Page 2 of The Pucking Fake Marriage

I snuggle into the covers, inhaling deeply. The room smells of roasted nuts and vanilla. Ms. Edwards, about the best cook in the world, made an extravagant dinner to celebrate my departure. I’m still tingling from how good the foods tasted. For a moment, I feel a twinge of regret that I won’t be able to enjoy her dishes as often as I do now, but I’m quickly distracted by a noise coming from outside the door.

Kali,I think immediately, sitting up in bed. A shadow falls across the doorway, and a figure appears.

“Took you long enough,” I say.

He walks toward the bed. I notice a second before he sits that his movements are jerky, nervous, lacking the grace he’s often praised for. The bed depresses with his weight, and his arms find my waist and pull me in. Something about his touch is different. Sensual, more tingly.

And then, for the first time in my life, I feel it.

Butterflies.

“Kali,” I mutter. I’m suddenly lit on fire from within; the need to touch him is too strong, too intense. I place my hand on his shoulder, but it feels bulkier than I remember. I rear back, and the hall light casts a glow on his face.

Oh my God.

“Ken.”

I pull away, feeling more awkward by the minute. Not just because my boyfriend’s twin is touching me in a way he never has before. But because I’m feeling things that should be reserved for my boyfriend.

I expect Ken to pull back too. But he does nothing of the sort. Instead, his hold on my waist tightens.

“There’s something I have to tell you,” he says. His voice is hard, raspy. My eyes are adjusting to the darkness, and his handsome face, so like his brother’s, is pulled into asolemn expression. “I knew I should have told you before, but… I was hesitant.”

“Ken, I?—”

“I love you.”

I’m struck dumb.

“I love you, Charlie. I don’t just think of you as a friend. I’m completely and utterly in love with you. You’re the most amazing, most beautiful, most delightful girl I’ve ever met in my life. I’ve wanted you to be mine for years. I need you to know this.”

My heart burns in my chest, sending a flood of emotions through me. Ken isin lovewith me. He’s saying things that I’ve never heard from anyone before. I think back on all our precious moments together, thinking of the emotional connection we’ve forged, of how Ken is the one person who understands me better than anyone.

But then, Kali…

I close my eyes, tears spilling down my cheeks as I make a quick decision. Ken is always going to be Ken. But Kali’s… safe. With him, I never have to worry about being disappointed. With him, I’m never going to have to be afraid of losing him.

It’s the decision my mother would make.

I shake my head. “Ken, I’m sorry, but…”

He pulls his hands from my waist. The butterflies burn out. He stands up. “It’s fine.” He sounds tortured, pained. “Forget it.”

“Ken,” I start to call, but he’s out of the room in a few seconds. I try to untangle the sheets as another shadow falls across the doorway.

“What just happened?” Kali sounds pissed. “What was he doing in here?”

“Nothing,” I say quickly, finallygetting rid of the sheets and standing. I can hear Ken’s footsteps dying away as he walks into his room and slams the door.

“Seriously,” Kali’s face is alight with anger. “What did he want? What did he say to you?”

“Nothing,”I repeat. The happiness I carried like a lamp over the past few days is gone. I wipe my tears from my face, a tiny part of me noting that Kali didn’t think to ask about them. I take a deep breath. Kali merely stares in the direction of the hall, looking like he’s thinking of going after his brother and killing him.

“I need to go home.” Back to my own room, where I can think.

I shove past Kali, my heart racing in my chest as I dash into the hallway. I instinctively glance to my right, where Ken’s closed door stands, a silent reminder of the chaos I’m trying to outrun. Something pulls at me to stop, to go back and confront what just happened, but I can't face it—not now.

As I push forward, my legs moving faster than my mind can process, the unshed tears in my eyes blur my vision. The staircase comes into view, spiraling down toward what feels like the only escape from the mess of emotions swirling inside me.

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