Page 27 of Revenge Brunch and Other Disasters

Linda blinked. “Brunch... rituals?”

Sara grinned. “You’re basically common law married. By pancake law—absolutely sacred.”

Rhys reached into the cooler like it was totally normal for people to call them common law married. He shifted through it, looking for a water. Linda saw him hesitate as he pulled up a jar of his favorite olives and a perfectly chilled Tupperware of watermelon feta salad—with red onions—which she hated with a passion and had said so often. Rhys enjoyed them.

Shit.She saw his face soften as he looked at her. Warm smile breaking his face open.

He handed her the sunscreen. No words. No asking. Just... handed it to her like he always did.

And she accepted it without thinking. Like she always did. Her heart made a sound she refused to name.

It was too easy. That was the problem.

They all settled on the blanket. Sir Stumps curled up between Linda’s feet with a happy sigh and immediately began judging everyone.

Linda tried to focus on arranging food instead of the fact that Rhys was sitting close enough that their legs touched.

Sara pulled out a bag of pita chips. “So, Ryan. Ask them your icebreaker question.”

Ryan grinned and wagged a finger between them. “Right! Okay—who said ‘I love you’ first?”

Linda choked on her lemonade. Rhys casually patted her back like this was a normal thing that happened all the time.

“That’s classified.” Rhys said, casually bumping Linda’s shoulder with his.

“Come on. There’s got to be a story.”

Linda started to speak, but Sara interrupted her. Said in an absolutely flat voice. “It’s a slow burn. You know the type. People who think they’re pretending, but they’re just falling really dramatically and everyone else has to watch.”

Linda smiled so hard her jaw hurt. “We’re very private.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to drop a feelings bomb. I just really like rom-com trivia.” Ryan said.

They ate. They laughed. Linda tried not to memorize how Rhys looked in the sunlight. How he always offered her the last bite. How he wiped a smudge of lemon curd from her cheek without thinking, like they’d been together for years.

She looked at Rhys, watching the way his eyes crinkled when he laughed at Ryan’s joke.

Brunch soulmate, she thought.

And it hurt more than she expected.

Linda realized there and then, Sara was right. They’d have to fake-breakup.

As soon as he met her parents.

Chapter Thirteen: The Coffeemaker’s To Blame, Really. If You Think About It

Rhys

RHYS HAD SURVIVED a lot of things.

Group presentations in undergrad. Getting locked in the copier room with Greg from HR during fire drill week. Accidentally replying-all to a company-wide email with a GIF of a screaming raccoon.

But he wasn’t sure he was going to survivemeeting Linda’s parents while fake dating her.

Correction: whilevery realliking her. Possiblyin lovewith her. Whilestill pretendingto need her to be his beard.Not his totally-not-crushing, emotionally safe, brunch-certified soulmate.

Which was, frankly, becoming an Olympic sport in emotional masochism.

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