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“Claire, we already go grocery shopping together.”

He was right.

“What exactly would we have to do differently?” he asked.

Claire opened her mouth to respond and closed it. She had no answer. They already ate together, shopped together, brought each other coffee, walked Biscuit, and spent time in each other’s apartments. Nothing about their routine would change. Just the label.

The fake label.

“So what? We just keep up the fake-dating thing?” She looked at him.

He shrugged. “I guess.”

He was either taking this far too well or had been waiting for her to suggest it.

Claire narrowed her eyes. “Why do you look happy about this?”

“I don’t.”

He absolutely did.

“Fine,” Claire said, “a few weeks.”

Noah smiled. “Whatever you say, princess.”

Her stomach flipped. This was already a terrible idea.

CHAPTER 14

The Aftermath

Noah’s POV

On Tuesday afternoon, Noah’s phone buzzed while he was working.

Claire: Did you see this?

Beneath the message was a screenshot from Instagram. Claire’s company had posted a carousel from the gala, and someone had shared the photo of the two of them separately with the caption: The cutest couple at the gala!

Noah opened the post. The comments were already filling up.

Finally!

So cute!

I knew it.

You two are adorable.

The “Finally!” had come from Emily. Of course it had.

Noah: Yeah, everybody did.

Claire: Your sister commented “Finally.” Do something about her.

Noah: Too late. My mom just liked the picture. Soon she’s going to start harassing me about grandkids. We’re in too deep.

Claire: So fix it.