Page 65 of Faking Romance

Cam walks up and stands next to Carly, folding her arms over her chest.

“Oh? Did your tongue just fall into Lydia’s mouth by mistake?” she asks with a raised eyebrow.

Everyone falls silent and looks at me. By now, most of them had figured out we were really dating.

“Lydia kissed me. And as I pushed away, Roxy happened to find us,” I explain as calmly as I can muster.

“Right. ’Cause it’s so easy to accidentally lean all the way up and kiss you,” Cam says with a glare.

“For fuck’s sake, I didn’t kiss Lydia. I hate Lydia. After Roxy left, I had a big fight with her and told her to fucking leave my parents’ home. Then I had a big fight with my parents and left,” I state. I don’t mention how my mom screamed at me for ruining my dad’s birthday dinner or how Adriana tried to side with me and my dad told her to shut up and how I practically punched him for talking to my sister that way. It was bad. Lydia just stood by and then tried to hug me, but I stormed out of there before I made an even bigger mistake.

“Does Pierce know about your relationship situation?” Cam asks and I suddenly feel panicked. Pierce knows nothing. For all intents and purposes, he thinks we’re still together and have been together.

“Pierce isn’t part of this situation,” I say as I stand because I don’t need this shit from my friends right now.

Cam smirks and my stomach drops. “What?” I ask.

“Jocelyn spilled the beans,” she says. Then I see her look a little sorry. “Sorry, Gray. I know you were trying to make a good impression with him.”

I pause mid-step and stare at her. “What do you mean?”

She pats my shoulder. “Haven, his wife, came by the store this afternoon, and uh, well, Jocelyn thought you guys had told her the truth since it was all real…it was real, right?”

I groan. “Yes. What did she say exactly?”

Cam bites her lip and then releases it. “She said you guys had been real dating after starting fake dating and then she said you had fake dated to impress Pierce.”

The blood drains from my face. “What?” I whisper.

“Uh, yeah. I just happened to be in the store picking Drew and me up some books we’d ordered. So I heard everything,” she says with a sheepish look.

“What did Roxy say?” I ask.

“Oh, Roxy wasn’t there. She had to pick up packages from the post office,” Cam explains.

Carly nods. “That’s when I walked in to see if Cam was able to make me a latte before I picked up Ava from her after-school program.”

“So Roxy doesn’t know this happened?” I ask.

They both shrug.

“Damn it! I told her to tell Jocelyn not to say anything. Just like I told you guys,” I say with a huff as I rub the bridge of my nose.

“Well, message not received,” Cam says. “Sorry, Gray.”

“What are you sorry for, dear?” Margie asks as she steps out of the stairwell with Cornelia in tow.

“Jocelyn broke the fake-relationship news to Pierce’s wife,” Cam yells over her shoulder.

“Well, fuck a duck! That’s no good,” Margie says as she walks over to me and pats my arm. “What can we do?”

“Where’s Roxy?” I growl.

“Closing up the store,” Carly says as Ava walks over from where she was sitting at the table under the umbrella and coloring something.

“What does fuck a duck mean, Mommy?” she asks.

Cornelia whacks Margie on the back of the head. And Margie mouths, “Sorry.”

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