Page 57 of Faking Forever 1
“Guess I’ll go, too. I should freshen up,” Darcy says, using Nick’s arm to stand up from the picnic table. She then hurries to catch up with Pea, leaving Nick and I alone. What a lovely treat.
“So, I have to ask, do you get off on sucking up to her like that?” Nick leans on the table, lowering his voice.
I snap my head in his direction, looking away from the bathroom as I gawk at him. “Are you on something tonight or what? You’re seriously itching my fucking brain,” I snap.
He never seems to take anything seriously. That had to make Paisley feel like she was talking to a brick wall most of the time.
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“Josh, lighten up for once. I just thought you would be thelastto fall for a girl like her.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“Well, when was the last time you’ve been seen fully committing to anything? She wants someone who can finish what they start.She’slucky if you finish in bed.”
I wanted to ring his neck and keep going until his head popped off. I couldn’t take it anymore.
“Josh! Josh!” Paisley comes running back to the table, crashing into me. “I want to go to the arcade! They have teddy bears! I’ll take the corn dog with me, please?” she pleads, holding her arms out to show the size of the bear.
That meant she wantedmeto win it. Perfect timing to be breaking bottles and not necks.
I blink hard before turning to her, standing from the table.
“We can do whatever you want. I’m following you.”
Her plump lips curl into a smile as she pulls me away. If I could pretend to be her boyfriend, then I can pretend I’m not beyond pissed off.
Before I could think, she had me tossing heavy rubber balls at old beer bottles. For every five bottles, you gain ten points.
Thirty points gets you a bear that was bigger than Paisley herself—all five foot three of her. I hit each bottle as if my life depended on it, and she was cheering like a little girl every time I hit one. I was three bottles away from giving her what she wanted, simultaneously blowing all of my steam off. Nick and Darcy had bickered to another game next to ours, where Darcy is yelling at Nick in a more demanding, overbearing way.
“Three more! Shatter those bad boys!” Paisley yells, jumping around beside me.
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“It’s nothing!” I grunt, rewinding my arm to shoot the ball at one of the bottles. “I got this, see?!” I glance at her before picking up another ball.
“Two more!” the man hosting the game says, waving his cane.
“That bear is mine!” Paisley growls.
Leaning back to throw the next ball, I chuck it and hit a bottle on a high shelf. I pick up one last ball, tossing it back and forth in both my hands before winding up one last time to hit a bottle that sat right in the middle.
“You did it! Hell yeah!”
“What did I say?!”
We copy each other’s hyped energy from the win, ignoring the host, who loudly tried to tell us the prize options. Paisley reaches her arms up, catapulting into my arms and locking hers around my neck. She squeezes me, hanging on tightly. I grab her dangling legs, holding them around my waist while she smothers me with kisses on my cheeks until she lands on my lips, humming softly against them. I almost forgot that we were playing roles and that this was simply a part of the bit.
She takes her lips away, hugging me again. “You killed it,’
she mumbles into the crook of my neck.
Nick and Darcy come strolling in our direction, her holding a small panda bear and him slurping down a drink.
