Page 21 of Fake Coral and Keys

Erin cackles. “What do you mean, you ‘don’tdo’pictures?”

“I don’t post images online,” he says. “I like to keep my life private.”

“So, you like, don’t have an Instagram?” Lily asks as if she can’t comprehend a person not being obsessed with posting images of themselves.

“I can’t find him,” Erin says, scrolling madly through her phone. “There’s like a gazillion Blake Ryder’s.”

Lily peers over her shoulder. “I bet it’s that one.”

“But there are no pictures,” Erin says. “And your profile picture is of a cat on a motorcycle.”

Blake nods. “Yes.”

Lily gasps, grabbing the phone. “This is crazy. Why have an account if you don’t post anything?”

“So I can look at other people’s pictures,” Blake says. He squeezes my hip, pressing me to him. “Daisy has some pretty pictures on there.”

My face heats. Did Blake just admit to looking at my profile? For any actual boyfriend, that’d be normal, but a fake boyfriend isn’t supposed to look. He’s not supposed to care.

Erin presses her hand to her heart. “You mean your boyfriend actually looks at your profile?”

“I wish Kane looked at mine.” Lily shoots her fiancé a scathing look. “You’d think he’d look more since his face is always in his phone.”

Kane glances up. “There is no need. You show me a million pictures of the same thing every time you post just one.”

Lily waves his words off and turns back to Blake. “Let’s get one of you and Daisy before the sun goes down completely.”

He stiffens next to me. “I’ll take a picture for you, but not for Instagram.”

Lily’s shoulders sag. She gives up and grabs Kane’s hand, forcing him to take a selfie with her.

“Ouch,” Justine says. “Another boyfriend that doesn’t want any pictures with you.”

“Another?” Lily asks, freezing mid-selfie to look my way. “You had a boyfriend before, Blake?”

“That Jim guy,” Erin reminds her.

“That’s right,” Lily says, resuming her selfie. She nudges Kane to put his phone down and plasters a smile on her face. Between shots, she asks, “How come Justine knows about him, and we don’t?”

Because Justine was at the wrong place at the wrong time.

I suck in a breath. What do I say? It will lead to a million more questions if I tell them the truth. I can’t exactly tell them she found out I was seeing Jim because she was in the same parking lot the day Jim shoved me against the car and threatened to strangle me.

Justine shoots me a smooth smile. “We were in the same restaurant one night.”

Okay. So Justine just lied. The breath I’d been holding rushes out. So she’s not spilling anything. Just yet.

I give her an equally fake smile. If she talks, I’ll talk right back. Then they’ll know exactly what she did. “That’s right. I’d forgotten about that.”

“He made quite a first impression,” Justine says, a smug grin sliding into place. “The way he spoke to you was… endearing.”

My mother comes up and wraps an arm around Justine’s waist. “I highly doubt Blake wants to hear about Daisy’s previous lovers.”

Blake shifts next to me, squeezing me tightly to him. “She’s mine now. That’s all that matters.”

Justine pats Blake’s arm. “As long as you aren’t like Jim, Daisy should be fine.”

My mother’s eyes shoot to me. Her mouth turns down at the corner, the same way it did when I was little, and she’d catch me lying. There are going to be questions. Many questions. Thankfully, she breaks the intense stare and steers Justine away. Erin and Lily pack up their tripod as Amber joins them. They chat about the dresses we’ll all be modeling tomorrow after yoga class.

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