Page 13 of Pretend It’s Real, for Me

“Look who made it.” He grins. “Worked a late one, eh?”

I have to fight to keep my eyes from locking on to Luna’s gorgeous body. She’s wearing short jean shorts and a T-shirt, that again has turned into a crop top thanks to her perfect perky tits.

“Had a private job doing brakes on a Benz,” I reply, smiling pridefully. My dad nods and for once actually shows some respect on his face. He still thinks my dream of having my own garage is just that – a dream—and he wants me to stop putting up a fuss and just take his offer and join his firm.

“That’s great, Blake,” Susan says happily. “Good for you.”

“Thanks, Susan.” I smile back.

“We tried texting you about dinner,” my dad says. “Didn’t know if you’d be making it back in time or not, but we didn’t hear back from you. There’s a little extra, but not a ton.”

“That’s all right,” I reply. “I’ll grab some takeout or something. I still have to shower. Still grimy after the garage anyway.”

“Why don’t you take Luna with you?” he suggests, a semi-devious look on his face. “You two could get to know one another.”

It’s clear he’s trying to get at me – punish me for being late and missing dinner that he and Susan obviously took time preparing. I guess I’ve been doing a good job pretending to not want anything to do with my new step-sister, as he thinks I’ll be upset by his idea, when in reality this sounds fantastic to me.

Susan notices immediately what he’s doing and looks down at her plate and forks a bit of her leftover zucchini, trying not to laugh.

“You kidding me?” I ask, going along with the charade. I glance over at Luna, who is also forcing herself to keep a neutral expression. “I just got done working–”

“You two are going to be living together for a while,” my dad interrupts. “At least until you can find yourself an apartment. It’s time to stop being repulsed by the idea of spending time with each other.”

Repulsed, I think.Yeah, right.

I sigh for dramatic effect, then turn my back on the table. “Fine, whatever.”

I’m smiling on my way upstairs and the whole time I’m scrubbing the day’s work off my body in the shower. Maybe this will be how we make it happen – trick our parents into thinking we dislike each other, and then sneak off and share some time together whenever we can make it happen.

Of course, that won’t be a lot of fun on the romance side of things, which I’m definitely going to need in my life.

It’s notjustthe physical side of things I want with Luna, although those are incredible; I want more with her. Luna makes my heart race. Even just now, for the brief moment I was able to have my eyes on her downstairs, it was like a shot of adrenaline straight into my heart.

My blood is raging like my veins are filled with lava, my testosterone is roaring like I’m an animal searching for its mate, and my nerves are on high alert. I’m ready for anything.

I want Luna. She needs to be mine. I can’t just keep her as my sexy little secret for my entire life. As fun as that may be right now, it can’t go on forever. But how are we going to make something more official and less hidden happen?

Once I’m dried off and dressed, I find her waiting for me downstairs in the living room, playing around on her phone next to her mother, doing a good job of pretending to look irritated. But the moment she looks up and our eyes meet, that expression falters for a brief moment, and I see the excitement there.

Fortunately, when her mom looks up, she quickly glances back down at her phone.

“All set,sis?”I ask.

“Yeah,” she replies, sounding annoyed as she lifts herself from the couch.

“Don’t sound so miserable, you two,” Susan says. “Get to know each other. You just might like each other! It took Carson and me a little while to warm up to each other, you know?”

“Ew, Mom, what’s that supposed to mean?” Luna asks. “Blake and I are going to fall in love with each other or something?”

I can’t help it. I burst out laughing but try not to crack up too hard.

“Oh, don’t be ridiculous, Luna,” Susan replies. Nowshe’sthe one sounding annoyed. “You know that’s not what I meant. That would be absurd.”

Luna and I share a glance, and neither of us can hide the slight hint of a smile.Yeah, absurd.

I takeLuna to my favorite Thai restaurant and order beef pad Thai and fried spring rolls. She doesn’t order anything but just says she’ll have one of my spring rolls as she’s basically already eaten back at the house.

“It’s good to know they aren’t on to us.” She grins, pulling up her chair right next to mine. “But your dad can be quite a…quite a…”

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