Page 14 of The Match Faker

‘Fun. Have you heard of it? It’s what people do to loosen up and enjoy themselves. You should try it sometime.’ He smirked and I shot daggers at him. If looks could kill he’d be six feet under by now.

‘Oooh! You’re here for a couple of months, you say?’ Trudy raised her eyebrow.

‘More or less. I’ve got some shoots coming up here and in Paris, so makes sense to be based in London rather than trekking back and forth from LA. I’ll see how it goes.’

‘Did you hear that, Mia? Liam is here for two months…’

‘Yeah? So?’ I shrugged. He could stay here for two years for all I cared. We weren’t friends anymore. He’d seen to that when we were seventeen.

Oh no.

She wouldn’t.

‘So I was thinking…’

‘Trudy!’ I warned.

‘Maybe we should meet up,’ she continued. ‘For a drink. The three of us. Y’know, and have a catch-up. It’d be just like old times.’

‘I’m sure he’s too busy hanging out with his celebrity friends to mix with the likes of us,’ I jumped in, turning my dagger stare to Trudy.

‘I’d like that! It’s been ages.’ Liam’s eyes met mine. My stomach did that involuntary flipping thing again. That sandwich I ate before I got here must’ve been dodgy.

Yes, Liam was handsome. Yes, he could be charming. Yes, annoyingly I was currently picturing that billboard image that was plastered opposite the station I used every day with him in a white vest, his huge muscles bulging as he held his weapon. And by weapon I mean his gun, not the one in his pants, which if the stories were true was licensed to thrill.

But we wouldn’t get on. He’d been cocky before he was famous, so his ability to annoy me now was going to be monumental.

No, thanks. Hard pass.

‘Here’s my card.’ Trudy thrust it into his hand. ‘Message me and we’ll set something up. Better still, Mia, where’s your card? Give one to Liam.’

My stomach dropped.

‘I-I just gave the last one out. To a man. With long hair, who was a… dog. No, he wasn’t a dog, he was a dog walker. And he just broke up with his… wife. No, it was his girlfriend. He was upset. Really sad and…’

I was a terrible liar and Liam’s smirk told me he knew it too.

‘When did we all get so formal?’ Trudy jumped in to rescue me. ‘We don’t need business cards. We can just WhatsApp.’

Liam started typing on his phone and Trudy’s mobile pinged.

‘Now you have my number,’ Liam said.

‘Cool. Let’s set something up this week.’

‘Great, nice seeing you.’ He directed his gaze at Trudy. ‘See you later, Mamma Mia.’ He grinned as he strode off.

‘Ugh.’ I ground my teeth. ‘He hasn’t changed.’

‘You’re joking, right? He’s sex on legs! You need to get your eyes checked. And your pulse. You’d have to be dead to not let him affect you.’

‘You’d have to not have a brain or any self-respect to fall for his charms. That man’s had more women than I’ve had hot dinners and you know how much I love my food. If I were you, I’d get yourself checked at the sexual health clinic tomorrow. You never know what you might’ve caught.’

If you looked up the definition of man whore in the dictionary, there’d be a jumbo-sized photo of Liam Stone.

‘I only hugged him! You can’t catch STDs from hugs.’

‘Normally I’d agree, but who knows what germs he has!’

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