Page 35 of My Irresistible Enemy

I hated how out of control I felt around him, and hated that I didn’t know how to make it stop. And if I couldn’t make it stop, the only thing left to do was avoid him.

“Fuck, would you just listen to me for one second? Why do you never let me talk?”

Because every word out of your mouth drives me nuts. But I wasn’t going to say that out loud. I didn’t want to give Aiden the satisfaction of knowing he had any effect on me at all.

“Fine,” I said instead. “Talk.”

I kept my hand on the doorknob. Aiden swallowed. Good. Lethimbe uncomfortable for once.

“Okay.” He swallowed again, then nodded. “Right. Okay, yeah, I didn’t—I guess I didn’t actually expect you to say that.”

“Spit it out, Aiden.”

I felt guilty as soon as the words were out of my mouth. I knew what it was like to freeze up, to suddenly find yourself paralyzed, unable to think clearly, let alone speak. I was all too familiar with that feeling. But I didn’t want to empathize with him.

“I think we should pretend to like each other on the show,” he said. “For the cameras. I think if we do that, we have a decent chance of staying on after next week.”

I arched an eyebrow.Thatwas what had him all breathless?

“Did you not listen to anything Nora said? They’ve made up their minds. They’re not going to change them just because you stop acting like an ass all the time.”

Aiden’s brow furrowed. “Well, I’d argue it’syouwho has to stop being a dick, but that’s not actually what I meant. Give me a little credit.”

“Kid, I’m giving you far more credit than you deserve just by listening to you. And it’s still a terrible idea.”

“Okay, I don’t know where you get off making me out to be some terrible person, when you’re the one who’s been nothing but rude to me since the minute we met—”

“When you accused me of being homophobic? Or when you told me to stop salivating over your dick?”

“—But at the very least, could you not call mekid? I’m twenty-one.”

“Sounds like a kid to me.”

“Right, because you’re so fucking mature at age twenty-eight, Grandpa. And last time I checked, you enjoyed that salivating, so I’m pretty sure—”

“Jesus, look at us,” I interrupted. Better than letting Aiden continue down that trail of thought. “We can’t have a civil conversation for five seconds. Even if pretending to like each other would work, I don’t think either of us could manage it for more than a minute, let alone an entire episode.”

Aiden snapped his lips shut, swallowing whatever he was going to say, and glared at me.

“See?” I told him. “I bet you’re biting your tongue right now, trying not to say some snippy reply. No one will believe that we’re friends.”

He rolled his eyes. “Lucky for you, that’s not what I was proposing. I meant that we should act like welike each other.You know, like, romantically. Or sexually. Or whatever.”

I stared at him in silence, waiting for the punchline.

“What?” Aiden said. “It could work.”

I laughed. I didn’t mean to. It just happened—this shaky little laugh that started on an exhale and, before I knew it, became a full-body laugh, making me clutch the doorframe to hold myself up.

“Are you serious?” I asked between gasps. “You thinkthat’sthe way to solve this? To pretend to be dating?”

“What’s so ridiculous about that?”

“Um, everything. But we can start with the fact that it’s not gonna change the outcome. If they want us gone, they’re going to send us home, regardless of what we do.”

“They can’t, though,” Aiden countered. “There’d be a public outcry. Don’t you remember last year?”

“I do. They found out one of their contestants was in a relationshipoff-screen, and they freaked out. How do you think they’re going to react if they think two of their bakers are hooking upwhile they’re on the show?”

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