Page 133 of Some Like It Hot

They've been fake engaged and we’ve all been in on it.

If they did a fake ceremony they should have told us. Especially if they were going to post it all over hell.

But they wouldn’t have really done it, would they?

I hold my hand out and Wyatt places the phone in it. I look at the photo. Yeah, that is most definitely Blake Wilder dipping my girlfriend back and kissing her deeply. That would be bad enough, I suppose, but the dress she’s wearing is absolutely a wedding dress. And if that wasn’t enough, the caption under the photo says skipped the chapel, but still got an I Do, confirms it.

I scroll through the account.

There are a few other photos of them together, a couple of Elise by herself looking fucking insanely gorgeous, and then there’s the first one. It’s just of their two left hands, each with a ring, and the caption there says, did a thing today.

“When was the last time you and Elise talked?” Wyatt jokes. “If she’s been telling you she’s too busy to go out, I think you now know why.”

I congratulate myself on the very mature way I hand his phone back rather than throwing it against the wall.

“Blake and I do know each other,” I tell him. “She’s been dating both of us.”

There’s not a great reason to fill in that information. It makes more sense to tell him something about Elise and I breaking up. But…we fucking didn’t. I figured I’d bring her around the firehouse again, that she’d join me and my crew at our favorite dive bar, that she’d be my plus one to the firefighter’s annual ball.

But now…

What the fuck is going on?

They can’t intend to stay married, right? That they would definitely discuss with me and Simon.

But I’m not so sure. We don’t really have any rules. We haven’t discussed where this is going or how we all feel. Which is obviously a huge mistake.

“Well, I assume you’re not going to keep seeing her now,” another of our firefighter buddies jokes.

His words hit me a little harder than I would’ve expected.

I know this wedding is fake. Or at least the marriage is. They’re doing it for Blake‘s cabin. But the fact that they actually had a ceremony, and the fact that they’re kissing and posting photos on Blake‘s social media, somehow makes this feel far too real.

I feel a stab of jealousy, which is crazy. This man has been seeing Elise longer than I have. He’s fucked her. Without me. With me. This has been an open relationship from the beginning. Her being with Blake is completely fine. What they do is between them.

Except maybe things that make her permanently only his.

I don’t fucking like that at all.

Why didn’t they tell us?

Wait, did they tell Simon? Maybe I’m the only one who doesn’t know. I’ve been at work for fourteen hours. Maybe they just decided to do this, and I wasn’t around.

My face must not have been as calm and collected as I think. Wyatt shoots the other guys a look and says, “Hey, leave Burke alone, you insensitive pricks.” He turns to me. “You okay?”

No. Not even close. But I nod. I take my soda and head toward the bedroom area, thumbing through my phone. But nope. No missed calls or texts from Blake or Elise.

I go into my sleep room and shut the door. I set the soda down, slump onto the edge of the bed, suck in a deep breath, then punch in the first number.

But it rings and then goes to Elise’s voicemail.

I sigh. She probably doesn’t have her phone with her.

So, Blake Wilder has some explaining to do.

I hit his number and wait, anger and hurt churning through my veins.

“Hey,” he answers after three rings.

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