Page 40 of Don't Go Faking My Heart

"I don't want to speak for Ash," Rusty says, "but it's been brewin' for a long time. We only decided to take things public this weekend, though."

"And?" Tia asks. "That's not good enough! What is a 'long time?'"

Rusty's face still hasn't cooled from our kiss. "Oh, stop. Y'all know I've been in love with her since the minute she rolled into town last spring."

"Yeah,” Tia says, “but I didn't realize she knew."

Huh?

"She didn't," I say. “Rusty’s a man of surprises.”

"When did you start to like him?" Tia asks.

I don't know when she pulled us down, but the three of us are sitting at the table, and half of the diner is gathered around like we're on a talk show. I didn't realize how invested people would be in this, but it makes sense. Rusty is remarkable. He's the guy you call when you find a snake on your porch or your battery dies in your car. I don't just mean me, either. I mean the town. He's also a hot commodity, whether he knows it or not. The single women in the room must despise me for taking him off the market.

All eyes are on me.

Wait, why are they all looking at me?

Rusty grabs my hand. "Yeah, gorgeous. When did you start to like me?"

Bless this man.

I'm about to make something up when the image of him asleep across my desk last night flashes in my head. The smell of eucalyptus and mint. The feeling of pressing my thumb between his eyebrows and smoothing away his worry.

"A million little moments," I say, because the best lies are mingled with truth, right?

"Oh, come on. There has to have been a moment," Tia says. Why is she pressing me so hard? And why does it feel wrong to lie when this whole thing is fake?

"It was at the wedding," a voice says behind me. Sonny Luciano.

Sonny, Parker, and Lou have all arrived, and all three are wearing the smirkiest smirks that have ever smirked. Their expressions scream we’ve been waiting for this. Are all of my friends secretly actors, or something?

Everyone is immediately dazzled by Sonny, who gives Rusty a fist bump.

"Which wedding?" Tia asks Sonny.

"My grandma's a couple months ago. I was telling Ash that I thought Rusty's tummy waffles were better than mine?—"

"What are tummy waffles?" Chick Parkinson asks.

"They're abs, Chick. Try to keep up," Nana P. says. Chick sucks in his belly.

"Ash and Rusty were dancing, and when the song ended, she came over and sat next to me, but she kept looking over at Rusty," Lou says. "It was like she was trying to figure something out."

"What was it?" Tia asks.

"If his abs really were that hot," I say, and everyone laughs. And I mean everyone, Rusty included. "I'm teasing, Hotcakes," I say, although the memory of touching his torso the other day flashes like lightning in my mind. I blink it away and look at Rusty's strong, handsome face and the goodness that radiates from him. "I asked myself, if I could pick anyone in the world to fall in love with, who would it be? And the answer was clear as day: Rusty."

Tia covers her mouth with her hands. "Are you jokin' me right now? You literally picked the man you wanted to fall in love with and then fell for him?"

If only. "Not quite. But it made me see him differently."

Why does Rusty have a pained look on his face?

And why do I feel that pain directly in my heart?

"What in the Sam Hill is going on here?" a voice booms from the kitchen.

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