Page 26 of The Guy Who Fake Dated Me

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

He grinned, then his expression fell, and he said, “You might not like what we’re doing this morning. Just know that you can bow out if you need to.”

“What do you mean, bow out?” I narrowed my eyes at him.

Kyle pressed his lips together before he spoke. “There may be animals involved.”

“What?” The word launched from my mouth, and I hated that I sounded just like my mother. Kyle knew how I felt about animals, and he knew why.

“It won’t be scary. I promise.” Kyle patted the air with his hands.

Before I could get more out of him, Natalie and her cousin, a man named William, joined us. Not Bill, but William. In a nutshell, the guy was almost ten years older than me and reminded me of a taller, much better-looking George Costanza from Seinfeld who lacked a personality. Natalie had introduced us the night before and had suggested we hang out, but Greta had saved me from sitting with him because she claimed she couldn’t hear from any farther away.

I swear William wore the exact same striped, button-down shirt and slacks as the night before, only today, the color scheme was blue instead of maroon.

The ensemble made him look good, but it had given me the impression that he was a well-adjusted man who could carry on easy conversations with strangers.

Boy, had I been wrong.

“Morning.” William was a man of few words and even less inflection.

“Hey,” I said in the most nonchalant way I could manage.

“How did you guys sleep?” Natalie asked in a tone I recognized as her rich girl voice. Was she trying to impress William? Where did he lay in the pecking order of the family? I knew he was her cousin but wasn’t sure exactly where the money came from.

“Great, thanks for asking,” I said. I still thought it was ridiculous that I was sleeping at a hotel that was only thirty minutes from my house, but Natalie had insisted, and Kyle had given me the pouty look—he was going to pay for using my weakness against me—and that had been that.

William’s response to Natalie’s question made it sound like the sleeping arrangements were barely adequate. “Fine.”

Natalie’s smile didn’t falter, but her eyes narrowed just enough for me to notice. Then her gaze darted to Kyle, and she took his hand. “I need you for something.”

Kyle pouted—poor Natalie—and pointed. “But we’re almost to the front of the line.”

“It’s our wedding, we can jump in the front of any line we want.” Without an explanation, she dragged Kyle away and left me with one-word William.

They were both going to pay for this.

Where was Logan? I swiped my phone to life.

Victoria:Did you make it out of the airport?

He answered immediately.

Logan:I managed to distract one of them with flattery about her hair (which was quite squished on one side, probably from sleeping on the plane) and break free.

Victoria:Mocking old ladies? You’re going to the bad place for that.

Logan:Probably.

William cleared his throat. “Greta beat you last night.”

Ooh, that was five whole words. The line moved again. Just one more person before it was my turn. “She did. I thought about fighting her for it, but frankly, I think she’s tougher than I am.”

“She’s old.”

“Which means she has something like forty years of experience on me. One does not trifle with a master.”

Logan would have cracked up at that, but William simply blinked and gave me a curt nod, which I could tell was for courtesy and that he had no idea what I was talking about.

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