Page 88 of Play Pretend

“So…no?” she teased, and I grinned.

“I don’t know,” I said honestly. “Do you think I should?” She tilted her head to the side at the question.

“I can’t make that decision for you,” she murmured. “But whatever you choose, I’ll support you.”

I tapped the table a few times before slicing into my pancakes. I needed to change the subject. That was too heavy of a conversation for the morning.

“What are your plans today? I assume you’re off work?” I asked around a bite of food. I nearly groaned at the flavor. How had she managed to make the best pancakes I’d ever tasted with the few things I had in my kitchen? “These are amazing.”

“Thanks.” She laughed, taking a bite. “And yeah, Gracie told me to take the next few days off. When do you go in?”

I shook my head. “I don’t. I’m off until you go back.”

“What?”

I chewed slowly. “What?”

“You took off work?”

“Yes…” I was confused. “Of course I did. I didn’t want you to be alone.”

She didn’t say anything, just stared at me. “I can’t believe you’re a real person,” she said. The corner of my mouth lifted in a grin. “I don’t have any plans today.”

“Great,” I said, cutting another piece. She stabbed a strawberry with her fork. “Will you go to the beach with me?”

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. “The beach? Why?”

I didn’t want to tell her what I had up my sleeve. But her journal said our first date was at the beach, of course. So, I wanted to take her there. If I told her that, I was worried she’d think I was a creep.

Instead, I just finished my pancake and moved onto the next one. She bugged me about it for the rest of breakfast, but I just smiled. And when she ran off to get dressed and I cleaned up the kitchen, I couldn’t help but think how normal everything felt.

How right it all felt.

She slotted perfectly into my life, and if she decided she didn’treallywant to be with me, I knew the pain would kill me. But I had to try—I had to make her really fall in love with me.

And that started with a day at the beach.

willow

“Mom, I’m fine,” I groaned out, tipping my head back. The sunlight warmed my face as I squeezed my eyes shut.

“Your house was broken into!” she cried. “You could’ve been killed! Or kidnapped! Or worse!”

“What’s worse than that?” I asked dryly.

“I don’t know. Getting sold onto the black market.”

“I mean, yeah, that would’ve been worse.” She continued freaking out, and I gave Ronan an apologetic look. I pulled the phone from my ear and muted it. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s alright, shortcake.” He chuckled, and went back to mindlessly scrolling on his phone.

“I’m FaceTiming you,” she declared. “I have to see that you’re alright.”

“Mom, I’m fine—” But before the words could fully leave my mouth, the FaceTime ringtone filled the air. I let out another groan as I answered. “See? All fine.”

“Oh, my baby.” She dabbed her eye. “I can’t believe I wasn’t there to kick that guy’s ass!” I huffed out a laugh, glancing quickly at Ronan, finding him smirking. “You must’ve been terrified.”

“It was pretty scary,” I admitted. “But nothing I couldn’t handle. It’s not a big deal.”

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