Page 56 of Hard to Fake

“Why are you friends with them?”

I catch my own eye in the mirror over my dresser. “At the time, it seemed like a great idea. I never had sisters. It was like a guaranteed friend group.”

“Like a basketball team.”

“No. A basketball team’s only good as long as you’re winning.” I flop onto my back and hug a pillow to my chest.

My mind drifts back to Caroline’s skepticism about Miles. “Anyway, we have one issue.”

“Which is?”

“If we’re supposed to be dating, it’s going to look like it came out of nowhere when we show up together. It’s too convenient.”

"So, we have to sell it when we get there.”

“Or…” I shift onto an elbow."If we sell it ahead of time, it'll take less convincing next weekend.”

“What do you mean?”

A hint of guilt rises up, and I brush it away. "The girls will understand if we’re trying to keep things under the radar, but I need to have a few pictures of the two of us. Otherwise, it’s weird. I don’t have to post them publicly, but one in the reunion thread would help.”

“Pics of us doing what?”

I have an image of me lying next to him in that advertisement, him wearing only boxer briefs. Those blue eyes staring into my soul in that unnerving way they do. Me straddling him, feeling him between my thighs. Miles grabbing the back of my head, his fingers tangled in my hair as he drags me?—

I clear my throat and click into Pinterest, searching for cute couple’s photoshoots.

“Something like this.” I download couple cute ideas and send them. “Did you get them?”

“Just came through.”

There’s a pause, and for a heart-stopping second, I swear he’s going to call bullshit.

“Let’s do it. Tonight,” he says.

I roll onto my side. In the mirror, my brows are high on my face. “Wait. Don’t you have a game?”

The Kodiaks are hosting visitors in a high-stakes game.

“Come watch me play. We’ll meet up after.”

Watch me play.

Not the Kodiaks. Not my brother.

My stomach does a little flip.

I hang up and drop the phone on the bed.

It’s barely a minute before I slide my hand down my stomach again, no vibrator required.

I might be a teeny bit for real into my fake boyfriend…

Because the echo of, “Come watch me play,” is all it takes.

14

BROOKE

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