Page 57 of As They Are
Everyone around us whispered among each other, and I could feel eyes all on us.
I pulled away, cheeks as warm as the sun, looking Henry in the eye.
“What—” he began.
“Can you please go with it?”
“Go with what? Are we dating? Did I completely miss us agreeing to that?”
“No, of course not. This is just?—”
“What thehell,Wren?” Madison yelled as she stalked over to us. “You were supposed to go kiss Jude, not some random guy on the side of the street.”
I really hoped he’d back me up here, or else I was in for a lifetime of embarrassment.
“He’s not some random guy. This is my boyfriend. Otherwise known as the reason I can’t fake a relationship with Jude.”
I reached for Henry’s hand, hoping that he wouldn’t pull away and run for the hills.
Luckily, he let me latch onto him.
“That’s ... right,” he said. “I’m Wren’s boyfriend.”
Henry glanced over at the crowd of the town. They’d gone deathly silent, which probably wasn’t a good sign. I followed his gaze and everyone had some version of shock on their faces.
This didn’t look good.
Madison let out a long breath, narrow eyes darting in between us. “I’m not falling for this.”
“I am!” Dale yelled. “They’ve been two peas in a pod since he saw her!”
“They’re so cute!” Jade added.
My cheeks were on fire. Henry and I were so sure this would never happen, and now, it was getting me out of being with Jude. Everyone’s nosy nature was literally saving us.
“It’s ... new!” I defended. “And I just couldn’t even touch someone else knowing my boyfriend’s standing right here. You said that the show needed to be about love, so it can be about love with someone else.”
Henry’s hand went rigid in mine. One look at him told me that his entire body was the same way.Fuck.I wish I’d had this ideabeforethe lie had started. At least I could have talked to him about it. Or figured something else out when he said no.
This whole time, I’d been thinking about myself. Didhewant to date me? The town thought so. Maybe they had it wrong.
“Are we almost done here?” Jude yelled. “I wanna head back to Nashville to hit up a bar tonight.”
I rolled my eyes. In the first season, he spent all of his extra time with me. He’d said he wanted me to be his guide. But when we’d go to the bars, he would vanish and I would be alone, forcing me to call a car to come get me. Then he got involvedin the Nashville scene, becoming a well-known figure at events. That was around the time he told me he wasn’t interested.
“Jude!” Madison said. “Did you not see her kiss someone else?”
He only shrugged. “I thought it was revenge. An eye for an eye or something.”
Madison groaned, letting out her frustrations at the blue sky. “I can’t do this today! We’re done. We’ll figure this out tomorrow.”
“I have a shoot tomorrow,” Jude said. “Bud Light’s sponsoring me.”
“Dammit! Then Monday.” She pointed at me. “This is not the end of this.”
She stormed off. Jude shrugged and walked over. I didn’t think it was possible for Henry to tense even more, but he did.
“So, was that just revenge?” Jude asked. It was the first thing he’d said to me all day.
