I lean toward Rosa. “He was convinced he was going to be a professional surfer—despite the fact that our waves are only good for boogie boarding.”
“I was decent!” he says.
“You fell off your board in front of a group of older girls you were trying to impress.”
“Oh, I remember that!” Carmen says with a laugh, then turns to Tony. “He actually tried to stand on his surfboard in these tiny waves.”
Brendan laughs, taking it all in stride. “That wasonetime.”
“It was very memorable.” I smile over my water glass.
Carmen holds up her fork mid-bite. “Actually, I think he was trying to impressyou.”
“He didn’t even notice me. I was a year younger, remember?” I turn my smile to Brendan. “I’m not sure you even knew I was watching.”
“Oh Iknew.” Then his gaze locks on mine, and the room suddenly feels ten degrees hotter.
I push some salad around my plate, hoping that my cheeks aren’t a dead giveaway of how his look is affecting me. “Well, I’m glad I made you wipe out so spectacularly, those other girls didn’t go after you.”
He looks at me with complete seriousness. “I was just waiting for the right girl to take notice.”
It’s crazy how good he is at this and how easily he can makeme believe that every word coming out of his mouth is the truth. Without realizing it, we’ve somehow shifted toward each other, his leg pressed against mine, the heat pulsing between us. His arm rests casually across the back of my chair, his fingers occasionally brushing my shoulder.
To everyone here, we’re just a happy couple, completely wrapped up in each other. If they only knew that behind the image, we have a complicated history.
Right now, I need to keep up with Brendan’s performance, match his banter word for word, and survive the next week without forgetting there can be no feelings involved.
“Well,” Rafael says finally. “Timing is everything, in business and in life. Which is why we’re here tonight—to celebrate the perfect timing that brought Carmen and Tony together.” He raises his glass. “To new beginnings.”
Everyone raises their glasses, echoing the toast, as they regard the bride and groom.
But I’m looking at Brendan, wondering which of us is better at pretending—him for making it look so real, or me for hiding how badly I want it to be.
SEVENTEEN
Brendan
The party has thinned out by the time Scarlett finally slips off her heels and heads for the stairs. She stifles a yawn with the back of her hand, shoes dangling from her fingers, like she’s had enough socializing for one day.
“You were wonderful tonight.” I pause at the bottom of the staircase. “Everyone adores you, just like I knew they would.”
She lets out a tired laugh. “Well, impressing your familyisexhausting. I’m going upstairs to take a bath.”
Even the mention of Scarlett in a bath is problematic, so I redirect my attention to Grandma Rosa’s portrait on the wall. Nothing like your grandmother staring at you to remind you to get your brain out of the gutter.
Her brows knit. “You okay? You’ve got this glazed look on your face.”
“Fine.” I clear my throat. “Just thinking about my grandmother and…bachelor party plans.” I hook my thumb toward Tony, who is very conveniently still in the living room.
Her frown grows deeper. “Okay, I’m going to pretend that made sense.” She turns toward the stairs. “See you at breakfast, Bren.”
I watch her disappear up the staircase, curls bouncing withevery step, and remind myself that we survived the party. No one suspected a thing, which means we nailed our first test. I should feel good about that, right?
Yeah…nope.
I just feel empty and I don’t like the reason why.
We made an agreement to be friends—no feelings involved—and I lasted maybe ten minutes on the no-feelings part.