Page 1 of Fake Coral and Keys

CHAPTER ONE

DAISY

Now

“Is he coming?”

I don’t look at Lily, nor do I bother answering. This is the third time she’s asked in fifteen minutes. I keep my eyes trained on the tarmac just outside the small hangar, distractedly sliding the tinkling charm bracelet around my wrist. Feeling the small heart charm gives me hope he wasn’t lying whenhe said he’d be here.

“Well?” she asks again, this time with a slight snarl in her words. Lily doesn’t like being ignored.

“He’s coming,” I say a bit too sharply.

Is Blake coming? I don’t know.

“We’re taking off soon,” Erin says, looping her arm with mine like we are best friends. I glance over at her, trying to keep the surprised expression off my face. Her smile flashes white, teeth gleaming in the morning light flooding into the hangar. Her bleached hair looks just as artificial and straight as her teeth. Erin is perfect in that slightly plastic, surreal way. She’s beautiful. I wish I was half as put together as her. She squeezes my arm tightly. “He better hurry if he wants to go with us to the Keys.”

“He’ll be here.” There’s more assurance in my voice than I feel. I pull my arm away from Erin. I’d rather stand over the mouth of an erupting volcano than next to Erin as she pretends she isn’t a nasty-mouthed snake.

Ever since her insults at the last Conner Gathering, the thought of being near her sends shivers of repulsion through me. Actually, being near Lily has become more of a chore than usual after that weekend getaway. Thanks to the trip to the mountains, I realize how horribly toxic my family can be. They insulted me, laughed at me, and not a single one of them stood up for me.

Except for Blake.

Blake was the only good thing to come out of that weekend.

My heart flutters, sending little crackles of electricity down to my belly.

Blake was perfect. So perfect that I couldn’t stand the thought of never seeing him again. Even though we had agreed that he’d pose as my boyfriend for the weekend, then we’d part ways, it didn’t work out that way. Then again, the plan may have worked if I had upheld my protests of no sex. Maybe if I’d stuck to my guns, I wouldn’t have asked him to pose as my boyfriend for future family Gatherings. Probably not. Blake exudes something intoxicating. He’s entirely too handsome with his devastating smile and the slightly unkempt hair that’s so black it seems almost blue. The near-black color of his eyes. His full lips and how they moved over my body, as if he was memorizing me in a frenzied rush.

My belly flips at the thought. I’ve fantasized about Blake’s mouth on me, kissing my most sensitive parts, for five entire months. I can hardly wait to see what this weekend will bring.

If he shows.

No. Don’t think like that. I can’t think about what I’ll do or how I’ll feel if Blake doesn’t show.

It’s been so long since the last family trip that it wouldn’t be a big surprise if he didn’t show up today. A lot can happen in five months. He could have changed his mind. He could have had plans he couldn’t break. There is an endless list of things that could keep him from coming today and I would never know because I’ve not talked to him these past few months.

That was the deal. The stupid, stupid deal I made Blake agree to.

No contact.

“Can you call him?” Erin asks like she’s reading my mind. “He should be here by now.”

“I told you he was in a meeting, so I can’t call him,” I bald-faced lie. I can’t exactly tell my sister’s best friend I don’t have my boyfriend’s number because we agreed not to see each other until the next Gathering. A decision I am regretting right now.

At the time, it seemed like a brilliant idea. I didn’t need the distraction of Blake. He was busy. I was busy. We had a good time, sure. Okay, we had brain-shattering, life-altering sex, and I wanted more, but I didn’t want to be in a relationship. I didn’twant to tie myself to another man that could and probably would end up hurting me.

My During-Jim lessons still sting after all these years.

The idea of having a fake boyfriend on call who could deliver great orgasms, then disappear when no longer needed, seemed like the perfect solution to my single-woman status at the Gatherings, but I didn’t realize how difficult it would be. Not seeing Blake again proved to be harder than I thought. I nearly lost my mind when the family canceled the Memorial Day Gathering. When they refused my suggestion to hold a weekend Gathering at the family lake house, it was like fate was blocking me from every chance I could have seen him. My father was busy with work. Lily got sick. My mother booked a TV interview for her yoga program, which was suddenly growing thanks to her TikTok posts, and had to fly out of state. The reasons my family couldn’t get together were endless, and the longer it went on, the less likely I’d ever see Blake again. Then two days ago, just when I had resigned myself to the idea that we had one fun weekend together, and that was it, my father announced a trip to the Keys.

That afternoon I went to Blake’s office, just like we agreed, hoping to catch him. When my knock went unanswered, I decided to wait. I’d sat in the small waiting area for overthirty minutes, scrolling through social media to pass the time. The office in the adjoining hall housed a physiatrist, and I sat for a good fifteen minutes with a woman who, in between crying jags, folded and refolded a snotty napkin in her lap. I wanted to grab the damn thing and throw the filthy cloth in the garbage. After sitting there for almost an hour after the woman left, I gave up and slid a note under his office door with the details.

Saturday at 8am. Silver Air Charters. The Keys for five days. Sorry for the short notice. Hope you can make it.

“Earth to Daisy,” Erin yells, waving a hand in my face.

Jolted back to the present, I turn to find Lily and Erin staring at me. “What?” I ask like I hadn’t just been lost in thoughts of Blake.

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