Page 57 of Faking It with the Firefighter

“You know, one that happens every week. Orange chicken and chow mein, piping hot at six-fifteen on my doorstep. I tip the kid really well, and he hasn’t been late in six months. It’s not a complicated concept, but it took me prepaying for three months’ worth of orders for them to get what I wanted. Actually, that reminds me. The payment runs out this week, so I’ll have to call them.”

Rex stared at me like I told him I’d ordered a spaceship off the internet and planned to move to Mars.

And my heart sank.

This was the moment that the bubble burst. The fun was over. He’d see the real me—the messy, couldn’t-cook-for-shit,work-obsessed Abigail who was fine as a fake girlfriend but wouldn’t cut it as the real deal.

Because wasn’t that how things always were? A guy would treat me as a conquest. He’d fight to get in my pants, and then he’d decide it was too much work to stick around.

Bracing myself, I squared my shoulders and looked at Rex?—

And found him grinning, shaking his head from side to side. “I lo—” He stopped and cleared his throat. “You are somethin’ else, Abigail.”

A flush of warmth went through me, and I leaned toward Rex, tilting my head for a kiss.

And there was another knock. This time followed by a familiar voice. “Abigail, it’s me,” Gabe called from the other side.

Rex and I were really frozen this time. “Shit, do you think he saw us?” he whispered and set me down.

And the moment my heel touched the ground, the hot moment was over. I shrugged. “I don’t know. Should I just ignore him?”

“No, we can’t do that. Our cars are in the driveway.”

I stamped my foot. “Crap.” Why did my brother have the worst timing these days? Couldn’t he just back off for a bit and let me hook up with his best friend? I knew the answer to that was a big fat NO. So I took a breath and smoothed out my skirt.

Maybe this was a good thing. Maybe we needed to cool it a little—Ineeded to cool it a little. Just a minute ago, my heart had given a leap like Rex was the man I’d been waiting for. But at the end of the day, Rex was Gabe’s best friend; he’d never choose me over Gabe, if that’s what it came down to. I wasn’t worththat kind of risk. It sucked to admit, but I knew it was true.

“Do I look okay?” I asked.

Rex nodded. “What about me?”

I gave him a once-over and wiped a touch of my lipstick from his mouth. “You’re good now.”

Gabe banged at the door again, and I finally opened it. I gave him my best smile, which was the one I’d used for particularly difficult clients. “Hey, what’s up?”

Gabe gave me a funny look. “I finished my shift and we had a bunch of leftover wings. Thought I’d drop them off for all of you.” He held up a takeout bag. Sure, he would bring me leftovers from work from time to time. But I got the distinct feeling this wasn’t one of those times, especially with the way he was giving Rex the once-over as well.

I glanced over my shoulder to check for any more stray lipstick marks. Not finding any, I turned back to my brother and took the bag. “Aw, thanks, Gabe. That’s so nice.”

“Are you going to invite me in?” he asked.

My smile got wider. “Of course! Come on in.”

As Gabe stepped into the foyer, I heard Rex take a step back behind me. The two bros looked at one another.

“Hey, man, how’s it going?” Rex greeted him.

“Good. What are you two up to?” my brother asked.

“Nothing,” I said, a little above my normal pitch. “I just got home from work.”

“Yeah, me too,” Rex offered, lowering his eyes.

“Well, I brought some dinner. There’s plenty for you and the bride and groom. Speaking of, where is the soon-to-be-wed couple?”

Rex and I shared a look, but Rex answered honestly. “They took off for DC for the day.”

Gabe nodded. “And they’re staying the night there?”

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