Page 32 of Accidentally Yours
Gigi: Does he want to write love stories with you for the rest of his life??
Alice: OMG, are you guys writing your own love story RIGHT NOW?!
Paige: You both have lost your ever-loving minds.
Gigi: You’re deflecting! Tell me you don’t want to climb him like a tree.
Paige: GOODBYE FOREVER
Alice: You’re not getting out of this! We expect updates!
Gigi: And details. Lots and lots of details!
Alice: At yappy hour!
Paige: I think we need a new reality TV show to watch. You guys are too invested in my fake relationship.
Gigi: Nope! We like the Paige & Ethan show!
Alice: Best show ever!
Paige: Oops! Gotta go, my toast is burning.
Alice: You’re making toast for dinner?
Gigi: Lies! We know you don’t cook!
Paige: *winking face emoji*
Alice: Love you!
Gigi: XOXO
Paige: Love you guys!
Paigesmiledatherphone, dropping it onto the counter before grabbing heractualdinner—a to-go box of pad Thai. She twirled some noodles onto her fork and stuffed them into her mouth, sighing in satisfaction.
Alice and Gigi were relentless, but they weren’tentirelywrong.
Yes, the relationship was fake.Totally, completely, one hundred percent fake.
Except for the parts that didn’t feel fake.
Like the way Ethan had leaned in on the train today, his breath warm against her ear, his voice lower than usual. Or the way his eyes had darkened when she’d glanced at his mouth—just for a second—before pulling away.
Or that she might have spent too much time thinking about that second.
Her phone buzzed again. She shook her head, preparing for another round of interrogation from her friends, but when she picked up her phone, it wasn’t them.
It was Ethan.
Ethan: I think I know where the next clue is.
An image popped up below his message.
The black-and-white photo was old—probably from the ’50s or ’60s. A man and a woman stood outside a theater, dressed in elegant evening wear. The woman, in a full-skirted dress, smiled at the camera while the man gazed at her like she was his entire world.
Paige’s chest squeezed. Ethan’s grandparents. Pops and Mimi.
