Page 45 of Not Fooling Anyone

“Yeah. I told you, I don’t want to be tripped up if they ask us something during the study.”

“They haven’t asked us anything personal other than, what? How we met?”

“Yeah, it’s annoying. All that time spent studying your answers for nothing.”

He holds a hand to his chest, acting affronted, even as he smiles. “Learning about me meant nothing to you?”

My lips twist. “You know what I mean.”

He nods, sticking his hands in the pockets of his gym shorts. “What are you up to for the rest of the night?”

I sigh, raking a hand through my hair. “Finishing upWar and Peacebefore class tomorrow.” Something occurs to me then. “Hey, you read it, didn’t you? Not just watched the movie?”

A smirk crosses his face. “Guilty.”

“Well, if I fall asleep tonight reading it, I’ll ask you tomorrow in class how it ends.”

He nods. “It’s a deal. Good luck with it.”

There’s an awkward pause as the conversation dies out. Two other people might hug goodbye at this point, but that’s not who we are. It was already bad enough he had to comfort me not once, but twice today.

“Goodnight, Ethan.”

“Night.”

I get in my car, the engine taking a couple tries to catch, and reverse out of the space, Ethan watching me all the while. He raises his hand in farewell as I speed away, and I cautiously lift mine in return.

Does he wave goodbye to everyone or something?

Flicking on the lights as I walk into my empty apartment ten minutes later, I set my stuff down on the couch, retrieving the novel I need to finish out of my bag. I settle into the cushions, pulling Travis’s plush throw blanket he keeps across the back of the couch over my legs, and prop a pillow under my head.

There. All set to knock this book out.

Except, despite wanting to find out what happens to Pierre and Natasha, my mind can’t focus. It keeps going back to… Ethan.

Him lightly stroking my arm in the lab, massaging my neck. Then wrapping my hand and rubbing my back in the gym. Has anyone else been so tactile with me? And, to be fair, have I let them?

So why am I letting him?

I shake my head at my inane train of thought. Because he’s my fake boyfriend, that’s why.

You two didn’t have any reason to do that at the gym.

We just need to be… comfortable with one another. It’s part of the act. The more at ease we are with each other, the more natural we’ll seem as a couple in the lab.

And besides, with any other girl, the things Ethan was doing would be barely anything. Just another day.

But to me…

I pick up my book, forcing the words in my line of sight, putting anything from earlier today aside. It didn’t mean anything special.

Even if I thought for a moment it might have.

CHAPTERTEN

ETHAN

All right.New test strip? Check. Fresh lancet? Check.

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