Page 36 of No Summer Hotter than You

“Evelyn isn’t who I’m worried about anymore. Her motives are clear, but she’s not going to get what she wants. But Kelvin? I know he wants you. He’s so quiet about it that it makes me unsettled. He stresses me out. Thank fuck we’re together so I can at least keep him at bay from you by being your boyfriend and all.”

Boyfriend. He casually called himself my boyfriend instead of my fake boyfriend, making my heart leap right out of my chest. He continued to quickly dip his toast into the sunny-side up yolk he made and took a bite of it angrily. He didn’t even realize what he had just said without hesitation.

“We’re fake, Anthony.” The words slipped out of my mouth before I could stop myself.

He blinked, almost looking perplexed by why I was even reminding him of this. His steady gaze at me tore away to another corner of the room. “Right.” His tone was slightly clipped.

I wasn’t sure why his anger was now targeted at me, but I was starting to get irritated as well. “Look, I don’t think you should just brush Evelyn off. I know you’re concerned about Kelvin, but she can easily expose us. I know she can see how awkward we are with one another.”

There was a long, uncomfortable silence as we ate. “She’s not that much of a threat. Kelvin’s the one we should worry about.”

“She told you she wants to make you hers,” I said, exasperatedly. “Yet, you’re telling me that that’s nothing to worry about? I’m supposed to be your fake girlfriend, and that’s supposed to deter her away from you. Not attract her to you even more. If she doesn’t care about that, then either we’re not convincing enough, or she wants you. No matter what.”

Anthony blinked again as he glanced up at me. There were sprinkles of crumbs from the toast he devoured at the corner of his lips, making him look boyish. But he was very much a man as he looked at me with his bright, confident eyes. The soft morning light filtering through the kitchen window made them have these beautiful iridescent golden flecks as he smiled arrogantly.

“We’re perfectly convincing enough. Jonathan texted me saying that Tyson was lapping up whatever we did on Saturday night,” he said. “I think Evelyn’s just saying that to see how we would react. And that’s it. I’m certain of it.”

My brows creased together, unsure.

“By the way, why don’t you come to dinner with me tonight?” Anthony asked.

I let out a long breath. I wasn’t in the mood to socialize. “Tonight?”

“You still haven’t attended one of these dinners with me, you know? Aunt Sue may start saying something and I’d rather she not.”

Anthony gave me a nod, trying to implore me as I glanced at my phone screen for the time. The last thing I wanted was to go over to his parents’ place for dinner. Not because I didn’t love his parents, but I was trying to minimize my time with Aunt Sue and her entourage.

Aunt Sue was always great company to be around. She was loud and full of life, but unlike Anthony, she loved to be the center of attention. Evelyn hadn’t made it easy to get to know her over the years, and the way she’s been acting towards Anthony and me haven’t sat well with me. I’m neutral with Kelvin for the most part, even with Anthony’s obvious dislike of him. But I wasn’t jumping out of my seat in excitement at the thought of it.

I honestly didn’t care whether I have dinner with them or not. My social battery still needed to be recharged from this past Saturday at the fair with them and Tyson.

“It’s past seven already. Shouldn’t you be heading towards your job site?” I asked.

Anthony scoffed with a pout as he stood up with his plate and utensils. He walked around the table toward me and firmly announced, “I’m going to tell my mom you’re coming to dinner.”

“Antho—” I started only to be interrupted by him.

Or, more specifically, by what he asked.

“Is it all right if I give you a kiss on the temple before I leave? For practice.” Before I could retort, he continued. “We’re still awkward, and I’d like us to sort that out before we go out on Saturday.”

I could tell he was stressed as he let out a long sigh. It was always great to see Tyson when he was in town, but we both knew he could possibly throw a wrench into our fake relationship act. If there was a single slip up, he’d say something about it out loud for everyone to hear.

“Fine. Kiss me, then.”

Anthony leaned in swiftly. But before his plush, hot lips could make contact against my skin, I immediately jerked back, worried. What if all this kissing made me fall in love with him? When I agreed to be his fake girlfriend, I wasn’t expecting this. I also didn’t expect him to tell Tyson how he’d be heartbroken if I passed away in that car accident last year.

How was I going to survive with my heart pounding in my ears with each temple kiss he gave me? Or each time he talked about how he “fell in love” with me?

Anthony let out a frustrated sigh as irritation knitted his brows together. “Shoua,” he scolded. “You can’t keep doing this. No one’s going to believe we’re a real couple if I can’t even kiss you without you freaking out. You know we’re going to have to kiss at some point to look convincing when we go bar hopping, right?”

“What if I kiss you first?” I blurted without thinking. My voice was firm, surprising us both. Anthony raised his eyebrows at me as he set his plate back down.

“Sure.” A moment passed as I continued to sit there, completely unmoving. I needed a moment to grapple with what I just got myself into. “Well? Aren’t you going to kiss me?”

I scooted my chair back, scraping it across the floor in a loud screech and making my nervousness worse. I motioned for Anthony to lean in with a shaky hand. When he was close enough, I leaned over and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. My lips barely grazed his skin before I pulled back.

Anthony flashed me a look of utter disbelief. “What the hell was that?”

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