Page 48 of Wish I Didn't Want You Back

He gave us a slight nod and slinked away into the crowd.

I spun around when he disappeared. “You didn’t need to scare him off. I was handling it.”

He crossed his arms. “It didn’t look like it to me.”

“He was just being friendly.”

His eyes squinted under the low lighting. “He can go be friendly somewhere else.”

Every inch of him was coiled tight.

I stared at him. “Are you jealous?”

“No,” he said way too quickly. His jaw tightened, and I couldn’t help but grin.

I trailed my fingers up his shirt, teasing the edge of his collar. “You are.”

He frowned at my hand, and somehow that made me feel less annoyed.

“Harlow, don’t.”

“Don’t what?” I teased, stepping closer. My conversation with Molly now played on repeat in my brain. Maybe she was on to something, or maybe it was the vodka.

“Don’t get any ideas in your head.” His eyes flicked to my mouth.

For a guy who was pretending not to care, he sure was doing a terrible job at convincing me he didn’t feel anything.

I tilted my face up to his. “You really think I don’t see how your jaw clenches every time another man looks at me?”

He didn’t answer me right away, but with the way his gaze burned into mine, I knew I had my answer. He didn’t need to say anything; the confirmation was written all over his face.

He shook his head. “You’re being ridiculous.”

“No, you are.” I pushed on his chest. Not hard, but enough for him to get the point. If he wanted to glower like a caveman, he could at least do it from across the room. “This is fake, remember? You don’t get to act like the jealous boyfriend.”

He hauled me in by the wrist. “Fiancé.”

“Fake Fiancé,” I corrected. He’s been sending me mixed signals all night. I was ready to lose my mind.

He closed the space between us and towered over me. “I figured you needed a reminder because you didn’t seem to mind the attention when he was flirting with you.”

He was the one who kept reminding me that this was only pretend. He was the one who asked me to come out tonight, and now he had the audacity to act jealous because some random stranger talked to me.

I rested my hand on his chest. “What does it matter? This is all for show, remember?”

The song changed to something slower. People started to walk off, but Brooks didn’t move. His hand slid along my back, anchoring me to him. “Just because this is fake doesn’t mean you can go messing around when you are supposed to be mine.”

“Wait… what?” I tilted my head up to meet his gaze. “I barely said two words to the guy. I was about to leave when you came storming over, acting like a guard dog.”

He gripped my waist. “You were going to let him touch you.”

I yanked my wrist free. “I most certainly wasn’t.”

I barely said a word to the guy.

His jaw ticked. “Looked like it to me.”

A short, humorous laugh escaped me. Not because it was funny, but because this entire situation was absurd. “I agreed tothis arrangement, but I must have missed the part where you try to dictate what I do and who I talk to.”

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