“Oh, um, we don’t have to share a room. Is there somewhere else?—”
“We’re modern here, sweetheart. It’s not a big deal in this house for you two to share a bed. Plus, we didn’t know you were coming, and all the rooms are taken.”
Of course they are. This place is huge and could house twenty people easily, but there's no extra space for me. Before I can plead with her to let me sleep on the couch, she practically shoves us through the doorway into oursharedbedroom.
“We gave you one of the master bedrooms. We wanted to make sure you were comfortable, Luke. I figured you’d appreciate not having to share a bathroom with…” Her thoughts trail off, but we both knew she was about to say Davis.
“Yeah. Thanks,” he says, swallowing loudly and peering over at me.
“Well, I'll leave you to it. I’m glad you both are here.” Shewiggles her bushy brows at us before disappearing behind the closed door.
I pace the room a few times, biting the edge of my thumbnail, contemplating on what to do or say.Lord, I could use some of that wisdom you promise us right now, because clearly my brain isn’t working like it should.I walk over to the bed and take a seat.
“So…” Luke stands in front of me now, one eyebrow arched.
“Your family is…nice,” I offer, giving him a fake smile that washes away under his stern gaze.
"You know what you just did, right?"
"Yes," I say sheepishly.
"You told them we're dating."
"I did."
"And you know what that means to my eighty-year-old Italian grandmother, right?"
"Wedding planning?" I wince.
"Wedding planning!" He plops down on the bed next to me. "Do you have any idea what Italian women are like when they start planning weddings?"
"I panicked, okay? I could see that you were internally freaking out, and I said the first thing I could think of to try to help.”
He watches me for a moment, a wrinkle forming between his brows. “Are we going to lie all weekend, then?”
“I mean, yeah. I refuse to have your grandmother hate me. She is terrifying. Plus, it might take some of the pressure off you.”
“And that’s why you want to fake a relationship with me? Because you’re trying to help me out?” His brow lifts.
“Of course.” My voice is a mere whisper as he leans closer into my space. With him this close, the air feels thinner, like we're standing on top of a mountain and not sitting together on his grandmother’s spare bed.
“And you're sure about this?”
I nod my head, afraid of how weak my voice might sound. Because I’mnotsure. How can I pretend to date my best friend? Especially with all these confusing thoughts and feelings swirling around inside of me. But it’s Luke. My best friend. I’m doing this as a sort of favor.It’ll be fine.
Luke’s eyes soften to warm, rich puddles of brown. “Maybe you’re right.”
Now it’s my turn to arch a brow at him. “I am?”
“Yeah. This could be a good distraction from everything else.”
I stare at him, dumbfounded that he’s being so chill about this. A laugh rumbles from his chest. He watches me carefully until my body seems to relax.
“It’ll be fun.” I do my best to smile at him and ignore the way my stomach is clenching from nerves. “We might need to establish some rules.”
“You know that rules never work when it comes to fake dating.”
I roll my eyes. “I don’t want things to get weird between us. You have to promise me that it won’t.”
