Page 34 of The Fake Boyfriend Fiasco

The room wasn’t painfully bright, thank God. He’d pulled the curtains close, so enough sunlight seeped in to illuminate the room, but not enough to make her headache worse. He was sitting beside her at the edge of the bed, freshly showered and despicably attractive. And even though she must have looked pathetic, at best, there was a heat in his gaze that made her head spin.

Which wasn’t great, since her head had already been spinning. In the opposite direction.

His expression changed so fast, she wondered if she’d been imagining things. Now, he looked relaxed and slightly amused, as always, the cocky playboy to a T. Still, she didn’t think cocky playboys brought their fake girlfriends precious, precious aspirin after a night of too much drinking.

“Here you go.” He held out the pills and watched as she swallowed them dry, his brows raised. “That was… impressive, or maybe terrifying. I’m not sure.”

She huffed out a laugh, then instantly regretted it as pain shot through her head. “Habit.”

“A habit you learned by…”

She took the water he held and downed it before answering. “By taking lots of drugs, sweetheart.”

“Oh.” His lips twitched with amusement. “You must think I’m very boring.”

“Because you never popped questionable pills in filthy bathrooms so your parents would pay attention to you? No, Nik. I don’t think you’re boring.” To be honest, she’d rarely met anyone she found so entertaining. She could be locked in a room with nothing but him and the bloody Yellow Pages for twenty-four hours, and they’d have a cracking good time.

Even if they kept their clothes on.

He took her empty glass of water and produced another like some kind of hydration fairy. “I think we should stay in tonight.”

“No. Noooo. You’re not missing out on your friends’ weird hedonist explosion, not on my account.”

He combed through her tangled hair with his fingers as he replied. “I’m in charge, Ri.”

“You’re a pain in the arse, is what you are.”

“Never. I always take it slow.” He dropped a kiss on her forehead and the surprise of that unnecessary affection was almost enough to make her miss what he’d said. “I’m going to make breakfast,” he told her, standing up.

He’d reached the door before her kiss-addled brain lurched back into action. “You’re—you—stop making dirty jokes!” Okay, maybe her brain wasn’t quite at full capacity just yet, but whatever.

He paused in the doorway. “Do you mean that?”

She wished he hadn’t asked. She wished he’d just… assumed. Or ignored her. Because now she had to think about it, and realise that she didn’t, and explicitly say, “No. No, I don’t mean that.”

At which point, he gave her a knowing glance over his shoulder. “Thought not.”

She threw a pillow at him as he left. The action probably hurt her head more than it hurt his retreating back, but really, it was the thought that counted.

* * *

By the time Aria felt human again, the rest of the household was getting ready for the night’s events. Nik brought her a bagel covered in chocolate spread—because she still hadn’t gotten out of bed yet—and said, “Georgia sends her love.”

“That woman is trying to make me fatter,” Aria grumbled as she ripped into the bread.

“If you’re waiting for me to complain, you’ll be disappointed.” Nik settled onto the bed beside her and picked up half of the bagel before she could stop him. “Thanks.”

“For what, you thief? Didn’t I warn you about stealing my food?”

“That was before,” he grinned, humour glinting in his eyes. “This is now.”

“What on earth is the difference between then and now?” As soon as the words left her mouth, she wanted to take them back. There were a hell of a lot of answers he could give to that question.

But all he said was, “You like me now.”

“I liked you then,” she admitted, “for reasons that escape me.”

“Yeah?” His head rested on a pillow beside her crossed legs. He bit lightly at her knee, just the barest scrape of teeth, but it still sent a thrill straight to the place between her thighs. The place that suddenly felt more like a space, conspicuously empty, needing to be filled.

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