Page 13 of Not Fooling Anyone

Well, that could have gone worse. Could have gone better too, but I’ll take what I can get.

She said earlier today guys like me aren’t friends with girls like her, whatever that means. But I bet by the end of this, I’ll have her opening up to me.

And if I’m lucky, maybe more.

CHAPTERTHREE

LEXIE

“Come in, come in,”Dr. Clark says, waving me forward into the room. “It’s Ethan and Alexandra, right?”

“I prefer Lexie,” I tell her, staring at all the equipment in here. I thought she was a psychologist, not a scientist.

“And I prefer Ethan,” he jokes from behind me. Ugh, when does he ever stop cracking jokes?

She smiles at him and directs us to a row of empty chairs along one wall, handing us clipboards and pens. “We just need this paperwork filled out.”

She leaves us be as she greets another couple coming in, and Ethan leans in, whispering, “You never told me your name is Alexandra.”

Does he have cologne on or something? It smells… amazing. Have I been this close to him before?

No, no. Wrong thing to focus on. “I hate my name. It’s so formal.”

“It sounds regal. How about that be the name only I call you? Like a special boyfriend thing?”

“No.”

“Okay, how about Pookie Bear?”

I glance over at him. “Try it.”

Based on the gleam in his eye, that was the wrong response.

“Hey, Ethan,” the guy who just entered says, walking over toward us. “You’re in this study too?”

Oh, God. He knows people?

“Christian.” Ethan stands, giving the man one of those weird bro handshake hugs. “How’d you hear about this?”

“Dr. Clark’s Psych class yesterday. We figured it’d be easy money. This is my girl, Amber.”

A pretty girl with dark, curly hair gives us a wave, her light brown skin complementing her boyfriend’s golden tan and blond hair. Great, now we have to compete with some gorgeous couple who are actually in love?

“The two o’clock class?” Ethan asks. “We’re in that one too.” He motions to me. “This is my girlfriend, Lexie.”

I give a head nod to the two of them, silent. At least he didn’t call me Pookie Bear.

“Good to see you know each other,” Dr. Clark says. “It was easier for us to schedule two couples at a time in here. Once you’ve finished filling out your forms, I’ll start with Lexie and Ethan in the next room.”

I stare at my clipboard, concentrating on filling out the papers rather than the fact that this lie is already spiraling out of control. Ethan knows this Christian guy and he’s in our class. That means we’ll have to act like a couple outside of the study too. It would be weird if we didn’t acknowledge each other in class and they saw. They might report us or something.

“You freaking out?” Ethan whispers in my ear.

“No.”

“Yes, you are.”

I catch myself before I roll my eyes. I realized too late yesterday he likes it when I do that. “Finish your forms,” I grit out.

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