Page 128 of Fauxmance

"Nothing," I said. "Just got a little something in my eye."

His forehead pinched and he cocked his chin to a door a little farther down. "Come on. There's a bathroom in there. It'll have better light."

I followed him and let him inspect my eye for a piece of dust that wasn't there.

"I don't see anything," he said. "Want me to blow in it?"

"No, it's okay now," I said. "Can we just talk for a second?"

Hayden grinned. "I thought that's what we were doing."

Taking a deep breath, pulling up all of my courage, I told him the truth.

"Hayden, I like you," I said.

"I like you, too, Maggie," he said.

"I was wondering if you might want to try dating for real."

A moment passed.

Then two.

By the time I got to three, my heart was running a mile a minute.

Hayden nodded slowly. "Well, sure. We can do that."

I smiled in relief. "Okay."

"Was that why you looked so worried?" he said with an easy smile. "Jeez, Maggie. It's not like you've been in this alone. I'm feeling it, too."

"You are?"

"Yeah."

Little sparks raced up and down my spine as he placed a hand against my cheek.

"I'd love to try something with you. No-strings-attached."

The sparks turned into ashes.

"No strings," I repeated as I stared into his eyes.

Hayden nodded. "It's not like it's that big of a leap from what we're doing now anyway. Fake to no-strings, I'm willing if you are."

Now, it felt like the ashes were clogging my throat, and I was choking.

"Maggie?"

I pulled away before he could kiss me and watched his hand fall away.

"That's not what I meant," I said softly.

Hayden looked confused. "What did you mean?"

"I meant arealrelationship. One with you and me, commitment, feelings, everything. One that might lead to more if we let it."

His eyes dimmed then. "Oh."

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