Page 25 of The Love Trick

“Oh, come on.” Addy rolls her eyes. “No one will know.”

“I will know,” I say with a shrug. “And that’s enough.”

She sighs, raking her fingers through her hair. “Okay, fine. I’m not going to argue with you—but only because I don’t want to make a scene in front of my family.” Her lips purse as we arrive at the gate, and she leads me right into the lion’s den. “Hey, Granny.”

She glares at me. “You’re the boyfriend?”

“Yes, ma’am,” I answer, trying to hold her cold, icy blue eyes without shivering. “That’s me… The boyfriend.”

“Aren’t you her hockey player friend from college?” She blinks, her nose crinkling as she gives me a once-over.

“Yes, ma’am,” I answer, hoping my Levi jeans and white T-shirt don’t put her off. I mean, we’re just riding on a plane…

“Hmm,” she says, and then turns to Addy. “Why?”

“Why what?” Addy sputters.

“Why him?”

Addy looks up at me and then back at her granny. “Whynothim?” She’s growing defensive. “I love him.”

I’ve heard her say those three words a million times, but it hits differently this time. Because she’s inferring she’sinlove with me—and despite the fact I know this is completely fake, my heart reacts with palpitations.

Must be the caffeine, right?

Thankfully, the call to board sounds out before Granny can say anything more. I do my best to shake it off and follow Addy onto the plane. Together with her family, we occupy most of the first-class seating, and I let Addy take the window seat.

“Okay, I gotta know,” I begin, keeping my voice low, unable to hold back my curiosity any longer. “Why’d you have to make it sound like things are so serious between us? You were so casual dropping those three words…”

Addy looks over at me, her cheeks reddening. “I’msosorry. I guess I just … I panicked, and those were the first words to come out. I mean, Idolove you, so that counts for something, right?”

I sigh, pulling out my phone and putting it on airplane mode. “Yeah, it does. It’s just going to make things a lot harder to explain when we break up right after this trip.”

Addy leans in close, lowering her voice. “Maybe we can just say we realized our love is based on friendship, and that we’re just not romantically compatible. That happens.”

“Yeah, and somehow, we’ll remain best friends as if neither of us got our hearts broken? Totally believable,” I mutter, glancing around at everyone chatting among themselves before turning back to Addy. “Breakups areneverthat easy.”

She laughs and squeezes my arm. “They are when they’re not real.”

I nod, trying to convince myself of that. “Yeah, I guess I’m overthinking this whole thing, huh?” I laugh it off, shaking my head as the nerves still cling to my body like a bad virus.

“It’s just what you do.” Addy nudges me playfully, and I chuckle as she starts digging out a book.

“What’s this one about?” I ask, noting the illustrated people on the cover next to the ocean. “Beach read?”

She angles the cover toward me. “I figured maybe it’d help me know whatnotto do on this trip.”

I read the title and immediately roll my eyes. “My Fake Hawaiian Date.”

She giggles. “I mean, it’s a romance, so obviously, these two fictional characters fall in love. I just have to make sure wedon’tdo that.” Her voice loses its confidence, and for a split second, I think she might be unsure…

But the moment is brief.

“Well, I guess just let me know what you learn,” I say, leaning back against the headrest. I shut my eyes as the plane takes off, and that’s when I realize there’s no going back.

This is it.

I’m going to Hawaii with Addy as her fake boyfriend.

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