Page 46 of The Faking Game

Well, I’ve listened to her brother’s stories. She got that dog on her fifth birthday. Rafe went with his mom to pick out the shepherd puppy.

“And what was your first date?” my sister asks. “I mean, I can imagine it must have been hard, with Rafe being one of your oldest friends.”

“Amber, no need to quiz them,” Mom says. She sets down her cutlery. “But yes. Tell us about the courtship.”

Jesus fucking Christ.

I look around the table. This isn’t something I’ll force her into telling. “Like I said, we were both in Switzerland over New Year’s. Rafe, James, Alex and I were only skiing for a few days. Nora showed up with her girlfriends.”

This part is true enough. But we only crossed paths for a day, nothing more, and there was almost no conversation between us. She smiled at us all, kissed Alex’s cheek, hugged James. Gave me a short look that had none of her pleasantness or soft smiles.

Areallook.

“On the last day I asked her to ski with me,” I say. “Rafe had business to attend to; Alex was hungover, and James had already left. No one knew that we headed out, just us.”

“It was unexpected,” Nora says. Her eyes flick up to mine, and there’s a challenge there, too. “I wasn’t sure if he’d be able to keep up with me on the slopes.”

My lips curve. She’s got the Alps in her blood. “I kept up.”

“He didn’t tell me it was a date until we were down the slope,” Nora says. She’s looking at my mother, smiling. “As for my brother… we spoke with him together a month later.”

Mom makes a low, thoughtful sound. “Interesting. How did Rafe take it?”

“He was surprised at first. But ultimately, he’s supportive,” Nora says. Her smile doesn’t waver, but her voice grows tighter. “He wants me to be happy.”

He would never react like that.

But the others don’t need to know that. Nora’s hand is tight around the glass when she lifts the wine to her mouth, like she heard the lie as clearly as I did.

The servers come to clear out the dessert course. My mother looks around the table. “Shall we move to the living room?”

“Let’s,” my uncle agrees. “Do you still have some of that whiskey, West?”

“I do. Help yourself.”

I stand behind my chair and roll up my sleeves, waiting for when Amber has to walk around and pass me.

“What,” I mutter, “the hell was that?”

She smiles. “I was just showing an interest in my brother’s love life.”

“Well, stop being interested.”

“I’m just having fun,” she says. Her face is all innocence, and I give her a glare.“If you’re going to perform for Mom, why can’t I?”

“You’re a brat,” I tell her.

She pats my shoulder and glides past me. “Yes. And you love me.”

That leaves just me and Nora, who’s standing opposite me, at the large dining room table. She’s flanked by the two large French doors behind her, closed to the patio and the ocean beyond.

Her face isn’t placid or soft anymore. She glances over her shoulder and takes a step closer. “I hate negronis,” she says in a low voice.

I shift to rolling up my right sleeve. “Too bad. They’re now your favorite drink.”

“West, we don’t know anything about each other!”

“I think you did very well,” I say dryly. “I’m never going to live downHot Pursuit IIbeing my favorite movie.”

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