Page 24 of Perfect Score

I fight back the urge to put Liam’s mind at ease.

To reassure him that this thing with Brent isn't what it looks like… that it’s not even real, but I know better. If I want to make him thoroughly regret letting me go, I need to make him live the hell I have since he broke it off.

"Phoebe, what happened?" David asks, finally remembering why he came out here in the first place.

"A rat stole Zoey’s room, and now there aren’t any left." Phoebe huffs, sliding a look of irritation in Liam’s direction, but Liam acts as though he’s unaware of what has Phoebe pissed off as he takes a calm sip of his whiskey… his drink of choice. I know because I'd always order it for him whenever I'd make it to the restaurant we would be meeting at for dinner.

He was always running late for reservations, but I always had his drink ready when he'd arrive.

"You don’t have a room?" Brent asks, shooting a look over at me.

"There was a mix-up," I tell him without any more explanation.

"Liam stole it," Phoebe says under her breath, but Brent hears it.

I wish she wouldn’t make Liam look bad. There’s already a lot of bad blood between Brent and Liam. If Brent thinks that Liam took my room on purpose, he might not agree to help me anymore.

"It’s fine. I’ll handle this." Brent tells her, walking up to the check-in desk next to me, making eye contact with the hotel receptionist. "Are you completely booked, or do you have any other rooms available for the duration of our stay? My girlfriend is the bride's sister and wedding photographer. She needs to stay close."

I know we’re faking it, but this is the first real time that Brent has called me his girlfriend. And he just did it in front of Liam, Phoebe and David.

Of course, Phoebe already knows that this is fake but neither of the other two do.

It’s different hearing the word girlfriend slip off Brent's lips when he's referring to me. Not bad or good, just…different.

Liam is the last person who’s used that title in years, and in my peripheral vision, I see Liam shift his weight uncomfortably. He must have heard it too.

"Let me check to see if we have anything available," The receptionist says, typing away on the computer, checking for a vacancy. "Yes, I do, but it’s our deluxe honeymoon suite. It’s quite a bit more than the standard rooms."

Phoebe turns her attention from the receptionist back to me and smirks.

"Oh! The honeymoon suite?" she says loud enough for Liam to hear. “How romantic. I heard the jetted bathtub is built for two. You two are going to have so much hotel sex.” She winks.

"Phoebe!" I warn, inhaling at the wrong time and choke on my own saliva, causing me to start sputtering out a cough. Did she really just blurt out the word sex in the middle of the hotel lobby?

The receptionist doesn't look the least bit phased and Brent chuckles at my sister’s attempt to make Liam jealous and embarrass the crap out of me.

Mission accomplished.

Once I recover from my coughing fit, I lean in and whisper low enough, so Liam won’t hear.

“Shouldn’t you and David have the honeymoon suite?”

She copies my posture and leans in too. “We booked a red-eye flight for Jamaica after the reception. We wouldn’t use it,” she whispers back.

She and I both straighten our spines as it would seem the arrangement is settled.Not that I have much of a choice. It's the honeymoon suite or Brent's room down the road.

I want to be here with my sister so there is only one choice.

“Whatever my girl wants,” Brent says, fishing out his wallet.

Whatever my girl wants?

Liam shifts uncomfortably in the corner of my eye and a little flutter erupts around my heart at Brent's words.

“I’d rather have the king-sized bed in the suite than the queens in the regular rooms anyway. I’ll actually get some sleep this way,” he says and then hands his card over the reception desk.

“Just the one bed?” I whisper up to him.

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