Page 50 of The Fallacy of True Love
“Nix can be the good cop, and I’ll be the bad cop,” Eric suggested. “So you can learn not to snap at the interviewer when you’re getting annoyed.”
“Yeah, you need to practice controlling your facial expressions too,” Nikki added. “You can’t glare at them just because they piss you off.”
I groaned. “You’re right. Damn it.”
“When’s your interview so we can schedule your practices?” she asked.
“None yet. I’m thinking ahead.”
“Good, we have time.”
Eric said, “We’re going to need it.”
“Operation Get Cam a Job is our first priority this new year.”
And this was why they could never be truly dead to me. They gave me a hard time—and it was mutual—but at the end of the day, they had my back and I had theirs.
Hopefully, their help would be enough to get me one step closer to my goal.
Chapter Seventeen
Alonzo
When Jason first moved here, our family had been caught in the periphery of the media storm around his and Tala’s relationship. Now that the news of their engagement had been leaked—by one of our titas, of all people—we weren’t just on the sidelines. We were right in the eye of the typhoon.
We’d ended up staying at their condo because our house had been swarmed by reporters. Jason and Tala released a statement, hoping it would prevent the speculation from spinning out of control.
In the midst of that mess, I needed to have an overdue talk with Dani. So on January second, I snuck out with one of the security team Jason hired and headed to Dani’s village.
Sitting on a bench in their park, Dani turned to face me. Her knee brushed against mine, the contact negligible compared to everything we’d done together. Yet I flinched, shifting my leg to create more space between us.
Hurt flashed across her face before she covered it up. “Thanks for calling me, Z. I was worried when you went missing. And now with the news—are you and your family okay? How are Tala and Jason?”
“Yeah, we didn’t expect those kinds of fireworks.” I forced a chuckle. “We’re still figuring out how to handle the situation. Of course, Tala and Jason are stressed, but they knew people would find out sooner or later. They just didn’t expect it to be this soon, so they weren’t yet prepared to handle it.”
“Is there any way I can help? My parents might know some?—”
“It’s okay.” I softened my tone, trying to erase the bite of my interruption. “Thank you for offering, but I think Jason has it covered. He has a couple of people he’s worked with before.”
“Right. Of course.” After a long beat, Dani asked, “Where did you go?”
“Juana.”
“Oh.” She blinked. “I should have guessed.”
I gripped the edge of the bench, wishing it was a surfboard and I could ride it away from this conversation. “I needed air.”
Her lips pressed together. “I understand. I’m sorry.”
“I spent the last couple of days thinking about what you told me,” I said. “It hurt, Dani. You said you had no feelings for Aaron.” Just saying his name made my gut lurch.
She reached for my hand, but I instinctively moved it away. Letting out a small gasp, she drew her hand back and clasped it with the other on her lap. “I don’t. I promise.”
I wanted to snap at her not to make promises when she’d already proven she couldn’t keep them. Instead, I took a moment to calm down before saying, “You don’t sleep with people you don’t have feelings for. That’s not how you are. At least not from what I know.”
“I know.” Her throat bobbed as she swallowed. “I wanted to try being someone else, and I went too far.”
“What do you mean?”
