Page 25 of Faking with Three

“Flattery won’t save you right now,” I mutter, but he keeps going.

“Then Jax joins you, looking all charming and flirty, and then Marcus shows up, all serious and brooding. And when I walked over? It was like the perfect storm. Now the internet thinks you’re dating—or at least considering—all three of us.”

My brain short-circuits for a second. “Wait, what?”

“Yeah,” he says, nodding enthusiastically. “The viewers went nuts. They started commenting, speculating, making up all these wild theories. Our existing fans loved it, and then it started trending. Liv, our channel is blowing up right now. Everyone’s calling it the ‘Love Lab Experiment: Quad Dating Edition.’”

I pinch the bridge of my nose, feeling a headache forming. “So… people actually believe I’m dating all three of you?”

“Yep. And they can’t get enough of it,” he says, laughing like this is the best news he’s heard in years.

I look down the road, taking in the classic neighborhood scene—tidy houses with picket fences, flower boxes in windows, a dog barking in the distance. All of it feels surreal.

“So, let me get this straight,” I say, turning to him. “You accidentally streamed me waiting on a bad date, and now the internet thinks I’m dating all three founders of Love Lab?”

Ethan smirks. “Well, I mean, technically it’s notdatingif it’s just one date. But they’re definitely intrigued.”

I groan. “I can’t believe this.”

He steps closer, dropping his teasing tone. “I know, Liv. But this could be huge for us. The channel hasn’t had this kind of buzz in ages. I’m talking thousands of new subscribers overnight, comments flooding in, people sharing clips all over social media. It’s exactly what we needed.”

I look up at him, taking in his expression. He’s genuinely excited, like a kid who’s just found out Christmas came early. It’s almost endearing. Almost.

“This wasn’t what I signed up for,” I say, shaking my head.

Ethan’s smile falters for a second, and he gives me a searching look. “Are you mad?”

I want to say yes. I want to tell him this is too much, especially after what happened last night with Jax. But then I see the way he’s looking at me, like he’s waiting for me to pull the plug on the one good thing that’s happened to him in a while.

I sigh, kicking a stray pebble down the sidewalk. “No, I’m not mad. Just… flabbergasted, I guess.”

If Heather were here, she would call me an idiot. Here’s my chance to get out of this.

The bigger part of me wants to throw in the towel, go back to my quiet tech world and leave all this drama behind. But theway Ethan looks at me right now, with so much hope in his eyes, stops me. I guess I’m a fool, after all.

“Fine,” I say, exhaling sharply. “I’ll go along with it. But only because I can see how much this means to you.” I point a finger at him, trying to maintain some semblance of control. “But you need to tell me what you have in mind.”

Ethan blinks, as if he wasn’t expecting me to ask. “What do you mean?”

I roll my eyes. “You know, to keep the viewers’ interest. You said the channel’s buzzing right now, right? That kind of attention doesn’t last forever. We need to come up with something fast to keep them hooked.”

His eyes light up like I just gave him a million-dollar idea. “Olivia,” he breathes, stepping closer. “You’re a genius.”

Before I can react, Ethan leans in and kisses me on the cheek, his lips warm and unexpectedly soft against my skin. I freeze, caught completely off guard. I’m aware of everything at once: the zing that shoots through my entire body, the way his hand rests on my arm, his thumb gently brushing against my skin. It’s such a simple gesture, but it feels like a spark setting off a firework inside me.

My body goes completely still, my heart hammering against my ribs. The warmth of his skin lingers even after he pulls away.

I can feel every nerve in my body suddenly buzzing. When I look up, Ethan is close—so close that I can catch his scent, something woodsy with a hint of citrus, completely disarming. His gaze shifts, locking onto mine, and his eyes seem to darken for a moment. His look grows intense, almost unreadable.

But then he takes a step back, breaking the spell, looking anywhere but at me. “Uh, sorry. Just got carried away,” he says, a bit flustered.

I laugh, though it's shaky. “Yeah, no, it’s... fine. Totally. No big deal.” I glance down at my feet, feeling suddenly awkwardand very aware of the fact that I’m sweaty and out of breath from our run. My cheeks feel hot, like they’ve been lit on fire. Ridiculous.

He coughs lightly, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Anyway," he says, clearing his throat, “We’re definitely going to need to brainstorm some ideas. Maybe I’ll set up a meeting with Jax and Marcus for later today. They’ll be over the moon with this response.”

“Right,” I say, finally managing to pull myself back to reality. “Let’s… let’s do that. Maybe play up the whole ‘quad dating’ thing they think is happening.”

Ethan raises an eyebrow, smirking. “You’re really embracing this, huh?”

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