Fake Crowne: A Fake Relationship Romance (The Crowne Brothers) by CD Reiss

Author:CD Reiss [Reiss, CD]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-01-30T18:30:00+00:00

22

SKYE

The pizza was outside in the dark, on the little table just outside the gate—and not as cold as I’d feared.

Colton, however, was gone when I brought it in. So I got in the shower, and by the time I get to the kitchen, he’s as icy as the pizza. Though it’s a little off-putting at first, I get why standing on the other side of the kitchen island makes sense. Minimizing eye contact is the wise move. Cool courtesy—giving me the first slice, making sure I have a plate, getting me the ice water I ask for—is the way to go.

The urge to ask him if he’s all right creeps up on me, but I resist it. He’s sending me the loudest signals I’ve ever gotten, and I’m not pretending I can’t hear them just so I can be a clingy, needy girl with uncontrolled emotions.

Business. We need to talk business.

“You said I needed to do a cover,” I say. “I want to do ‘Someone to Watch Over Me’ and I don’t want a whole ensemble. Just me on piano.”

He looks at the clock. It’s late. Nighttime even. Anyone who isn’t already out is settled in for the night. “Tonight?”

“Tomorrow.” I don’t elaborate immediately, but though the silence that follows is short, it’s unbearably hollow. “I’ll call Fátima to cover the shift for me. She owes me.”

“Let’s do it.” He tears the crust in two and rips off the end of one with his back teeth.

More silence. When he chews, I can see the muscles of his jaw work. Something’s on his mind. Is he feeling the same things I am? It hadn’t occurred to me… but is it possible at all?

I’m staring. I have to stop that.

“So,” he says. “You and Fátima.”

“Mm-hm.” I take another slice, leaving the strip of crust from my first. So much for business.

“You guys were a thing.”

“A ‘thing’? No.” I bite into the pause and let myself chew while I decide whether or not to say more. “More of a diversion.”

Colton’s not entitled to a play by play, but when people you fuck ask for your life story, they’re trying to gauge relationship potential based on past history. Third-date-worthy men often use the answer to either plan the wedding or rule out a tenth date, though their dicks will eagerly show up for four through nine. Right about date seven is when I break it off. Saves everyone a lot of stress.

Colton and I won’t have a second date since our first was fake, and this isn’t a date. But is he asking to gauge our future?

“It was great,” I say. “She’s great. Like you.”

“Like me?”

“Like you and me.”

“A diversion?”

No. Not like that. He’s not a diversion the way Fátima was. But what am I supposed to tell him? What if he’s just making conversation and I’m reading into it? Not knowing is unbearable, but the risk of heartbreak—and yes, there will be some kind of break if I’ve developed feelings he hasn’t—is even more unbearable.

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