Page 61 of The Stand-In Boyfriend

She swallows, but lifts her eyes to meet mine. “What do you feel?”

“I’m in love with you, Jessica Bryant,” I say simply.

My heart is thundering in my chest as I say those words out loud, but there is also a sense of relief. Of rightness. I wanted to tell her last night, but it seemed too soon. I didn’t want to spook her, but I’m also not risking losing her because I’m too big of a coward to say those words.

“You…”

“I love you,” I repeat, this time with more assurance than before. “I love your strong will and snarky attitude. I love that you don’t let me slide just because, and that you challenge me in every single way. I love the way you sneak glances at me when you think I won’t notice, and then you blush when you get caught. Yes, this whole thing started as fake, but it stopped feeling fake a long time ago, and I don’t want this to end.”

Jessy blinks a few times, like she’s trying to wrap her mind around my words. “Nobody will believe it’s true,” she whispers softly.

“I don’t care what everybody thinks. I care about whatyouthink.” I lean down, pressing my forehead against hers. “I care thatyoubelieve me. Do you? Do you believe me when I say I love you?”

Do you feel the same?

Chapter Twenty-Two

JESSICA

I love you.

I love you.

I love you.

His words ring in my mind on repeat. The tender tone of his voice when he said it. The determined look in his eyes. The way his arms held me, strong and secure, gentle and undefined at the same time.

“I don’t care what everybody thinks. I care about whatyouthink.” My whole body shudders as he presses his forehead against mine, those light eyes of his staring right into me. Seeing everything. “I care thatyoubelieve me. Do you? Do you believe me when I say I love you?”

How can he say it so easily like that? I’d been with Jack for months, and he never said those words to me. But Noah, he is so open and unapologetic about the way he feels. How can I question it when it’s all out in the open for me to see? The worry etched in the little frown line between his brows? The tenderness hiding in the blues of his irises? The way he touches me, with so much care?

“Noah, I…”

I what?

Want you?

Crave you?

Need you?

Love you?

I have no idea what I want to say. What I should be saying. It was so easy to just be and not think too much. I could hide it all under the pretense that it was fake. We were pretending, we had to make it look real. But now there is no more pretense, only truth, and Noah isn’t leaving me any choice but to face it.

Face him.

I want Noah Russell.

Although he’s the last person I should even be thinking about, I want him.

Hearing Lisa say Noah could never be into somebody like me hurt. My dad left me, Jack cheated on me, why would anybody want me? Why would Noah be interested in me? Maybe I’m just that unlovable.

Just like he said, we were fake. We were always supposed to be fake. But somehow it has grown into something more, and dammit, I want it. I want him. But is it worth the possibility of having my heart broken once again? Because I’m not sure I can take one more heartbreak. And still…

I want more time spent with this guy. I want to get to know him better. See him smile and listen to his silly jokes. Feel his lips pressed against mine, stealing my breath away with a simple kiss.

Because he does just that. Every kiss of his steals my breath away.

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