Page 23 of The Summer We Played Pretend

He stops walking and turns to face me, his brown eyes intense. "I don't want to lose you as a friend.”

A friend. My heart gives an empty, dull thud. Clearly, that kiss meant more to me than to him.

“And Ethan wants—”

“My brother has nothing to do with this,” I say quickly.

I feel hollow inside. He’s so busy worrying about what my brother will think that he doesn’t even care how I feel.

“I want to look after you, Chlo.”

“I hate to point it out but you’re not Ethan. And I have a mom and a dad and friends to look after me. You’re not responsible for me and I don’t want to feel like some sort of burden.”

His eyes widen and I clamp my mouth shut. I didn’t mean for all that to come out but I think I’m getting tired of this macho nonsense, treating me like I can’t make my own decisions.

“I’m not uncomfortable with the kiss,” I say firmly, folding my arms and lifting my chin, despite that fact my pulse is rocketing through me.

“Right.” A little relief crosses his face. “Good.” Jackson gives a strained smile. “I didn’t mean to imply that you can’t look after yourself. I’m just trying—”

“To help, I know. And you did. You really did.” I reach out and put a hand to his arm, somehow ignoring the sensation it spreads through my hands to touch his muscles. “It would have been a lot harder to face Brendan without you.”

“Maybe we just need to set some boundaries.”

I swallow past the knot in my throat. So Jackson doesn’t want to end this whole fake boyfriend thing? A silent thrill runs through me. The thought of playing pretend longer is both terrifying and insanely exciting.

And dangerous.

I can already feel my heart getting involved. Why else would I lash out at him?

“Like what?”

“Like whether I should kiss your or not.” He runs a hand over his face. “I didn’t think…that is, I just reacted when I kissed you, and you didn’t deserve that. I didn’t give you a choice.”

“I had a choice, Jackson.” The word comes out quietly. I did have a choice. Technically. I could have backed away or made him stop at any moment. I know that. I trust Jackson with my life.

At the same time, I felt entirely powerless to stop that kiss because, truthfully, I didn’t want to stop it.

“I was just thinking, if you want to continue with this whole fake boyfriend thing—”

“I do,” I say before I can change my mind.

His smile warms a little and I like it far too much.

“Then we just lay some ground rules. Then neither of us are taken by surprise.”

“So what sort of ground rules were you thinking?”

He stops and leans over the pier rail. I follow suit, resting my elbows against the metal and watching the sea lap against the pier supports.

"First and foremost, we need to be completely honest with each other. No more surprises or assumptions. If anything makes you uncomfortable or if you want to stop this...arrangement, just tell me."

“And second?”

“No more surprises. Everything clear and agreed upon."

"Definitely. No more impulsive moves." I nod. It’s for the best really. If I’m not sitting around waiting for a kiss from Jackson, I can just focus on getting my act together and getting ready for college.

“And third…”

---