Page 43 of The Faking Game

“You must turn down guys all the time.”

“Yes, for a first date. But I struggle with the rest of it. Like once I’m seeing them, it just feels like…” I blow out a breath. “How do I tell them to slow down? That I might want to see them again, but I’m not sure yet? That I don’t want dinner, I want a walk in the park?”

“I’m not surprised by that.” He glances my way, and I can see his jaw working. “You were masking the entire night.”

“Masking?”

“Wearing a mask.Performing.You didn’t want the candy. And that movie? It was terrible, but you said yes because I stated a preference.”

I turn to him. “That was on purpose?”

He chuckles darkly. “Well, I wasn’t exactly enjoying myself. Of course it was on purpose.”

“You were testing me.”

“If you’d be honest about what you want? Leave halfway through?Doanything?Yes.” He shakes his head. “You’re too nice. You’re nice to everyone except me. I want you to show them the person I see.”

It’s something I’ve heard before. But it’s not an easy habit to break when making people happy feels sogoodin the moment.

“I’m not nice with you because I know you can take it,” I tell him.

“So can the others,” he says. “And when you’re being overly nice to them, Nora? You’re not showing them the real you. And the real you is someone with teeth.”

He’s right. And I didn’t push him away.

But I think that’s because I wanted him to kiss me.

CHAPTER14

WEST

Nora is a beautiful actress.

She’s sitting opposite me now at the long walnut table in Fairhaven’s dining room. The perfect girlfriend, the attentive guest.

The annoyed Nora she shows me sometimes, green eyes blazing and claws out, is nowhere to be seen.

Now she’s wearing a polite smile, her eyes dancing around the table at my family members. Her hair is back in a low bun, and there’s a string of pearls around her neck. She’s in some kind of light blue sweater and skirt combo.

She looks bright. Brimming with positive energy. The perfect date to show off to the people around this table.

Which is exactly what I asked of her. A statement to my mother. Nora obliged, andstill.I look at the mask she’s wearing, and I want to tear it off.

My sister is having too much fun with this. While my mother asks Nora questions and my aunt and uncle regale her with stories of Fairhaven, Amber shoots me too-long glances.

“West,” she says.

I turn to her. “Yes?”

“Can you pass me the salt?”

I hand it to her and hold on to it one second longer.Behave,I tell her with my gaze. Her smile widens. “Thank you, dearest brother.”

She’s never once called me that, and I resist the urge to roll my eyes.

My mother has already asked Nora about Rafe, about her upbringing, her job, what she came here to do. She’s the picture of a benevolent queen in the house she used to live in. Once, this room was in constant rotation, she and my father entertaining night after night.

That was then. Now it’s mostly empty. The family fractured and none of us willing to pick up the pieces. She lives in the city now, closer to friends and the world she can control. The opera. Luncheons. The ballet.

---