Page 133 of Well That Happened

“What do we do, just pretend?” Grayson asks, skeptical.

“Yes,” I say. “We pretend everything is chill and boring. And also—I have to be dating someone.”

All eyes snap to me.

“Otherwise he’ll sniff out the tension in, like, five minutes. And we all know Caleb won’t be able to keep his hands off me for forty-eight hours.”

“Facts,” Caleb says brightly.

Grayson blinks.

Hunter’s expression goes nuclear. “Absolutely not.”

“Why not?” Caleb says, mock-offended. “I’m a great boyfriend.”

“Isaidwe’re pretending,” I snap.

“Exactly,” Hunter bites. “So pretend it’s not the worst idea I’ve ever heard.”

Grayson folds his arms. “It’s not a terrible idea…”

“It’s a disaster,” Hunter interrupts. “You’re going to tell a guy barely out of rehab that his little sister is shacked up with a teammate—and you think that’llcalmhim?”

“It’s the best idea we’ve got!” I say. “He’ll just think everything is fine and functional and platonic. Except for me and Caleb. He’ll be so distracted by that, he won’t look too closely at the rest.”

“Won’t be pretending,” Caleb mumbles.

“Yes, but JUST Caleb,” I say quickly.

Grayson’s brows lift. “So we’re just choosing the guy least capable of keeping things low-key?”

Caleb beams. “Thank you.”

Hunter pushes off the wall. “I don’t like this.”

“No one likes this,” I say. “But Fletcher’s coming. And if he suspects anything’s weird, he’s going to go full overprotective chaos mode. I need you guys to help me pull this off.”

There’s silence.

And then—slowly—Grayson nods.

Caleb salutes.

Hunter… doesn’t move.

He just stares at me. Long. Hard. Frustrated.

But underneath that?

There’s something else.

Worry.

Something close to fear.

“You’re playing with fire,” he says quietly. “Don’t come crying when it burns.”

And then he leaves the room.

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