“Exactly,” I call after her. “You should’ve hauled my ass from the bar hours ago.” I drop onto the couch, spreading my arms out across the back of the cushion, loving the way the world is blurry around the edges in a good way, and how tomorrow is a rest day. No practice. No grueling gym workout. Just rest and hanging out with Serena. Perfect! I’m already thinking of us heading up to the ranch. Coaxing Dylan and Izzy into taking us riding.
“You were the one who started the line-dancing,” Serena replies, returning from the kitchen and nudging her elbow into my ribs as she drops down beside me, handing me a bottle of water.
I chuckle, staring out at the Denver skyline and the dots of light and then the pitch black of where the city ends and the wilderness begins.
“How do you not even have throw pillows for this couch?” Serena rolls her eyes as she shifts position, tucking her legs under herself and moving to face me. “You need, literally, everything,” she adds.
“Should I be calling my bank before our shopping trip tomorrow?”
“Absolutely.”
We talk for a while. Gossiping about the evening in between Serena tapping a list on her phone of shops and items she wants to buy for here and my house at the ranch. By the second yawn Serena tries to hide, I know it’s time for bed. I might have had a grueling game on the field, but Serena has been on her feet all day, running the cheer team through their routines and overseeing a million tiny details that all add up to create the magic the cheer squad always bring.
I stand up and reach out to pull her to her feet. “Bedtime for you, princess.”
“Princess?”
“Just getting some practice in for our next fake date.” Truth is, I’m as surprised as she is by what I just said. Pet names have never been my thing. “Would you rather I called you?—”
She cuts me off with a sharp punch to my arm before I can utter the childhood nickname her family had for her. One she only confessed to me in a late-night game of truth or dare as kids because it was that or sneak into Dylan’s room and steal all his clothes.
“Don’t you dare,” she hisses, her voice low but playful. “You swore you’d never speak that name aloud.”
I lean in. My senses fill with the sweet blossom scent of her perfume. I lower my voice. “I swore I’d never say it publicly. There’s no one else here right now, Rena Bean.”
Her eyes dance as she shoves me hard toward the couch. But I’m ready for her, grabbing her arms and pulling her down with me. We land in a heap, laughter bubbling out of us as we struggle to untangle ourselves. She’s still trying to swat me with her hands, but I hold them tight, forcing her to stop. Only when she does am I suddenly aware of how close she is and the way her body is pressing against me. Her face inches from mine. I can’t stop my eyes from dragging down to her lips as an unfamiliar pull tugs at my chest.
All it would take is for me to lean in.
I cut the thought dead. Shove it away. Don’t let it take root.
Then Serena is scrambling away, putting distance between us. “Be glad you don’t have a throw pillow on this couch, or I’d be smothering you right now,” she says, shooting me dagger-eyes but laughing, too.
“Love to see you try,” I shoot back, trying to keep my tone light, even as my heart pounds.
I’ve not exactly got much to compare it to, but fake dating Serena has been more fun than any relationship I’ve ever had. With Jen, I was always booking last-minute flights and sitting front row at fashion shows, pretending not to mind when she chose attending a new club opening together over something quieter, trying to be the kind of boyfriend she wanted me to be.
But with Serena, I can just be me. She’s seen every version of me—awkward, cocky, quiet—and she’s never asked me to be anything other than myself. I can talk for hours about whether I should hire a private detective to find my mom, and she never once tells me to make a decision or change the subject. Whichmakes this whole situation one hell of a mind fuck. Because Serena might feel like the easiest, most natural girlfriend I’ve ever had, but she isn’t actually my girlfriend. And never will be.
Serena steps away in the direction of the spare room, throwing the next comment over her shoulder. “And anyway, we can’t go to bed. I promised Harper we’d do a late-night selfie from your bed and post it on your socials. I’m going to get my pjs on.”
She disappears into the spare room before I can respond, leaving me sitting on the couch in my empty apartment with my head still spinning. Serena has been on my bed countless times before. We used to sleep top and tail at the ranch until we were twelve and Mama made me move to the pull-out in Jake’s room whenever Serena stayed over. But suddenly everything feels supercharged.
I never expected this fake dating thing to mess with my head so much. I run a hand over my shaved head, trying to shake off the tension building inside me. I hear the soft rustle of fabric from the spare room and imagine Serena pulling off her sweater, slipping out of her?—
No!I shut the thought down and drag myself up to brush my teeth. I will not perv over my best friend.
By the time I’m back in my room, Serena is flopped on top of my covers, wearing a loose tee and shorts that show off long, toned legs I pretend not to notice. She’s makeup free, hair pulled into a messy bun, and looking effortlessly beautiful.
She smiles. “Ready?”
“Sure,” I reply, dropping onto the bed beside her.
“You need to take your tee off,” she says, and I don’t miss the cute way her cheeks color a fraction. Maybe I’m not the only one finding this new level of fake intimacy hard to process.
I pull off my tee and open my arms for her so she can nestle against my chest. I glance down at her, catching the contrastof our skin. Serena is golden tanned and sun-warmed but still looking pale next to me. I have the in between of my mom’s white skin and my dad’s rich brown. A reminder every time I look in the mirror that no matter how much love is between me and Mama and my brothers, no matter how damn proud I am to be a Sullivan, I will always carry my biological parents with me.
Then Serena snaps a few pictures and we make silly faces, goofing around and laughing at each other. Easy as breathing.