Page 173 of The Faking Game
“I don’t want a wife.”Unless it’s you.I grip her wrist and tug her up instead. She settles on either side of my knees. “And I don’t want to talk about yourfuturemen.”
“So you want us to pretend instead. Like we used to.” She tilts her head again, and her fingers find the scar in my eyebrow. “You’re a hypocrite, Calloway.”
My eyes narrow. “How so?”
“You act like you don’t believe in relationships, but you’re telling me to wait to have sex with someone I care about. With someone who truly matters. That’s a very romantic notion for someone who claims they don’t believe in love.”
I find the curve of her waist and grip her tight like it will keep her from ever leaving. She’s killing me, slicing through me word for word. “Yes. I still stand by it.”
“So you don’t believe in love for yourself, but you believe in it for me?”
My breath is ragged. “I want more for you than I want for me.”
It’s a lie. Maybe the first I’ve ever told her, because fuck if I don’t want it all with her.
Her, or no one.
She smiles. It’s a small, ravenous expression that speaks of victory, and I harden again beneath her. Could take her just like this, in this armchair, if I wasn’t held back by the guilt.
“Thanks for the date,” she says, and she slips off my lap. “It was very… informative.”
CHAPTER51
WEST
My sister looks distraught.
She’s sitting on the edge of the counter in the kitchen, chewing on one of Melissa’s bread rolls. “It’s annoying,” she says. “You think he’s different, and then he just turns out tonotbe, you know?”
Nora nods. “Yeah. I know what you mean.”
“Who is he?” I ask.
“I’m not telling you,” Amber says. “You’re not allowed to be overprotective.”
“He’s someone you’re dating?”
“Just for a short time.” She rolls her eyes. “He was playing hot and cold, and I hate it when they do that.”
I cross my arms over my chest. My sister has always been bold, sometimes wild. She dates. She’s strong and has no problem standing up for herself, and here she is, heartbroken and back at Fairhaven.
She dropped by last night and took one of the guest rooms. She stayed up late with Nora, watching a movie. I joined them for a while, until I felt like I might combust from sitting so close to Nora and pretending like we were nothing but friends.
Amber turns to Nora. “Okay, you have to figure out a name now.”
“But it’s so hard,” Nora says. “I have a few ideas, but…” She trails off and grabs her sketchbook. “It’s not like he’s mine to name, you know?”
“Of course he is,” Amber says.
She looks at me. “I think he technically belongs to West, since he moved into Fairhaven.”
“You name him,” I say. “He likes you the best. What are your options?”
“I’m thinking something literary. Because we found him in the library, and that’s still his favorite room.” Nora takes a few steps toward the doorway. “I’ll keep thinking. Gotta go work.”
“See you later,” Amber says.
Nora leaves the kitchen and disappears up the steps to the atelier to make more design pieces.
