Page 84 of Summer Kisses

I sighed, not feeling like I could drive in this state anyway. "Okay. But I'm at my place, not Brady's."

"Okay," Ivy said before hanging up, and I'd never been more grateful for good friends. I'd always thought of Brady as my closest friend, but I'd ruined that with this fiasco of an arrangement. We naively thought we'd solve all our problems with a little lie. But we should have known better. Lies never solve anything.

I knew I'd fall for Brady. That it wouldn't take much to have me careening over the edge. I'd held out hope that he'd feel the same way. But I guess I was wrong. He didn't even want to talk about it. He was more concerned about making things right with his dad.

Shouldn't he talk to me first? Weren't we a team? I guess if I wanted the real thing, I should have been upfront with him from the beginning.

I washed my face, wishing it didn't look so red and puffy. But there was nothing I could do about it now. The doorbell rang, and I went to the door, seeing it was Ivy. I opened it, letting the girls in.

They hugged me one by one, whispering words of encouragement.

"Thanks for coming," I said as they sat on the chairs and couch in the living room.

Once everyone was settled, I perched on the ottoman so that I was facing them. "I suppose you want to know the truth."

"What's this about Brady having his own show?" Elena asked, leaning in.

"He has a video-game show on a streaming platform. He wanted a family-friendly designation, and he thought a girlfriend—or even better, a fiancée—would seal the deal. It started when I picked up this ring at bingo night and wanted to see what it looked like on my finger." I held up my hand with the ring. "I put it on, and when I came out from under the table, Grandma assumed I was engaged. Before I could correct her, Brady stepped in and agreed with her. He told me later that he needed me to be his fiancée for his show, and that it would make Grandma happy too. It seemed like a good idea at the time. I had no idea that Kingston giving the library money for the after-school program would prompt all of this." I threw my hands up in the air.

"Hazel, was there another reason why you went along with the engagement?" Elena asked gently.

I blew out a breath, looking around at all my friends. I saw nothing but concern and support in their gazes. "I thought it would be a way to see if what I felt for Brady was real."

"I knew it," Kinsley said under her breath.

"Did it work?" Daria asked.

"A little too well. It was impossible to resist him, sleeping in his bed and sharing his bathroom. It was only a matter of time before we kissed, and then it led to more. We have chemistry."

"How does Brady feel?"

"He said he was going to tell everyone we were fake. But if we like each other, then it's not fake. I mean, the engagement is, but not our relationship."

"Do you love him?" Kinsley asked.

"I think I do. But I have no idea how he feels. He's willing to tell everyone our relationship isn't real. So he must not feel the same way I do," I said.

"That's not necessarily true. Has he said anything about how he feels?" Ivy asked.

"Before we took things to the next level, he said he wanted to explore things between us. I fell harder for him, but he never really said how he felt."

"So you don't know for sure how he feels," Elena said.

"He's going to tell everyone we're fake, and we're going to have to deal with the fallout from that," I said.

"There's no way around that. But what's more important to you? What everyone else thinks or how he feels about you?" Elena asked.

I chewed on my lip. "How he feels about me."

"Then you need to focus on saving your relationship," Ivy said.

"Unfortunately, he's worried about his father and what he thinks. For him, this is proof that his dad is right about him. That he makes stupid and impulsive decisions." I felt defeated. This entire situation was out of my control.

"Maybe he'll calm down and see things differently," Daria murmured.

"Yeah, you just have to give him time to deal with the stuff around the family business," Nora added.

"So I should wait?" I asked them. Now that we'd made the decision on what to focus on, I wanted to act now. I didn't want to lose Brady.

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