Page 40 of Fake It Till You Break It
Mom and Mrs. Adler were eating it up, though. There were practically stars in their eyes while they watched us. This was their dream coming true right in front of their eyes. Their years and years of late-night scheming was finally worth it.
It almost made me feel bad about tricking them.
Almost.
Jake’s hand tightened around mine as his thumb rubbed the sensitive skin on the inside of my wrist ever so slightly. Goose bumps ran up and down my arm, and I glanced over at him. He didn’t even seem to notice what he was doing as he was eyeing the dessert cart that was rolling toward us.Besides, our hands were partially covered by the teapot on the table so it’s not like our moms could see. But if this wasn’t for their benefit, then why was he doing this? And why the heck was it driving me crazy?
Maybe I was getting food drunk or something. Was that a thing? Or was it the allergy medicine I took this morning? Maybe that was making me woozy.
Yeah, that was probably it.
When I couldn’t take it anymore, I jerked my hand away.
Jake glanced over at me, and I pointed at the sweet tofu soup, pretending that was the reason I pulled away. “Could I get a bowl?”
After she handed me a steaming hot bowl and stamped our card, the cart lady started to leave, but Jake held her back with a touch of his hand. “Could I get extra ginger syrup, too? With the ginger pieces?”
“Yes, yes.”
To my surprise, he slid the extra bowl over to me. “What is this for?”
“You always complain when you’re done that you wished you had extra ginger pieces to munch on to end the meal.” He picked up his chopstick and grabbed some Peking duck and a bun.
Mom had a surprised look on her face. “Does she? I never noticed.”
“Me neither.” I scratched my neck, but I honestly didn’tremember ever saying that. Although it does really sound like me. “That’s weird that you remembered.”
His cheeks flushed a bit, and he shrugged. “It’s no big deal.”
“That’s what happens when you’re in love and don’t realize it,” Mrs. Adler cooed, grinning. “To be honest, I actually thought that you two might be lying about dating at first.”
I choked on my soup and grabbed my napkin so I wouldn’t spit soft tofu on everyone. With frantic glances over at me, Jake lowered his chopsticks. “What do you mean?”
“Well, it just seemed so abrupt. And, I don’t know, weird? Like I couldn’t put my finger on it. But now seeing you two together, it just warms my heart. It’s so nice to be together like this.”
“It’s like we’re one big happy family,” Mom said as she patted Mrs. Adler’s hand with a soft smile. “I hope every Sunday can be like this.”
My smile was forced and hurt a bit. Especially because I realized that this was probably going to be our last dim sum double date with our moms. I mean, our two-week deadline was already half over. And surprisingly, the thought made me feel a little empty inside. Not that we wouldn’t be pushed together anymore, thank God, but Mom was right. Jake and Mrs. Adler were practically our family. The Adlers had been around for as long as I could remember. And next week they would be gone. Who knows what we would be doing on Sundays from now on.
And Sundays were only the beginning. Vacations. Holidays. Dental appointments.
Okay, maybe I could deal with seeing the dentist on my own.
It’s weird, but we had been so intent on getting our moms to get off our backs that I never reallythoughtabout what it actually meant. That we wouldn’t be in each other’s lives anymore. And we could do whatever we wanted from now on.
It was funny, though. Right now, I couldn’t think of anything else I would rather be doing than eating dim sum with the Adlers.
AFTER WE GOT HOME,our moms went inside first so Jake and I could say goodbye privately. Although I’m not entirely sure how private it was because I was sure they were peeking out the windows at us. And probably with the phone in one hand and a glass of wine in the other hand.
We were both quiet for a few minutes now that we were finally alone. I leaned against the wooden fence that encircled my front lawn.
He kicked at a rock by our feet, and it clattered over to my shoe. “So what now?”
“What do you mean?”
“Our date is over. I guess we could either hug or—”
“Kiss?” Oh God, did that word come out of my mouth? Myface flushed, and I turned away to stare at the streetlight. “It’s not like it’s a big deal. We’ve kissed once before.”
