity lines her tone. “Last time you said you didn’t have any time for dating.”

I shift in my bed and plow on with my lie. “Yes, but … things changed.”

“Okay.” She still doesn’t sound convinced. “What’s his last name?”

I ignore the lump forming in my throat. “Um, Carter.”