Page 30 of The Facade

“Really?” Her golden-brown eyes brightened at the prospect. “Like even tomorrow after school?”

“Even tomorrow after school.” I laughed, loving her enthusiasm. “You can ride them every day up until it snows. And then after that, I’m going to teach you all about snowmobiling.”

“Snowmobiling?” Her eyes brightened even more.

“Yes,” I said. “Basically, if you want to have fun outside any time of year, we’ve got you covered.”

My parents were firm believers in playing just as hard as they worked, and so they had equipped our estate with everything under the sun to keep us busy building memories together.

Elyse headed inside to wash up and Ben came out of the garage next.

He had a little more dirt and mud on his clothes than the last time I’d seen him, but I was happy to see that he had a smile on his face as he approached.

“You missed a fun ride,” he said when he reached me.

“Yeah?” I asked, my chest feeling somewhat heavy with the feeling of missing out. But I tried to push it aside and said, “I’m glad you had fun. And, uh, if you ever want to go out with me again, just let me know.”

“Go out with you?” he asked with what I could only interpret as a flirtatious curve on his lips.

“Um, I didn’t mean like go out with me…like on a date,” I hurried to say, feeling my cheeks flush red hot. “I, um, of course I didn’t mean that. I wasn’t even really there for the first ride and um…”

“I knew what you meant.” He chuckled, seeming to find my flustered ramblings comical. “And that sounds fun. Maybe next time we can even leave Mack behind, so he doesn’t try to pull you away again.”

“You think he crashed on purpose?” I asked. “Just so we could be alone?”

“Not exactly.” Ben shrugged. “But it would kind of go with the theory everyone at school has about you two.”

“There’s a theory about Mack and me?” I pulled my head back, not having any idea what Ben was talking about.

Ben looked behind us to where the rest of the group was just coming out of the garage and heading up to the house.

He waved me closer to him so we could let everyone pass, and my heart throbbed in my chest as I wondered what he was going to say about this theory I’d never heard of.

Once Ava had dragged Carter around the corner with everyone else and onto the terrace above, I asked, “So what is this theory?”

Ben cleared his throat, a hint of unease in his dark-brown eyes. “Everyone thinks you two have a secret relationship going on.”

“What?” I nearly shouted. I quickly glanced around to make sure no one was coming back. Then in a lowered voice, I said, “People think Mack and I are dating?”

“Well…yeah,” Ben said, like it should be obvious. “We all know about how protective Carter is of you, and well, we figured that was why you and Mack never came out with it.”

“But we’re not dating.” I shook my head, feeling shocked by this whole thing. “Like, we’re friends and help each other out and stuff…but we are not and have never been like that.”

Sure…he had slept in my bed last night, but that wassonot because we were secretly dating.

Ben narrowed his eyes, as if he thought I was just covering up some huge front Mack and I had been putting on. He said, “Then why did you switch partners with Elyse in class today? You switched papers and ended up with him.”

I let my head fall back as I blinked my eyes closed.Had everyone in the entire class seen that?

I never knew I was interesting enough for anyone—let alone two of the most popular guys in the school to watch.

I looked back at Ben and said, “Believe me, I didn’t want to switch partners today. I just…” I stopped, knowing I couldn’t tell Ben the real reason why I had switched because it would embarrass Elyse. So I said, “I get kind of nervous around people I don’t know well sometimes, and so Mack seemed like a safer choice.”

“A safer choice than me?” Ben furrowed his brow. “Should I be offended or glad that I’m not what you would consider a safe choice?”

“Um, just…” I sighed and tried to think of a way to let him know that I had actuallywantedto be partnered with him without coming out and saying I’d had a huge crush on him for months. I twisted the ring on my index finger. “Let’s just say you kind of make me nervous.”

“Because I’m scary?”

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