Page 46 of Faking It With the Small-Town Bad Boy

to be mindful of my feelings when he approached me about marrying

Farrah.

Instead, he came in with his chin up and his smile plastered ear to

ear like telling me that the final nail in the coffin was coming—and it

was coming for my soul. Now, at least until the wedding, I’ve

managed to dodge that nail. I’m thankful that Percy is here to help

make Ryan feel what I have felt for a while.

If anything, I egg on our bad behavior and reach out, taking Percy’s

hand in mine. “I should have said this sooner, Ryan, but I didn’t

know how to address it.”

“You can’t be serious,” he grunts. “You’re dating my fiancée’s ex-

boyfriend? Really? That seems so childish of you to pull a stunt like

this.”

“What’s the stunt?” Percy ponders out loud.

Ryan looks between us, focused on our hands interlocked with each

finger knit together with the other. It’s a little warming to see him so

bothered. I didn’t agree to this to annoy Ryan but to prove I don’t

care about him in the slightest. To prove I can move on just fine with

someone else. But is it helpful to know that he’s so irritated by it?

Hell yes.

“I think you should leave,” I whisper, shaking my head at Ryan’s

temper tantrum. “You can’t be in here if I don’t want you to be.”

His body frozen like a board, he eyes me carefully. He ignores Percy

long enough to fold his lips inward, frown, and leave without a

second word. I release Percy’s hand soon after, looking at my

accomplice with shock written over us both. It’s not pride that makes

me want to hurt Ryan like he’s so blatantly hurt me, but I am

certainly not innocent either.

I am somewhere between wanting to break Ryan Jones’s heart and

wanting to move on like we never even dated in the first place. I can

---