Page 235 of The Hopelessly Bromantic Duet

“Hi there, everyone. And Happy Saturday. I’m Jude Fox, and I’m here with my boyfriend, TJ Hardman.”

The bearded babe waves to the camera. “Hey everyone.” He drapes an arm around me, hand resting on my shoulder like it usually does.

It’s unposed and natural.

“So, you might have read some stories about us. And we wanted to set the record straight,” I say, glancing briefly at my guy. He looks content. It’s a good look. “Yes, it’s completely true that we had a fake romance. At the time, it seemed like the only option for both of us for various reasons,” I continue, but I don’t go into detail. Though the confession is public, the reasons remain private. “And yes, we weresupposedto break up. But sometimes life imitates art. We didn’t break up. We’re staying together.”

I look to TJ, and now it’s his turn.

“We fell in love. For real. Sort of like in a romance novel, where they have to fake a love story and guess what? It becomes real. That’s us. Some people might say this is just another stunt.That’s okay. We know the truth. But we want you—my readers and his fans—to know the full story. We want to share it with you,” he says, and my heart soars, full of joy and pride.

This is a whole new TJ. Open, vulnerable, fearless. He looks at me with a glowing smile as if he wants confirmation he should keep going.

“Start at the beginning.”

TJ takes a deep breath. “Once upon a time, I was a finance reporter, and I went to London for work. The very first day I met a beautiful—we’re talking heart-stopping—guy outside a store. He talked to me, flirted with me, then gave me his name. Jude. Just Jude, and he said he worked at a bookstore on Cecil Court. And I thought,Score. This smoking-hot British babe wants me.But, you see, Cecil Court has about twenty bookshops. So yeah,this guy,” he says, pointing a thumb at his chest, “went wandering down Cecil Court looking forthat guy.”He squeezes my shoulder.

I am a fool in love, and I can’t stop grinning. “And was that so hard to do? You found me.”

“I was determined.”

“And I gave you some clues,” I point out.

“You did.Just Jude,” he teases. Then he continues for our audience, “So, in that shop, I bought this book.”

I grab the play from the cushion next to me, waggle it in front of the camera. “Any TJ Hardman fans recognize this? Anyone? Anyone at all?”

I’m still amazed at what he pulled off inTop-Notch Boyfriend. Then I stage whisper to the screen. “He didn’t even tell me till yesterday that he putThe Importance of Being Earnestinhisbook.”

“You didn’t read it till yesterday!”

I wave a hand airily. “Details, details.”

“But back in London, the day after we met and went out—oops! Jude turned out to be my roomie,” TJ says.

I groan at the memory. “My God, that was bloody fucking hard. I was living with this strapping stud,” I say, snuggling up against my boyfriend.

“It was incredibly hard,” he says, laughing. “Somehow we lasted two weeks before we kissed in the rain.”

“Longest two weeks of my life,” I say, playing up the sexual frustration of waiting for him.

“But then, five days later, I had to return to the US,” he says, somber now. “And once I got on the plane and left the Oscar Wilde behind, with those favorite lines we read to each other...” He stops, pulls his gaze from the camera, looks only at me. “I missed you more than I knew was possible.”

“I missed you so fucking much,” I say.

He takes a deep breath then resumes the tale for the camera. “And seven years later, Jude looked me up and we found each other again. It didn’t quite work out then,” TJ says, “But eventually, when wehadto fake a romance, going on those public dates gave us the chance to learn what we needed and wanted. Being forced to spend time together gave us a way to start over.”

I cover his hand on my shoulder with mine and squeeze. “I think love stories start in all kinds of ways. What matters is whether you keep telling them if you have the chance. This is one we’ll keep telling. And we’ll tell it for a long time.” I take a beat, eyes on the camera. “With all of you now, if you want to follow our love story here.”

I turn away, kiss his cheek. He hits end.

We upload the video to our private feed, making the feed public.

Anyone can see the video. And anyone can see our pictures from the last few weeks, as well as the new ones we added this morning.

A photo of my copy ofThe Importance of Being Earnest, well-worn, showing its age and meaning.

Photos of the notes TJ left for me in the flat.

---