Page 25 of Faking It with My Bossy Ex

“Something funny?” Dylan asks, his voice snapping me back to reality. I shove my phone into my pocket before he can catch a glimpse.

“Nothing.” No need to let him know about Leo. If Dylan knew, he’d either never let me hear the end of it or find a way to make it worse.

“We should get back to the inn before dark. Unless you like the dark. In that case, take as long as you’d like.” He teases, a glint in his eye that makes me roll mine. He’d probably love it if I tripped and had to rely on him again.

“Okay. I’m almost done here.” I’m not going to dignify his insinuation with a response. I finish up, then hurry to put my coat and snowshoes on. I’m not about to risk a repeat of Dylan’s performance earlier. His antics nearly killed me from embarrassment.

The street is bustling. People are coming and going from the different shops and cafes. This is a very busy town during the holidays. We veer off Main Street and make our way to the trail back toward the Cozy Haven Inn.

The snow gets deeper and deeper, My boots crunch through the surface until—

“Watch out. Wouldn’t want to lose you out here.” Dylan calls. I pitch forward, but then there's Dylan's hand, wrapping around my waist. Solid. My heart does this ridiculous little flip. Ridiculous.

“What would you do without me?” His hand lingers on my waist before he pulls back.

“Honestly? I don’t know.”

His free hand brushes a snowflake from my cheek, warming my skin. My heart trembles. I wish he’d have left it there a second longer. Flecks of blue dance in thegreen, catching the soft glow of the evening light. The world narrows to just us.

My lips part, and my mind struggles to catch up and come up with a good comeback. “What I meant was at the fundraiser. I mean, organizing the fundraiser since you need my help … never mind.”

He lets me go with a devilish smile. He knows exactly what he’s doing to fluster me.

“What did Megan mean when she said that you swore off men after what happened in Europe?” he asks, as if it’s no big deal.

My heart skips a beat. Of course, he heard that. Selective listening is one of his skills. Probably got a degree in it at one point.

“It was nothing.” Nothing I want to tell him about, anyway. What happened in Europe should stay in Europe. Half of why Teddy could get my attention in the first place was because I was so destroyed over losing Dylan.

He swooped in, said all the right things, and had me swooning over him to distract myself. Then, when I started to care, he walked away, shattering what was left of my broken heart.

“It was obviously something if you told your friend about it,” Dylan persists. He steps in closer as the path gets narrow, and I look for any space I can leverage to put some distance between us. Getting trapped right where Dylan wants me is not on my to-do list tonight.

“I’m not telling you.” I haven’t even told Leo about what happened in Europe. The only reason Megan knew was because she was in the room when I told Laura over the phone and didn’t realize she was on speakerphone. It was completely accidental.

Believe it or not, I don't enjoy broadcasting personal embarrassments across continents.

What right does he have to know, anyway?

“I could trade you for it.” He moves his eyebrows up and down.

“No thanks. You can’t tell me what to do out here.” I smile sweetly at him. All day, he’s been ordering me around, telling me just how to do things and where to put things. It’s my turn to call the shots when we’re talking about my life.

It’s satisfying to see him try to hold back, even though I can tell he’s itching to know more.

“Fine. I’m sure I’ll find out, eventually.” He shrugs. Will he? Goodness, I hope he doesn’t. I manage to steer clear of the topic all the way back to Cozy Haven. When we step out of the trees, a pile of people are in the open field out in front of the Cozy Haven cabins.

Mrs. Parker is there too, and her face lights up when she spots us. She waves at us crazily, encouraging us to hurry over.

“There you two are! Just in time for the first part of our couple’s competition.” Everyone in the group turns to look our way at her words.

“Great. Are we really going to compete in this thing?” Maybe we could tell her that one of us feels sick. We could order chicken soup to really sell it. I’d go for a bowl of hot soup right now, a bubble bath, and an adventure novel in front of the fireplace.

“Of course we’re competing. Got to keep up the image now.” Dylan wraps his arm around my shoulder and pulls me close. My breath escapes me, leaving me with a gasp on my lips. His height is so noticeable when he’s hugging me. My head comes just up to his perfectly sculpted chest.

“What are you doing?” I hiss as we get closer to the group.

“Playing the part,” he whispers, a smirk tugging at his lips. He’s definitely enjoying this too much, and I’m absolutely certain the warmth of his arm isn’t making my pulse flutter.

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