Page 115 of The Fake Out

With a nod, she released him and headed to the exit.

“Be home by midnight,” I called to her back.

“Yeah, yeah.” And then she was gone.

“Hurricane Iris.” I shook my head. “You okay over there?”

Aidan blinked and jolted out of his Iris-induced trance. “I think so?”

“Have you asked her about prom yet?” I said as I headed to my office.

Aidan followed and faceplanted on the circulation desk. “I almost did and then chickened out.”

I grabbed two water bottles and set one next to him. “Looks like you might need to cool down a little.”

Straightening, he grimaced. “That was weird. She was weird. She did kiss me, right? I don’t think I’ve ever seen her smile when it wasn’t after she made fun of me.”

I walked around the desk and slung an arm around his shoulders. “You must understand. The love language of the Sampson sisters is sarcasm. If she hated you, it would be ‘please this’ and ‘thank you that.’ She insults because she loves. Just ask her out.”

The look on his face was part miserable, part hopeful as he wandered away.

* * *

“I brought you a chocolate croissant.” Ali dropped a bag from my favorite bakery in town on the reference desk.

I picked up the bag and took a whiff of the world’s best pastry. “You only bring me chocolate croissants when something is wrong.”

Pressing her lips together, Ali nodded. “That’s because something is wrong.”

I stood and pulled my phone from my pocket, my heart thumping. “What? Is it Mama? Iris? I don’t have any missed calls.”

Ali plopped in a chair and threw her feet up on a table. “Nah, nothing like that.”

Slowly, she tore off a bite of her croissant and stuffed it in her mouth. Closing her eyes, she chewed slowly, a blissed-out smile making an appearance.

“Ali!”

She opened one eye. “Alright. Alright. I was just enjoying this last minute of peace before you freak out.”

“I am not going to freak out.”

“You’re freaking out right now and you don’t even know what the news is.”

I rounded my desk and smacked her feet off the table. “Just tell me. I won’t freak out. I swear.”

Ali rolled her eyes, but she set her croissant down and dusted off her hands. “You’re totally going to freak out.”

“Ali!”

She pulled out her phone, tapped around on it, and handed it to me. “This was released earlier today. Maybe have a seat.”

On the screen, a video was playing with a person clearly hiding their identity. I immediately understood this was the anonymous source. Above his head in large letters, it read ANONYMOUS SOURCE HINTS CHRIS STERNS AND HIS FIANCÉE AREN’T ALL THAT THEY SEEM.

I sat with a huff and turned the volume up on the phone.

“…aren’t exactly on the up-and-up,” the man was saying in his altered voice. An engagement photo of Chris and me flashed on the screen.

“Can you tell us more about that?” a voice off-screen asked.