Page 31 of Fake It Til You Break It

I walked away before he could question me because, frankly, I had no idea what I would tell him. I had enough self-awareness to know I was being an asshole, but not the capacity to doanything about it. And I needed to get away before I said something I couldn’t take back.

I found the bar tucked into a corner on the other side of the room and ordered a double shot of whiskey. The second the bartender placed it in front of me, I tossed it back, slammed the glass down on the counter, and requested another one.

I didn’t even remove my hand from the glass as he poured.

With the second shot halfway to my lips, a pale hand with long, elegant fingers landed on my wrist to stop me.

“What’s wrong?”

I glanced at Jasper from the corner of my eye and shook my head. “Nothing.”

“Right. Try again. What’s going on?”

“It’s fine.” I brushed his hand off and downed the whiskey. “I’mmanaging.”

“You’re…wait. That’s why you’re mad? Because of what I said to Nick?” He sounded genuinely confused. “Did you want me to tell him we’re dating?”

“No. Maybe.” I sighed, hyper aware of our surroundings. “We shouldn’t do this here.”

“I don’t give a damn where we are. Talk to me.”

Pushing away from the bar, I turned and stared at him. Jasper didn’t curse. Ever. While mild, that single word was enough to penetrate my bad mood.

“We’ll talk about it later.”

“No. We’ll talk about it now.”

The words had barely left his mouth when Elisa Doherty sashayed up to us, her scarlet lips pulled back in a calculating smile. “Jasper, there you are!”

I couldn’t decide if I felt relieved or annoyed at the interruption, but as it turned out, it didn’t really matter. Jasper spared her an irritated glance and shook his head.

“Not now.”

“Oh, but I haven’t seen you in weeks. I thought we were going to catch up.”

Jasper turned his head, his eyes sharp and his gaze piercing. “Not. Now.”

Christ, this was getting out of control. My chest swelled with pride that he had finally decided to enforce his boundaries. At the same time, I recognized that if I didn’t get him out of there, he was going to end up committing social suicide, all because I couldn’t control my own emotions.

Grabbing his wrist, I marched past Elisa toward the balcony doors, dragging him with me. “Come with me.”

The second-story balcony overlooked nothing more than a narrow side street, and between the heat and humidity, it felt like wading through lukewarm soup. But at least we no longer had an audience.

“I’m sorry,” I said the instant the doors closed behind us. “I’m an idiot.”

“Because of Nick?”

Even the sound of his name made me wince, but I nodded. “Yeah, because of Nick.”

“Because I didn’t tell him we’re together?”

“That’s part of it,” I admitted. “But I also get it. I know how it would look if people found out you’re dating your plus-one. I just—”

“Beckett.”

My name—my given name—on his lips silenced me instantly.

“I canceled our contract weeks ago. I thought you were the one who didn’t want people to know about us.”

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