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I cut him off without meaning to. “What did he say? You think that will work?” My adrenaline spiked, half from nerves, half from hope.

He hesitated, jaw ticking as he looked off to the side. “I honestly don’t know. He’s…stubborn. But if he sees you’re an asset, maybe we’ll have a shot. It’s all about showing him he doesn’t want to lose you, no matter our relationship.” His green eyes caught mine, sincerity in their mossy depths.

I nodded, mulling over his words. “Right, so we stick with the plan of acting like we’re dating until I show him I’m valuable.”

“About that.” Dalton sighed, shifting his weight, clearly uneasy. “I was thinking of telling Jimenez the truth about us. Just him. He’d cover for us if anything slipped. Keeping him in the dark doesn’t feel right. He’s been my best friend since middle school. We’re practically brothers. But I’d need your okay first.”

Something warmed in my chest, both at his loyalty to Jimenez and his consideration of my feelings. “Yeah, of course. If you trust him, then so do I. Besides, Gracie knows, so it’s only fair you have someone too.”

He nodded, a smile blooming as his shoulders dropped slightly like the question had been weighing on him. “Awesome. Also, Media Day is coming up next week. We’ll need to be ready. Our ‘relationship’ is bound to come up.”

The reality of our situation sank in further.

“Hey,” warmth radiated from where his hand gripped my shoulder, “it’s going to be great. Now, let’s get you home so you can get started on your weekend plans with Gracie.”

There was no judgment in his voice, but they still hit right to the chest. Because I didn’t have plans. I just didn’t know how to handle the feelings swirling around in my head for him.

TWENTY-THREE

ARIELLA

PSH. THERE WENT MY CHONIES TOO, GURL…

Swapping spit with a man while your cousin lay only feet away was wild behavior. But also very on-brand for Gracie.

My noise-canceling headphones were fighting for their lives, trying to keep out the sound of them going at it. Tingles ran up my left arm, which had gone numb about five minutes earlier. To make matters worse, I desperately needed to pee, but I was too afraid of what I might see if I crawled out from the sheet I’d hidden under.

What a way to spend a Sunday night.

Honestly, this situation was one wrong move away from someone committing a crime—either indecent exposure or attempted murder, depending on who broke first.

“I do look good in orange,” I mumbled to myself, turning up the volume on my phone.

I couldn’t really blame Gracie. I was the one crashing on her couch, not the other way around. And she’d held off on bringing anyone around all weekend.

Until tonight, that was.

A notification popped up at the top of the screen, the name sending my heart into overdrive. I hadn’t spoken to him since after the Pilates class on Friday. The amount of texts I’d started but never sent to tell him that I wished I’d taken him up on his date offer was criminal.

I was bad at regular relationships but apparently even worse at fake ones.

It would be so much easier if I didn’t have a damn crush on the guy because how the fuck did this all work into my plans?

The screen lit up again, reminding me of the unread text and firing up the butterflies that now permanently resided in my stomach.

Dalton:

Hey. What are you doing?

I rolled my eyes, but my lips pulled up at the corners.

Me:

Is that the best you can do?

Those three dots toyed with me, and I found myself gnawing on my bottom lip, wondering if he would respond. My fingertips hovered above the keyboard, debating whether or not I should send another message.

I couldn’t take the suspense and shot off something.