Page 126 of Drunk on Love

“Oh no, Avery knows. I told her right away. She said she’d play along.”

Margot folded her hands together tightly. Was he really just telling her this, like it was no big deal?

“Let me get this straight. Your mom has thought for the past two months that you’re dating Avery. You told Avery this right away. She agreed to this. And then, a month ago, you and I got together. At what point did you plan on telling me that you’re supposedly dating Avery? Because I asked you about this back when your mom first mentioned it, remember? And you brushed it off. Or am I just not important enough to be in on this little scheme? Not like Avery, right?”

His face fell. He put his hand on her shoulder. She pulled away.

“No, Margot, that’s not it! I just kept forgetting to tell you, that’s all—it’s not that you weren’t important, it’s that this wasn’t important enough for me to mention it to you. I should have told you, I know that—I shouldn’t have even done this in the first place, it was stupid, I obviously know that, too. I was just embarrassed and stressed and in too deep, and the longer it went on, the harder it was to tell my mom the truth.”

“Okay,” she said. “I get all of that. Sort of. But look at thisfrom my perspective for a moment. Imagine how it felt for me, to be standing there at the party yesterday talking to your mom, who looked over at you and Avery and started talking about what a cute couple you were. I was uncomfortable when I just assumed it was wishful thinking, but now I find out she thought that because you told her so? And you’ve let her keep thinking that the whole time we’ve—”

She stopped. That they’d been what, sleeping together? It was far more than that to her, and she’d thought it was more than that to Luke, too. Had she been wrong? She was annoyed to feel tears come to her eyes. She hoped Luke didn’t see them.

“I’m so sorry,” he said. “This had nothing to do with you and me, I swear. I’m with you. I never should have lied to my mom. And I should have told you about this a long time ago. I should have told you in the car that day. But I didn’t want you to think that I’m the kind of person who lies to his mom so he doesn’t have to tell her he quit his job and feels like a failure. Please forgive me?”

She was still mad. And hurt. But she couldn’t say no to him when he looked at her like that, with those kind, worried eyes, and so much emotion on his face.

“Okay,” she said. “But can you please stop this pretense? Like, immediately?”

He nodded.

“Yeah. I’ll tell my mom right away. That the Avery thing wasn’t true, but also about you and me.”

He put his arm around her, and she leaned into his chest. She’d panicked, for a moment there. For longer than a moment. That everything between them was fake, that she was wrong to trust him, that everything she’d been so happy about last night and this morning had turned to dust.

He kissed her on her shoulder blade, and she let herself breathe again.

“Are we okay?” he asked.

She closed her eyes and breathed him in. She felt a lot more uncertain of him than she had twenty minutes ago, but she didn’t want to throw all of this away just because of a stupid thing he’d done before they’d gotten together. And she knew that he’d been telling the truth when he said it had nothing to do with them.

“Yeah,” she said. “We’re okay.”

HE PULLED HER CLOSE.He’d been terrified for a moment there that he’d fucked it all up.

“How’s your mom going to take it when you tell her that you aren’t on sabbatical, but you quit your job?”

Well, now he had to tell her about the interview.

“A lot better now than she would have a few months ago. They’re trying to get me to go back. I told you that my old boss is leaving. Well, I have an interview there this week for his job.”

After the stuff he’d told her about that job, he wasn’t sure how she’d react. She looked stunned.

“They’re trying to getyouto take that job? You’re interviewing for it this week?”

Why had she saidyoulike that? Like it was ridiculous for them to want him?

“Yeah, well, I’ve been texting back and forth with my old mentor for a while now, and last week he reached out to see if I was interested. Big pay increase, a level up, a better title, and from what I can see online, the people who most annoyed me aregone, so I wouldn’t have to deal with them on my team. From what he said, it’s mine if I want it, but I’m not counting on that.”

She pulled away from him and turned to face him. She still looked stunned, but also angry. Was she still mad about the Avery thing?

“Wait, last week he reached out to see if you were interested? And you said yes?”

He shrugged.

“I mean, I’ve been thinking about my next steps for a while, so when he texted, I figured I should at least talk to him about it. He was really complimentary about my work and what I could bring to the team, so anyway, long story short, I have this interview on Thursday.”

She pulled the sheets tighter around herself.

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