Page 185 of The Hopelessly Bromantic Duet

“Now, don’t rest on your laurels. Don’t get complacent. Keep it up. Write, write, write. At the pace you’ve set the last five days, I think you could finish this in a month.”

Has he lost his mind? “Seriously?”

Judging from his blank stare, the answer is yes, seriously. “You’ve written sixteen thousand words,” Mason says. “That’smore than three thousand words a day. Do I really need to say I was right or is it patently obvious? You needed some dates. I sent you on some.”

He’s . . . not wrong.

Dating Jude did inspire me.

But not until we cleared the air and fucked it out.

That was when the words began to flow. Words have flown faster since ourjust-for-usdate on Sunday.

“You sure did,” I tell Mason, but I don’t dive into the truth. Fake dating didn’t motivate me. Real dating did. Maybe because my heart is no longer imitating Han Solo in carbonite.

“See? A little make-believe never hurt anyone.” Mason strides to his desk, rapping his knuckles on it. “By the way, you’re a damn good actor. The pics of you and Jude make it look like you’re enjoying his company a lot more than a ball waxing. But hey, maybeyouget your balls waxed at a different kind of place than I do,” he says with a wink.

“I am enjoying it,” I say, not sure why I need to defend my fake romance to Mason.

“Good, good,” he says quickly, then pats the table. “Let’s chat about Web?—”

“I mean it. Jude is?—”

Mason tilts his head, curious. “Easy on the eyes, like I said? Fun? Gentlemanly?”

He’s all of that, but the words barely cover Jude. “He’s great,” I say, and even though it’s true, it tastes like a lie, acrid and bitter.

I don’t want to bite into this taste again.

“Listen, I talked to Robert Walsh at Webflix last night, and they just snagged Sebastian Lowe to play opposite Christian,” he says.

That’s quite a coup. Sebastian’s latest movie is a critic’s darling. “Sebastian is great,” I say.

“And fingers crossed, they’ve got a new writer working on the adaptation for film. He’s sharp and hilarious and loves queer romance because, you know, he has taste, and he knows it’s the best thing since dogs. So, there you go. We should get thisTop-Notch Boyfriendtrain rolling again,” he says. “Choo-choo.”

“That’s great too,” I say.

And truly, this is good news.

But as I leave, a weight sinks in my gut. I’m lying to Mason by omission. As long as this fake romance continues, I’ll have to keep biting off these lies. Sure, Mason doesn’t have to know the full truth of Jude and me. Maybe he wouldn’t even care if he did. But I’m lying by telling everyone he’s my boyfriend when the truth is so much more complicated than that.

Jude Fox is the first guy I ever fell in love with, the only man I’ve ever loved, and the person I want to get to know all over again right now.

And over the last few days, I haven’t lied with Jude. I’ve been real with him, truthful with him, honest with him. I like the new me.

It’s a big change, stripping away my defenses, but it feels good.

I just wishIdidn’t feel this bad as I head into the New York morning.

I do my best to set those thoughts aside as I meet Hazel to write. I power through a couple of scenes, and then I post a pic of the fox mug on Insta with the caption:The Magical Energy Imps in this cup of coffee are directly responsible for the scene on the dryer. You’re welcome.

The replies from readers land in a barrage ofI can’t wait to read itandBring it on, King TJ.

Their words fuel another round of writing.

By the time the clock hits two, I’ve logged another chapter, and Hazel has finished the meet-cute in her new book, the spin-off of her big hit,Sweet Spot. We read each other’s pages, offering little suggestions here and there. “And don’t forget to introduce Dane Donovan soon,” I add, reminding her about the character Malcolm inspired. “I’m planning a friend-group scene, and Dane, AKA The Big Douche, is about to show up.”

She bangs her fist on the table. “I will never forget my mortal enemy. And you want to know why? In the last week, Malcolm has been liking all my tweets and LOLing on all my Instagram posts, but guess what? I checked out his Goodreads shelves. And last year, he one-starredSweet Spotand left a review with nothing but an eye-rolling emoji.”

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