Page 20 of Written in the Stars
“For starters, I swore him to secrecy. I told him I didn’t want him messing this up for me. I intended to capitalize on myintentionto reach out to you and milk that for as long as I could before Brendon finally caught on. I didn’t exactly lie, I omitted and let him fill in the blanks.”
Elle gawked. “That’s cunning. That’s... that’s...Slytherin.”
“Excuse me?”
“Slytherin.” Elle’s jaw dropped. “Oh my god. Don’t tell meyou don’t know your Hogwarts house. Pottermore? The Sorting Hat Quiz?” When Darcy stared, Elle groaned and covered her face. “You don’tdosocial media, you don’t believe in astrology, and now you don’t like Harry Potter. On behalf of our generation, I am offended, yourock dweller.”
Darcy scoffed. “I do not live under a rock. I know what you’re talking about, I was choosing to ignore you because your assumption about me was baseless.”
And not that it was any of Elle’s business, but Darcy was a Ravenclaw.
“Like I said, I never lied,” Darcy reiterated, keeping this conversation from getting further off track. “I stretched the truth.”
“Stretched the truth? Are you kidding me?” Elle exhaled noisily through her nose, jaw ticking. “Look, what you choose to tell your brother, or not tell your brother,whatever, is your business. But whether you meant to or not, you pulled me into a narrative I’d very much like to be excluded from,plus, you put me in a pickle.”
Swallowing a laugh at her phrasing, Darcy gave what she hoped was a carefully thoughtful stare. “I put you in a pickle?”
“Yes, a real gherkin of a situation.”
How she managed to say that with a straight face was a mystery. Even Darcy couldn’t keep from snorting at the wordgherkinbeing used to sincerely describe one’s state of being. “I didn’t realize it would be such a bigdill.”
Elle rolled her shoulders back and glared daggers. “It isn’t funny. I was at breakfast with my mom when your brother waltzed up and spilled your story. Told me you’resmitten. Now my mom, and most likely my whole family, thinks I’m halfwayto being in the first successful relationship I’ve ever had. I’m sure my mom’s working on a cake as we speak.Elle’s finally got her shit together.Let’s bust out the confetti.”
Darcy sobered. This was a different side of Elle than the starry-eyed soul-mate-seeking girl she’d met last night.
“I...apologize. Sincerely. I was remiss in assuming my brother could keep his mouth shut. But this isn’t hopeless.” Darcy licked her lips, shifting her weight from one foot to the other beneath Elle’s stare. “Why don’t you tell your mother Brendon was mistaken?”
Elle worried her bottom lip between her teeth, shoulders slumping. “Yeah,sure. That’ll go great. And what am I supposed to say to your brother?”
“Maybe you could”—Darcy winced—“not say anything to Brendon? Yet.”
Elle blinked those blue eyes of her balefully. “I’m sorry. Are you suggesting I lie to your brother? Your brother who happens to be my friend and brand-new business partner? Because that’s what it sounds like.”
The plan, the promising, practically brilliant plan, was slipping through Darcy’s fingers. “I didn’t saylie, I said don’t sayanything. There’s a difference.”
Elle stared.
“Look, I didn’t mean to rope you into this, I swear, but maybe...” Floundering, Darcy was trying and failing to fill in the blank.Maybes were flimsy, imprecise. She preferredprobabilitiesandprooftoperhaps. She met Elle’s eyes and somehow in her stare, she found her answer. “If you look on the bright side, this could be beneficial to us both.”
That was the sort of starry-eyed optimism that revved Elle’s engine, right?
Elle’s eyes narrowed. “How?”
Darcy knew how it would benefit her, but Elle’s situation was a bit less defined. Vague, even.
“I’m at my wits’ end with my brother’s matchmaking,” Darcy explained. “And you... you want your family to think you can hold down a relationship?”
“I—” Elle shut her mouth and frowned. “What Iwantis an actual relationship, one I don’t have to fib about.”
Each time Darcy felt like she was finally regaining her grip, the plan slipped further through her fingers.
“No one’s saying you can’t have that. This would only be for... a month, maybe two. Long enough for Brendon to think I’m trying.”
Elle covered her face with her hands. Her fingers pressed into the skin beneath her brows, massaging the ridge of her eye sockets before she dropped her hands and pinned Darcy with a stare. “You want us to... to fake a relationship? Are you serious?”
Was it what Darcy wanted? No. Not even close. This had escalated into something she hadn’t planned. This was decidedly more involved, requiring partnership when what she’d been aiming for was the soundness of singledom, Darcy Party of One. But she could adapt. She had no choice. “We can say we’re spending time together. Getting to know each other, feeling things out. It doesn’t have to be athing. Just implied. We don’t have to... define the relationship.”
Elle’s tongue poked against her cheek. “This sounds like asupremely stupid plan. Like,awful. And if I’m the one saying that?” Elle snorted.
