Page 27 of Fake Fiancé for the Billionaire Rockstar

Right, the annual Christmas vacation we took as a family each year, and just another reason for everyone to bring up the fact that I’m once again spending it alone. I roll my eyes and force a smile onto my face. “Of course, mom, I wouldn’t miss it.”

“You’re going to bring thatfiancéof yours, I assume?” There’s a tone in her voice that catches me off-guard and I blink a few times. “Didn’t expect to find out about my daughter’s love life through my children, you know?”

I shudder at the thought and sigh heavily. “Mom, I didn’t mean to hurt you… I just wanted to keep him all to myself.”

What the hell am I doing?

This is not what I meant when I talked to Donny last night about our charade. We’re supposed to put it behind us, start fresh and go back to normal.

“Make sure you bring him so the rest of us can meet him,” my mother says, ignoring my apology. I don’t blame her for being hurt and I know it’s going to take a lot of groveling when I meet them at the cabins we’ve got booked for a few days.

“I will.”

It’s only fair that Donny makes himself useful in this charade, right?

“We’ll see you soon, sweetie. Love you.”

As I hang up, a wave of guilt washes over me. Not even the aroma of fresh coffee can cut through the bitter taste in my mouth. I’ve lied to my mother, dragged Donny further into this charade, and for what? To avoid admitting that I’m alone? Or to avoid admitting that I don’t want to be?

I stare at my reflection in the window, a stranger looking back at me. The carefully constructed walls I’ve built around my life are crumbling, and instead of frantically trying to rebuild them, I find myself wondering what lies beyond.

This trip isn’t just a family obligation anymore—it’s a crossroads.

And for the first time in years, I’m not sure which path I want to take.

10

Donny

When Carmen asked meto continue our charade with her family, I agreed without hesitation. What I didn’t anticipate was the crash course in Carmen’s Family 101.

As she rattles off another round of information, I find myself more interested in the way her soft, pink lips move than the words coming out of them. My heart races as I imagine how they would feel against mine, the thought making it almost impossible to focus on anything else.

Carmen finally pauses, her eyes on me, waiting for a response. "Did you get that?”

I blink, nodding in response, even though my mind drifted miles away somewhere around her second brother’s career. No way I’m admitting that, though. It would only lead to her repeatingevery detail, and I’m pretty sure I’d die of boredom before we finish.

There’s nothing wrong with learning some things about her family. After the mishap with the wine when my family was here, I expected it.

What I didn’t expect was to have a full page of information already, and she still has the breath to keep going. I’ve got the basics down—her parents like to travel the world and make it a point to have Christmas trips every year as a family, and her brothers each have their own special careers.

Carmen’s oldest brother, Walker, is a neurologist—apparently one of the best in the country. He’s got the perfect family too: wife Jessa, and three kids—Jaxson, Arabella, and Sadie. But even with all his success, he’s still one of the reasons Carmen struggles as our manager. His judgmental attitude bleeds into everything, and I can already tell I won’t like him.

The one I am excited to meet is the second oldest, Declan, who has a PhD in computer science. He’s the Harry Potter enthusiast, and the designated family nerd. He even has a dedicated room for it. Declan is the one Carmen is closest to, and he tries to remind Carmen that no matter what she does, she’s going to do great.

Clearly, I like him already.

He’s got a girlfriend, who Carmen is fairly certain will be his fiancée once this trip is over, and he has plans to have one ortwo kids. Judging by the other siblings, I’d say that Declan is the jokester out of them all.

Ryan is the youngest brother, currently living it up as a jet-setting businessman who parties just as hard as he works. Carmen’s parents are always urging him to take life more seriously, but he’s not quite there yet. He has a girlfriend he’s bringing along for the trip, though Carmen doubts it’ll last more than a few weeks—Ryan has a reputation for brief flings that fizzle out as quickly as they begin.

Then we get into the sisters—Layla and Marissa.

Layla is younger than Carmen by a couple of years, and she’s been settled down since high school. She’s married to her high school sweetheart, Calum, and they have one child with another on the way. They plan on having more kids, but in a couple more years.

Marissa is the youngest and recently graduated college with a bachelor’s in education. She doesn’t have any kids, but Carmen knows that it will happen, eventually. I learned that Marissa loves Christmas and enjoys giving gifts during the holiday. She also has a dog, who Carmen swears she’s going to steal one day for herself.

Carmen is an animal lover, check.

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