Page 8 of Once Upon a Fake Date

“Ella!” I shouted, spotting my twin standing off to the side.

She’d always been more of a wallflower, desperate to blend in even though she was the best person I knew. I wished she saw herself the way I saw her.

“Did you see Sutton?” Ella yelled over the music.

Sutton was our friend who had initially rushed the sorority with us, but dropped out because it wasn’ther thing.She was dating Forest Carter, a baseball player, and they seemed so happy together. That was all that mattered. He swept her off her feet like a true Prince would. Not that I’d know anything about that.

“I did!” I grinned. “Her fishnets areawesome.I dig it.”

She had a bold style that would never flatter my complexion or golden hair—dark hair, pale skin, and red-as-sin lips that looked sultry and sexy simultaneously.

I wasn’t sure sexy was even in my DNA. Cute? Sure. I knew how to be cute. I liked to think I was beautiful, too. But I’d never feltsexy.

But maybe that was just the way I felt after Duke had taken my confidence and stomped all over it. God, I hated that I’d ever thought he was the right guy for me.

He was nothing like Parker. We’d only been talking for a few minutes, reminiscing on our childhood memories, but all the reasons I’d loved being friends with him had come right back. Parker made me feel safe. Protected.

“You’ll never guess who’s here at CU,” I said, still raising my voice over the music.

“Um…” Ella fidgeted with the strap of her blue dress as she struggled to come up with a guess. Not that I’d expected her to have one.

“Parker!” I exclaimed. “Parker Maxwell!”

She blinked. “The boy who lived next door to us when we were younger? Wasn’t he like… your best friend until his family moved away?”

“Yes!” I gushed, looking across the room and catching Parker’s eyes. He smiled at me, and I raised my fingers in a small wave.

He’d followed me back inside after I’d mentioned needing to tell Ella where I was. I didn’t want her to be alone or worry about me. And I knew she would. But I hadn’t expected Parker to ask me to keep talking, either.

“He must have been, what, thirteen when they moved?” Ella asked, and I nodded. “And now he’s goinghere?”

It was a crazy coincidence that I’d run into him here after all this time. That he’d ended up transferring to the same university as us.

“You don’t mind if I ditch you to catch up with him, right? Am I a terrible sister?” A wince slipped out of me. “I’m a terrible sister.” After all, I’d practically forced her to come with me to the party, and here I was, ready to leave her behind.

Ella shook her head. “No.” She just laughed. “Go.”I raised an eyebrow, ready to protest, but my twin just waved me off. “Seriously, I’ll be fine. Maybe I’ll go hang out with Sutton.”

I nodded. Sutton was currently on the couch, chatting with a dark-skinned girl wearing a flapper costume, but I knew she’d welcome Ella. “I think I’m gonna go grab another drink,” my sister added, heading towards the kitchen.

Blowing out a breath, I turned to find Parker standing in the corner, his hands shoved into his pocket. His eyes were focused on me.

Heading back over, I smiled at him, still holding my hat in my hands. “Alright. Where to?”

Parker’s face lit up with a grin. “Tacos?”

I groaned at the thought. “Hell yes. I know just the place.”

“Oh my god, I’m stuffed.”

We’d both shoved into a booth at the local Mexican restaurant that mostly served college students, especially at this time of night. It wasn’t much more than a hole in the wall, but the food wasgood,and given that the only thing I’d had since dinner earlier this evening was a few drinks, I had desperately needed this.

“This was fucking amazing,” Parker agreed.

We slipped back into friendship so easily. Our entire dinner had been filled with laughter and grins. It was comfortable. Easy.

For a second earlier, when he’d asked if I wanted to get out of there, my body had heated. Like I’d thought he was asking if I wanted to hook up.

Of course he didn’t. There was no way we’d ever be together, anyway. He was my friend. Even if I’d thought for a moment that he’d looked at me with heat in his eyes… that had dissolved when he’d realized who I was.

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