Page 86 of The Problem with Perfect

But hour after hour passes, and while many bodies occupy that stool, it’s never the face I want to see.

“You’ve seemed…not yourself tonight,” Emily says, hopping up on the counter on the opposite side from where I’m drying glasses and putting them away.

I give her a pinched smile. “Just have a lot on my mind.”

She nods. “About Rusty?”

My hands pause, mid-motion, before I continue what I’m doing. “What do you mean?”

Emily shrugs. “I just mean it seems like he’s always here, sitting across from you. I figured if he’s not here and you’re standing there looking like the sky is falling down around you, maybe something is going on?”

“You’re as bad as my mother,” I tease, shaking my head.

She just grins at me. “I’m very observant. It’s my superpower.”

I’m silent for a little bit, but Emily just sits there, waiting for me to speak. It occurs to me then how nice it would be to talk to someone about what’s been going on with Rusty. As much as I love Bishop, he’s my twin brother. Siblings don’t want to hear about their siblings’ sexual or romantic lives, and brothersdefinitelydon’t want to hear that about their sisters.

So, I decide to tell Emily the truth—well, an abbreviated version, at least.

“We aren’t really dating, me and Rusty,” I tell her.

Emily’s eyebrows furrow, understandably.

“He agreed to be my fake boyfriend because I was upset about Connor. Thelastthing I wanted was for him to get a big ego because I sat around pining for him.”

At that, her face morphs into something else. “Oh girl, if anyone can understand, it’s me.” She snorts. “I wishI’dhad the idea to drum up a fake boyfriend. I think you’re a genius.”

I give her a small smile. “Well, it was genius until I started to catch not-so-fake feelings for him.”

Emily’s face pinches. “Oh. Yeah, that’s hard. Does he not feel the same?”

Sighing, I chuck my drying cloth onto the bar and lean back against the counter behind me, arms crossed. “That’s what’s making everything so difficult. I think he does, but there’s a lot more at stake because he’s best friends with Boyd and they run a business together, you know?”

She lets out a long breath, shaking her head. “I wish I had any kind of advice to give you,” she says. “The best thing I can say is to just be true to yourself, you know? But I realize that might be a little too Disney.”

I giggle. “I don’t think anyone could really give me advice for this. I kind of just have to give Rusty the time he needs to think it over.”

“Do you have any idea what hemightbe thinking about?”

Shaking my head, I pick up the empty gray rack and tuck it in the corner.

“I mean, Ihopehe’s thinking about how incredible we are together, but there’s no way to know for sure until we finally talk.”

Emily’s quiet for a little bit, but then she leans forward with mischief on her face. “Can I ask a question that might be insensitive?”

I narrow my eyes, but there’s no heat behind it.

“Sure,” I say, drawing the word out, feeling a bit nervous about what she might ask.

“Did you guys…” She trails off, then her eyebrows bounce up and down a few times.

I burst into laughter and chuck the rag at her face. “Emily.”

“What?” she asks, but she’s smiling with a hint of embarrassment. “You hear things, you know?”

I sigh, my lips pursed, shaking my head. “Alright, I’ll tell you one thing, but then my lips are sealed, okay?”

Emily beams at me and nods like I’m giving her the best gift in the world. Little weirdo.

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