Page 163 of Faking It With the Small-Town Bad Boy

climbs the stairs, and I head out to the porch. Percy turns quickly,

giving me a worried look.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I say confidently.

He scratches his neck awkwardly, his eyes on the porch while he

adds, “I saw you two hugging. I just wasn’t sure if that meant that…”

“No, it doesn’t,” I cut in. “I don’t want him, Percy. I want you.”

He smiles as he lifts his chin back up, stepping forward so he can hug

me tightly. I sigh through the embrace, my feet leaving the ground

long enough to feel weightless before we both float back down to

earth again.

“Hey, I want to tell you something, Percy.”

“Yes, darling?”

“I love you.”

He doesn’t skip a single beat, his smile is broad and wide. “I love you

too, Leah.”

AN UNLIKELY BOND

Percy

I don’t sleep. How the fuck could I?

The woman I love and care about so deeply has her ex-boyfriend of

ten years sleeping on the couch downstairs. How could it get worse?

Oh yeah, he fucked the woman I was dating for four years in the back

of a car.

I don’t trust Ryan Jones further than I could throw him, and while

I’m happy eventually he will go home and leave this place, I’m still

stuck on what we told one another tonight. I love Leah Reese, and

she loves me. It almost feels surreal, and I know she needs to sleep

and get over this highly emotional night. I wish I could wake her up

and talk to her until morning.

Instead, I let her sleep peacefully in bed, getting up to stretch, maybe

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