Page 53 of Real Tree / Fake Boyfriend

“Julien’s not my boyfriend.” He pressed his lips together, thinking about what Jules had said earlier. He wasn’t pretending. But it didn’t make him Tyler’s anything, really.

Cece stared at him before her hands pressed against her temples. “I’m sorry, what?”

“I paid him to pretend to be my boyfriend so you guys wouldn’t worry about me as much.” The words fell from his lips as if they had been waiting to come out at the first chance.

As much as he wanted things to go perfectly, as much as he tried to keep this to himself forever, he had been dying to talk to someone. His emotions had become too complicated for him to deal with alone. He never imagined it would be Cece he told.

“How much did you pay him? What? How?” Cece refilled both of their glasses. “Oh, this I gotta hear. Here, have another.” Her eyes were still wet, but the grief on her face had been replaced with curiosity and shock.

Tyler sighed. “We met at a bar. He’s friends with Cam, too. I thought I could have someone pretend to be my boyfriend so I wouldn’t feel left out during the holidays. But now I think I’m falling for him and don’t know what to do.”

Cece covered her mouth, exhaling sharply through her nose. He might have thought she was laughing at him, but otherwise, she stayed completely still.

Eventually, she dropped her hand. “But you guys seemed rock solid. Is that why you dressed him up and made him pretend to be a car salesman?”

Tyler covered his face and laughed a little. “Yes. I’m stupid. But he’s an incredible guy, and now I want to see if it could be real.”

“Jesus fucking Christ, Ty. Does Hailey know?” She ran her hands through hermessy hair.

“No! Please don’t tell anyone. I want to see where this goes. I don’t want it to be even more awkward than it already is.”

Cece nodded. “Well, I’ll keep your secret if you keep mine,” she told him with another shaky breath.

“Deal.” He stuck his pinky out. She hooked hers around it, and they shook on it.

“I love you,” Cece told him, her chin quivering.

“I love you, too,” Tyler said. As much as he wanted to go back upstairs to see what might happen with Julien, he knew he couldn’t leave his sister so sad. “How about we pour another glass and see if we can find a movie? You shouldn’t go to bed feeling like shit.”

“You’re sure?” she asked in a small voice, already pouring herself another glass.

“I’m sure.”

They foundIt’s a Wonderful Lifeon one of the channels, and Tyler was happy to enjoy the whiskey with his sister until she passed out on the couch.

Between the whiskey and the fact that it was almost three in the morning, Tyler also considered sleeping on the couch. Ultimately, he covered Cee with a blanket and grabs his charger on his way back upstairs.

It did not surprise Tyler that the light was out in his room, and Julien was sprawled out in the bed, his arm tossed over his face as he snored softly.

Disappointment flooded Tyler’s chest. There wasn’t much time left before Christmas, and Tyler didn’t know what might happen between him and Julien. Hopefully, the few days they did have together would be enough to offer him some clarity.

He got ready for bed as quietly as possible and slipped between the blankets.

Julien stirred and rolled closer to him. “You alright?” He draped his arm over Tyler’s chest.

“Yeah. Cece was having a bad night. It’s fine now. Sorry,” he apologized. It was not how he wanted the night to go, but he had to be there for his sister in theend.

“You’re all good, Baby.” Julien pressed a sleepy kiss to his jaw. After a moment, he nuzzled against Tyler and fell immediately back to sleep.

“Love you,” Tyler whispered, knowing full well it was stupid to say, even if Julien couldn’t hear him. Even trying out how the words felt on his tongue, Tyler knew they were real.

Chapter 21

Tyler

The whole family sat curled up on the couch. Two days before Christmas, no one had called Tyler on his scheme with Julien. It was feeling less and less like a scheme by the day. It felt more like a distant memory of a scheme. The more time he spent with Julien, the more he felt like the man was his boyfriend. Hisrealboyfriend.

Tyler’s feelings were one hundred percent real. Somewhere between giving Jules the rest of his money and smearing frosting on his cheek, Tyler had fallen for the bad boy, a giant teddy bear in disguise.

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