Page 44 of The Pucking Fake Boyfriend

The picture was planned.

I scroll through the comments as I stride to the elevator. They are all swooning about our “fairytale romance,” but even the positive ones do not improve my mood. My temper only gets worse by the time I step onto Britney’s floor.

I feel a smidge of relief that Blake had sprung for a single room for his sister. That’s going to make this much easier.

I knock on her room door with trembling fists, my anger trickling into my veins and compounding with each millisecond that goes by.

It’s one thing to be kissed in public for apparently no reason. It’s quite another thing to find out you’ve been a pawn in someone else’s game for weeks.

Brit opens the door. Her face is ashen as she looks up at me, but I’m not surprised to see the remnants of defiance in her eyes.

“Britney,” I say, struggling to keep my voice calm. “What sick fucking game are you playing with me?”

CHAPTER 15

BRITNEY

My heart is pounding in my chest. His dark eyes are molten with anger, trapping my breath in my lungs.

In all the weeks I’d been planning this, not once did I imagine Alex confronting me about it.

Or being this furious.

Stepping back, I’m careful to keep my trembling fingers from view. “I can’t talk about this with you right now,” I say in the tiniest voice I can muster.

But before I can close the door in his face, he charges through. I let out a gasp, and in the next second, Alex has closed the door and caged me in against it.

“Now listen to me, Britney,” Alex growls in a whisper, sending chills down my spine. “Your dad might have no idea who you really are, but I figured you out. So, you’re going to snap out of that tiny voice and tell me everything. Right now.”

I should refuse to say a single word until he gives up in exhaustion.

But when I look at him, there’s only pain in his eyes, not rage.

There’s hurt that I’ve been stringing him along and lying to him for weeks now.

My own heart twists with guilt. When I’d decided on using Alex to keep the Furmans away, I hadn’t considered for a second how he would feel if he found out I was using him. And even if I had, I wouldn’t have cared that he’d be thrown under the bus.

Now though . . .

Knowing that he’s unhappy does something to me.

“I’m sorry,” I hear myself blurt. It’s the most honest thing I’ve said in a long while, maybe the first thing I’ve said in years without planning it out first.

Alex stares at me. “Sorry?” he repeats incredulously. “I don’t care for lame apologies, Brit. Tell me what you’re playing at.”

I look up defiantly into his furious brown eyes. “I was trying to get my dad to back off.” The first completely truthful sentence I’ve said to him, I realize with a start. “He’s been working overtime to make sure I marry that toad, Theodore.”

A relieved sigh escapes me. Finally saying that to someone, even if it is Alex, feels like a huge weight lifting off my shoulders. I blink back the hot tears pooling in my eyes. I’m irritated with myself for being so weak, but I can’t quite help it. Holding onto that secret and doing everything possible to fight off the wedding has taken much more of a toll on me than I even realized.

Alex’s jaw is still set with anger, but there’s now a note of surprise in his eyes. He says nothing for a moment. And then, he takes a step back and starts to pace.

I let him fume in silence. Even if it was through the most unscrupulous means, I’ve succeeded in ruining the deal withthe Furmans. There’s no way in hell Andy Furman’s going to be willing to let me date his precious boy after that picture comes out. On the other hand, Alex still looks pretty good in front of the media.

Things are working out.

“So,” he says, running a hand through his hair. He’s staring at me, his expression almost detached. “Let me get this straight. Your dad wants you to marry that gold-plated jackass. And you’ve been working to thwart him this whole time. But he has no idea.”

“Correct.” I have to force out the word stuck in my throat. No one has ever had this much access to my secrets. I feel vulnerable. But I want him to have his answers, and I hope it will dull the hurt I caused him.

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