Page 74 of Fake As Puck
“YouTube has tutorials for everything. How to fold clothes, how to pack a suitcase, how to fake confidence when you’re completely out of your depth.”
“Is that what you’re doing? Faking confidence?”
I pause in the middle of folding a shirt and look at him.
“Sometimes.”
“Not today though.”
“No. Today felt... real.” My mind trails off, rewinding throughout the day, and how amazing it truly was. It was so perfect, and I don’t want it to end.
“Yeah. It did.” There’s something in his voice that makes me look at him more carefully, but he’s focused on attempting to fold another dress, so I can’t read his expression.
“Four pairs of heels?” he asks, looking into the shoe section of my suitcase.
“Different occasions require different shoes.”
“It’s one wedding.”
“It’s a wedding, a rehearsal dinner, and whatever we end up doing Sunday morning before we drive home. Plus I need backup options in case something doesn’t work with what I’m wearing.”
“Backup options.”
“Yes.”
“For shoes.”
“For shoes.”
“Women are complicated.”
“Imagine the ones I wear breaks? It’ll be a disaster.”
He picks up a strappy black sandal that I bought specifically for this trip.
“These are dangerous. If they don’t break, it’ll break your ankle,” he says.
I laugh as he sets the shoe down carefully, like it might bite him, and I try not to read too much into the way he looked at it. Or the way he’s looking at me now.
“What time do we need to leave tomorrow?” I ask, focusing on packing instead of the way his presence in my room is making everything feel smaller and more intimate.
“Ten. The wedding’s at four, so that gives us time to check into the hotel and get ready.”
“And it’s black tie?”
“Yeah. Fancy. The whole thing.”
“Good. I brought the right dress.”
I pull out the dress I bought specifically for this wedding. It’s the navy blue one that’s elegant but memorable and lay it carefully in my suitcase.
“That’s beautiful,” West says.
“Thanks. I wanted something that would photograph well.”
“For pictures?”
“For the social media evidence. To prove we were there together.”
