Page 32 of Faking Romance

I glare at him. I just told this man that I’m attracted to my fake girlfriend. And I sure as fuck am not letting another guy date her while I have feelings for her. “Don’t even try it.”

Hutch grins. “I knew you liked her. It’s not just about being attracted to her. There’s definitely something going on between you two and it’s not fake.”

“That’s what I was saying,” Bray chimes in with a laugh. “You’d have to be blind not to notice the sexual tension between you two.”

I groan and put my head in my hands. “Guys, I need real advice here.”

Bray leans forward and looks at me. “Ask her out for real.”

Sighing, I look at him. “I can’t do that. We already have an agreement, and it would be weird.”

“It’s weird anyways. Who cares?” Hutch says with a laugh.

I point to both of them. “You cannot tell anyone about this.”

Hutch holds up his hands in defense. “OK. No worries. I’m not saying anything. But hear me out, if she didn’t like you, she wouldn’t be agreeing to all of this. If there wasn’t something there, she’d have walked out of that bar and left your pitiful ass standing all alone. But she didn’t. So that’s something.”

“Fuck, Hutch. When did you get all romance-y Yoda on us?” Bray asks.

“I had lady skills back in the day,” Hutch says with a smirk.

I look from one friend to the other. Maybe they are right. Maybe I should just ask her out for real? But how do I even do that? She’d probably just laugh in my face. And then, there’s my worry of getting hurt again.

“Stop thinking about Lydia. She was a—” Bray starts.

I hold up a hand. “We don’t need to Lydia bash tonight.”

“Bray’s not wrong, Gray. That woman fucked you up good. But she was all wrong for you. Roxy is…different. And maybe that’s just what you need,” Hutch says.

I consider his words for a long moment. He’s got a point about Roxy being different. I’ve never met anyone like her. If anything, she sort of freaks me out. She also annoys the fuck out of me. Maybe this is a bad idea, and I should just keep it fake.

“It’s not a bad idea,” Bray says.

Shit, did I say that last part out loud?

Bray rolls his eyes. “I know what you are thinking. I get it. She’s your neighbor. You guys got off to a rough start. This could be a big mess. But, Gray, sometimes life is messy. You need to get back on the horse, my friend.”

“Plus, she reads romance,” Hutch says.

“What?” I ask as my brows furrow.

“She lent me her favorite book at happy hour, and I couldn’t put that fucker down. Like a great plot, but holy sex in a book. Anyhow, you should read it. I’ll lend it to you, as research. I wasn’t a romance fan before, but after reading that, I think I am now. And you might get some tips from it,” Hutch explains.

“Down, boy,” Bray teases.

“What? I’ll lend it to you too. You could use some pointers. Consider it an educational fiction read,” Hutch counters.

“For the love of…guys, can we focus here? I don’t need a book. I just need to figure out what to do about Roxy,” I say.

“Well, when are you seeing her next?” Bray asks.

“Tuesday.” I look from Bray to Hutch and I can already tell I should have just gone to Al for advice.

“Bring flowers,” Hutch says.

“No,” I state emphatically.

“Get her talking,” Bray suggests. “The more intel you get, the easier it will be to figure out how to get her to really like you.”

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