Page 20 of My Fake Lover

I crawled under the cozy blanket and pulled it up to my ears. Max sat on the edge of the bed, and I watched his back as he took off his watch and placed it neatly next to the bed. I still couldn’t believe they had set up real beds in here. Or was this just special treatment for Max because Ian knew he would never sleep on an air mattress? Somehow, the thought of Max on the floor of a tent made me grin. But only until he lifted his legs over the edge, slid under the blanket as well, and leaned his back against the headboard. The fabric reached the base of his abdominal muscles, and I could feel his gaze on me.

»Just one blanket,« he rasped hoarsely, and I held my breath.

»I might steal it from you tonight.«

»No problem, I tend to get hot when I sleep,« he said, sliding down and turning onto his side. I did the same, and we stared at each other. Gazing into his stormy, powerful gray eyes felt more intimate than a touch.

»So that’s why you sleep in just underwear?« I raised an eyebrow.

»Don’t your skimpy shorts count as that?«

I snorted. »No, that’s why they’re called shorts.« The energy between us was palpably charged, but I knew we couldn’t cross that one boundary. We’d already ignored far too many. If we slept together, it would be hard for me not to see more than what we were. Certainly not a real couple. Yet the magnetic pull of his magnificent body was magical. My nipples grew erect, and I became all too aware of it. His breathing was heavy, and his eyes darted to my lips. I licked them, and a deep rumble emerged from Max’s throat, turning me on even more.

»This moment would be very intense if we were a real couple, wouldn’t it?« I laughed nervously, and he looked back into my eyes. I had to talk, so this atmosphere wouldn’t sweep me away. Anything, it didn’t matter what.

»If we were a real couple, I wouldn’t let you lie so far away from me,« he whispered softly, and I squeezed my thighs together.

»If we were a real couple, I wouldn’t want to lie so far away from you either.«

His lips parted, and the hand he used for support clenched into a tight fist.

»I’d run my hand up your thigh to the fabric of those damn skimpy shorts, showing you they don’t cover any more than underwear would.« I closed my eyes. We shouldn’t do this. We shouldn’t talk about what we would do if this agreement wasn’t holding us back. And yet his deep voice, telling me dirty things, was incredibly hot. »And I’d take them off you so I could taste you again.«

»Yes,« I sighed softly, my hands also clenching around the blanket. It felt as if Max was actually touching me. His heat crept into all my limbs, and my core throbbed violently around the emptiness where it longed for Max.

»And this time, no one would separate us, for there would only be the two of us.« His voice was heavy and dark. »If we were a real couple,« he concluded, and I opened my eyelids. The look he gave me was so intense that I couldn’t help but gasp softly.

»If we were a real couple,« I repeated.

For a moment, silence spread between us. »Good night, Ivy,« he said, and extinguished the camping light that stood on the floor by his side of the bed. »Good night, Max,« I replied into the darkness, and even though I couldn’t see him anymore, my entire body pulsed, begging for his closeness.

17

Max

Ivy was still asleep when I woke up on my own just after five and quietly got dressed. That conversation we had just before falling asleep still haunted me. I lay awake almost the entire night, painfully aroused like never before in my life. Was it because I had never enjoyed the closeness of a woman like her for so long that made me so intensely hot for her? Or was it because I knew I couldn’t have her?

But she felt the same way, otherwise, she wouldn’t have engaged in that conversation at all. Her soft moan as she imagined what I would do to her... Damn, I was hard again.

As quietly and quickly as possible, I put on sweatpants, a shirt, socks, and my running shoes and went outside without waking Ivy. It was still dark, with only the shimmering streak of light from the rising sun visible on the horizon. I started running, circling the tents, and plunged into the forest. Running would do me good and bring me back. Maybe Ivy was right, and I should enjoy this wedding as best I could. Even though I still found the idea absurd, I knew when I had lost. Ian would never call off this event just because I told him to. And with Ivy by my side, this spectacle might actually become more bearable. I thought of Ivy again, her shapely, smooth legs in those damned shorts. Tonight, when the other guests arrived, she definitely wouldn’t walk across the grounds to our tent wearing them. Jealousy and the urge to protect one’s girl from the rest of the world were completely foreign to me. That’s why the thought caught me off guard, and running didn’t bring me the usual peace and satisfaction. I just wanted to go back and see if Ivy was okay. But of course, she was - what could happen to her?

My thinking was irrational, utterly idiotic. I didn’t recognize myself and picked up the pace even more.

When I returned to our tent at half-past six, I saw that other guests were already there. Even Ian and Lizzy were awake, chatting with people I didn’t know on the terrace. Ian raised his hand in my direction, and I returned the gesture.

Maybe I should indeed take this whole thing a little more lightly and wait. Even though I worried about my brother, I couldn’t constantly fight against him and make him unhappy. A damned dilemma, not just concerning Ivy and her allure.

I entered our tent and found that she wasn’t there. The interior was empty. Where was she? Probably just taking a shower and brushing her teeth. I had the irrational urge to search for her again, just to be near her. So, I grabbed my toiletries and headed across the grounds to the trailer with the washrooms. It was still early, and most tents were empty, but here and there a stranger greeted me, and I responded with a nod. Being in such close proximity to so many unfamiliar, beaming people who acted as if this was the best idea ever was unusual and quite annoying.

Nevertheless, I had resolved to give it a try and give the whole thing a chance, right?

»Ivy?« I called with closed eyes into the women’s area. I heard the sound of water and turned my back towards the interior. I was definitely not a voyeur.

»Yes? Max?« She called against the water and I breathed a sigh of relief. What had I, the idiot, thought? That she had run off without telling me?

»Everything okay?«

»Of course.« She giggled, and another new feeling stirred within me. »I’ll be done soon.«

---