Page 16 of Knot Really Engaged
She narrows her eyes at me, her lips pursing in that adorable way when she’s annoyed. “Leave it to me. I’ll make sure everyone thinks we’re madly in love, and you won’t have to touch me at all.”
I hold up my hands in surrender, a smirk playing at the corners of my mouth. “Okay, okay. No PDA. Got it.”
I’ve known Audrey long enough to recognize that stubborn set of her jaw, the determined glint in her eye. When she gets an idea in her head, there’s no changing her mind until she realizes she’s wrong. And even then, it’s a battle of wills.
We walk back home in silence, our shoulders brushing occasionally as we navigate the narrow sidewalk. The sun is setting, casting a golden glow over the neighborhood, and for a moment, it feels like we’re kids again, walking home from school together.
But the illusion is shattered as soon as we reach her parents’ home. “Don’t say anything until I know how to approach it,” Audrey warns me.
I salute her. “No worries, princess. I’ll follow your lead.”
I make my way home and up to my old room, the familiar scent of my mom’s lavender sachets and the faint mustiness of unused space doesn’t feel as home as it used to. It’s probably the unease of the news and now the big fat lie I told my family. Isit down on the edge of the bed, the springs creaking under my weight, and pull out my phone.
My thumb hovers over Max’s contact, hesitating for a moment before I press the call button. The phone rings once, twice, three times before he picks up.
“Liam Cohen. I heard you finally convinced Ethan to sell the alarm systems,” Max says on the other end of the line. “It only took you what? Six months?”
“A year, but who’s counting,” I groan because every fucking time that I want to make some changes to the company or add anything Ethan puts a stop to it and it takes me fucking forever to convince him that it’s a smart move.
“So, did you call to gloat?”
I laugh. “No.” My voice sounding a bit strained even to my own ears. “You got a minute?”
“For you, always,” he says, but I can hear the undercurrent of concern in his tone. “What’s up? Everything okay?”
I take a deep breath, my free hand running through my hair. “Yeah, everything’s fine. Well, mostly fine. I just . . . I need to tell you something.”
“What did you do, asshole?” Max’s tone shifts, the amusement giving way to suspicion. I can hear the edge in his voice, the way he’s alreadypreparing for the worst. “I’m not bailing you out of jail.”
This would be a great time to remind him that I’m usually the one getting him out of trouble, but since I want him to support this little lie, I bite my tongue.
I take a deep breath, preparing myself for his reaction. “I told my parents I’m engaged to Audrey.”
There’s a moment of silence on the other end of the line, a pause that seems to stretch on for an eternity. I can almost hear the gears turning in Max’s head, the way he’s processing this bombshell I’ve just dropped.
“I’m going to fucking kill you.”
Chapter Eight
Liam
“Engaged?As in, you proposed to my sister?” Max’s voice is low, dangerous. I can practically feel the anger radiating through the phone, his words clipped and sharp.
I scrub a hand over my face, my shoulders slumping in defeat. This isnot going well. “Yes, but?—”
“Have you lost your fucking mind?” Max shouts, his voice rising to a fever pitch. I wince, pulling the phone away from my ear. “This is my sister you’re talking about. I told you to keep an eye on her, not to . . . What exactly have you been doing with her in San Diego?”
“I know how it sounds, but if you let me explain, you’ll find out that this is just temporary and definitely nothing serious,” I say quickly, my words tumbling over each other in my haste to explain.
“But you’re engaged?” he growls.
“Yes, but not really. It’s just like a fling for the next week. You know, with your parents’ anniversary and everyone from your family to Ethan’s, Cal’s, and mine will be in town?—”
“So you decided to have sex with my little sister and pretend it’s an engagement?” he snarls, his voice dripping with venom. I can picture the vein throbbing in his forehead, the way his fists clench at his sides.
Okay, so maybe I shouldn’t have used the word “fling” while trying to explain my situation with Audrey to Max. That was my bad, but this guy needs to give me the chance to talk and stop trying to murder me through the phone, not that it’s possible.If only he knew how attracted I am to his sister, he would definitely kill me. I can picture the rage in his eyes, the way his fists would clench at his sides as he prepared to pummel me into the ground.
But can he blame me? Audrey is strikingly hot, with her dark hair and those piercing hazel eyes that seem to see right through me. And while I spent only a few hours with her, it was so easy to be around her. We fell into a comfortable rhythm, our banter effortless and natural. Not that anything would ever happen between us.
