Page 17 of The Enemy of My Enemy Is… My Fake Boyfriend?

"Let's go to the Midnight Café and pig out."

That did sound good. I hadn't been out of the house since... well, since Ethan and I had dumped Chase's shoes at the park. On the other hand, the strength required to actually get up and get decent seemed like a Herculean task.

"You don't even have to change," Astrid said. "Just pull your hoodie up and let's go."

I weighed the effort versus the reward, and I just couldn't do it. Not right now anyway. "I don't think I can. Not yet. I think... I think I just need to take a nap."

Another look exchanged between the two of them before Annalise patted my leg. "Okay, sweetums, I get it. We'll let you wallow a little more. But that's it. We'll be back. On Sunday. I need your help with my makeover, remember?"

"How could I forget?"

A few hugs later and they were off, leaving me in my misery. Picking up my phone, I scrolled some more, knowing it was the worst possible thing I could do, but it was like passing by a car wreck. I couldn't help but look. Something inside me had to know. Or maybe I just wanted to punish myself for some reason.

After all, didn't a shallow, stupid person like me deserve it?

Six

Aria

Pulling my hoodie tighter around my face, I walked into the Midnight Café. After a long nap, I'd woken up starving, especially since I'd had repeated dreams about their raspberry scones. Because it was two in the morning, I felt confident in exiting my building from the front door and walking down the street to the twenty-four-hour corner café/bookstore undetected.

And so far, I'd been successful.

There were a few people inside, mostly insomniacs resembling me with their hoods up, looking for a caffeine fix or sugar rush while escaping some kind of hellish personal demons.

Studying the counter, I saw it was the usual late-night crew who were always pretty cool with me. Had they read the gossip sites and seen what a supposed monster I was now?

Attempting a steadying breath, I stepped forward, my mind on the prize... that delicious berry goodness with lemon drizzle icing. It'd be worth it. It had to be worth it.

The guy with the long hair, Chris, smiled at me, our eyes meeting. His welcoming expression faltered for a fraction of a second before popping back into place, but it told me everything.

He recognized me, and he knew all the gossip.

Great.

"Hey," he said, "haven't seen you for a while. I hope you're doing all right."

God, just that simple nicety nearly broke me. "I've been better," I said in a low voice, praying it wouldn't crack. "But thanks for that."

"Of course. Of course." His head bobbed up and down in a nod. "Would you like your usual?"

"Yes, please."

"Go have a seat and I'll bring it out to you," he said, turning his back to me as he got busy.

He didn't waste time, didn't question me further, and I'd be eternally grateful to him for that.

After a brief study of the seating area, I found a spot in the corner where I could see everything going on but also stay out of sight hopefully.

Chris brought me my scone as well as a piping hot cup of herbal tea. "It's on the house."

Before I could argue, he'd already moved on to help another lost soul at the counter. At least I had one person on my side besides my family.

Blowing on the tea, my mind took a cynical turn. It was only because I was a good tipper of course. That was why.

He didn't really know me or know what was in my heart. The only thing he had to go by was that I always said hi, behaved in a friendly manner, and tipped well.

On the other hand, maybe those things said a lot about a person. Especially a person with money. After all, Chase had always treated the wait staff everywhere we went poorly, barely acknowledging them at best.

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