Page 59 of Once Upon a Fake Date

As if that wasn’t the understatement of the century. It had been obvious for awhile that Cameron loved my sister. We’d all just been waiting for her to realize it. It was in every action—the way he took care of her, supported her, and encouraged her dreams.

“I don’t—” My twin shook her head, trying to deny it.

“Ella.” I sighed. “I see the way he looks at you.” I gave her a look, like,I know you.Because I did. I knew the way her brain worked just as well as I knew mine. Sometimes it felt like we knew what the other was thinking. We didn’t finish each other’s sentences, but I liked to think we could. And I always knew how she was feeling.

“And how does he look at me?” Her voice was quiet, but filled with… hope? Wonder?

The way I wanted someone to look at me. Like I was the most important person in their life. Like they couldn’t imagine going a day without being next to me. “Like you’re the moon and he’s been gazing at a starless sky his whole life. Like he needs your air so he can breathe. So…”

“Audrey.” Ella was blushing. “I get it. You don’t have to be such a hopeless romantic.”

I’d always been one. And I knew that would never change. “Is that so bad?”

“No.” Her voice was quiet as her blue eyes met mine. “No, it’s not.”

I dipped my head, reaching out a hand to squeeze hers.

No, it wasn’t. It was never bad to believe in love. It was the one thing that could conquer all. I wasn’t naive enough to believe that Parker would ever love me like that. We’d promised each other at the beginning that we wouldn’t fall in love with each other, after all.

But one day… I shut my eyes, letting out a deep breath. One day, I hoped my dreams would come true.

That one day, I’d find a love like that for myself.

CHAPTER 18

Parker

Parker

Hey.

Audrey

Hi.

Just got to the hotel.

Icollapsed onto my bed. I was sharing a room with Samuel tonight, but he’d already stepped out of the room to call his girlfriend, leaving me with my thoughts. Replaying the game in my mind, I tried to go over what went wrong. How I could improve for next time.

The truth was, I’d just been distracted.

We’d been sloppy in this game, almost losing it, but we’d recovered. The final score was 14-12, another Castleton Chipmunks win, with less than a minute left on the clock. We’d fought hard all four periods, thankfully coming out on top.

I stared at the photo of Audrey that I’d set as my lock screen. Her hair was half-up in a ponytail, wearing her favorite pink sweatshirt with a pink ribbon tied around her hair, and she looked so perfect. She was the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen, but it was more than that. It was everything about who she was. How she was so outgoing, so sweet and caring with all of her friends. She was pure sunshine, inside and out. The nickname was fitting in so many ways.

A thought occurred to me briefly: if I called, would Audrey pick up?

Were we there yet?

Maybe. But I couldn’t stop thinking about her last text earlier.What are best friends for?And damn, I knew that was all she saw us as—despite her lovely blush a few days ago when she’d admitted she’d been thinking about me—but it still hurt knowing she only saw me as a friend.

Groaning, I rolled over, stuffing a pillow between my arms as I watched the dots appear on the screen.

Audrey

How was the game? I tried to check on the score, but couldn’t figure out where to watch it.

Parker

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