Page 98 of The Pretender

Yeah, I said it. I love you and I know deep down in that demon soul of yours, you love me too. I couldn’t let you leave without one more prank. If you want to get on the plane, you know where to meet me for the ticket.

Tweener

Aka your bestie

Aka Vee

Aka yours

No one needsto see the ridiculous smile I’m sporting right now.

I pull out my phone and text Maverick.

Me: Can you turn around?

His response is immediate.

Maverick: Never left the parking lot.

I turnand walk back to the parking lot, apologizing to the TSA agent for the mix-up.

Me: She got to you, didn’t she?

Maverick: She needed a favor.

And Maverick isthe granter of all things.

Me: You just couldn’t leave it alone.

Maverick: Don’t take it personally. Ainsley is a sucker for happy endings.

Honestly,just knowing Vee wants to see me makes me stupidly happy. And bringing my friends in on this prank… solidifies my decision.

* * *

Maverick dropsme off at my house, and I don’t bother with getting my keys. The door is already unlocked.

“You know,” I say, setting my bag down and striding to the kitchen, where the girl who dressed up as a guy for two months sits at my counter with two shots of moonshine in front of her. She has that fucking wig on, and I can’t help the grin that emerges.

“I’m beginning to think you’re a serial burglar. This makes, what, four times you picked my locks? I’m assuming you broke in and stole my ticket?”

She smiles and it’s all teeth. “Actually, Rowan stole the ticket. So, technically, I only broke in three times.”

I take a seat next to her, and she slides the shot in front of me. “One last drink between friends.”

I take the shot glass and we turn them up at the same time. “Another?” I say, licking the last of the liquor off my lips. She cocks her head to the side, wondering what I’m up to. “But maybe we drink to the first of many between lovers.”

Her mouth drops open, and I grab her bar stool and slide her toward me so that she’s in between my legs. “Because I love you too and I’m not going fucking anywhere.”

With absolutely no restraint, I let every bit of anxiety I’ve experienced over leaving her channel into the feeling of pressing my lips to hers, giving her everything I never thought I would feel for a woman. I steal her breath, crushing her face to mine until she pulls back, her dark eyes meeting mine. She smiles, running her hands through my hair. “I’d love that, bro.”

EPILOGUE

Valentina

One year later and that time I won the prank war. You’re welcome.

“Rowan will probably bring moonshine if you want that instead of beer.”

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