Page 74 of The Fake Out Flex

He wants to see me again!

Play it cool, Evie. Play. It. Cool.

"Exchanging numbers is so mid-2010s. What if…" My breath catches in my throat, but I'm determined to keep playing it cool and get the words out. "What if we make a no-numbers-exchanged pledge instead and just agree that you come over every Wednesday? That way you won't give me a rare but not completely unheard of teenage heart attack, and there'll be no need for me to use Rosie to commit violence against you."

His lips twitch. "Rosie? The umbrella?"

"You don't name inanimate objects?"

He laughs, and it rushes out of him, a deep, warm sound that makes my belly flutter.

"Fine. No exchanging numbers. I accept the pledge," he agrees, his eyes twinkling as he stoops down to move through the windowpane. He glances back and smiles. "See you next Wednesday, Evie."

"You know me, I'm the king of remembering the most random things," Fraser responds lightheartedly to Levi's question about how he knows about my high school obsession with malasadas.

He is the one who got me hooked on them, after all.

"The two of you will fight to have me on your team come trivia night," he adds, and I hope it's enough to satisfy Levi's curiosity.

For a moment, it looks like Levi's going to say something in response, maybe press for more information, but for whatever reason, he drops Portuguese-donut-gate and moves on.

"So, have you two given any more thought to how you're going to handle…" He tips his head toward the coffee table, his eyes widening a fraction when he spots the flowers covering the newspapers. "That?"

"No. I honestly expected this thing to blow over," I reply. "I thought it was just a silly online story, that it wouldn't go much farther than social media. But it seems that my presence at last night's game has only solidified the dating rumors. And with the team's victory, it's given credence to the whole good luck charm angle."

I pick up a pastry and take a bite. "What do you think we should do, Levi?" I ask around a mouthful of malasada.

"Well, you know me, I don't like to meddl—Oof! Ow. What was that for?"

He scowls at Fraser while I high-five him. If he hadn't thrown that cushion at my brother, I would have.

"You meddle," Fraser says matter-of-factly. "It's a known genetic condition affecting everyone born within a twenty-mile radius of Comfort Bay. Come on, man. We need your help. I don't want Evie to go through…"

He doesn't have to finish that sentence for all three of us to know exactly what he meant.

He doesn't want me to go through another round of public humiliation.

The mood in the room shifts.

Levi drops down on the couch opposite Fraser and me. "I don't think this situation is the same as the…unfortunate incident."

He really thinks calling it that is better. His intention is sweet.

Misguided, but sweet.

"We're dealing with an entirely different scenario here. If anything, this could be a win-win."

"How so?"

"Well…Fraser is playing better, even if we all know it has nothing to do with your presence. Sorry, Evie."

I stuff a mouthful of donut into my mouth. "I'm soh ohfendid."

Levi rolls his eyes. "Every single time. We go through this every single time."

Fraser chuckles.

Levi continues, "So it'll stop the media from speculating and linking him romantically to every woman he shares air with. And as for you, Evie, yes, this brings media attention onto you as well, but—dare I say it, it's the good kind? It is helping your numbers, right?"

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