The Faker Rulebook by Crow Baylin

Author:Crow, Baylin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-01-03T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

Lies were stacking up, and now I was doing a lot more pretending than just dating Noah. I had to act like my world hadn’t been shaken to the core. If I wasn’t careful, the whole thing would blow up in our faces.

The lobby was full of wedding guests, dressed in snow pants and heavy jackets to battle the cold. Once we’d finished breakfast, Noah and I had changed into our own gear and the bulky material was already driving me crazy.

I swore his mom had a special radar for when Noah and I entered rooms. Decked out in a white puffy ensemble, she headed our way with a bright smile. As she approached, I remembered the part I was supposed to play and reached over to grab Noah’s hand, hooking our fingers together.

He noticeably stiffened at my side, and I grunted a warning. Noah relaxed, but not enough to convince me or anyone else who cared to pay attention that we were the real deal.

“You boys ready?” she asked, studying us and frowning at Noah.

“Super excited,” I replied, earning a reluctant laugh from my best friend slash boyfriend. Fake boyfriend. I repeated the phrase in my head a few more times for good measure.

“Good. We’ll be heading out in just a minute. I need to run upstairs and grab my camera, so I’ll see you guys out there.” She squeezed Noah’s shoulder as she passed by.

The minute I lost sight of her in the crowd, I dragged Noah out into the hall and pushed him into a small alcove, out of sight from anyone who wandered into the corridor.

“What the hell, Rook?” he whisper-shouted as he spun around to face me.

Crossing my arms, I hissed back, “Could you be any less convincing? You stiffened the second I grabbed your hand.”

Noah sighed as the fight drained out of him. “It was just a reaction.”

“One you need to control if you want to pull this off.”

"Suddenly you’re the relationship expert?" he bit out with a scowl.

Voices carried down the hall, so I lowered my voice and dipped closer to his ear. His breathing stuttered, and I fought the reaction it triggered. Was he affected by my closeness? Was I going to question his every move now, trying to find and decipher meaning in everything he said and did?

“That’s not what I said. You need to relax and take a deep breath before you hyperventilate." My lips kicked up on the side. I expected the shove, but I didn’t anticipate losing my balance. Not thinking, I reached out and grabbed onto his thick sleeve. My back slammed against the opposite wall, and the force sent Noah crashing into my chest.

Pressed against each other, our lips were close enough that his breath mingled with mine. I glanced down, staring at his mouth.

Noah licked his lips, and his voice shook. “Rook?”

Want, hot and desperate, drowned the whispered warning telling me to abort before it was too late. Lowering my head, I paused just before our lips touched.

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