Page 46 of Fool Me

“So, I have to come clean about something,” I hedge.

Aspen’s brow crinkles. “Shit, did you guys break up or something? You two were cute. It was giving me hope that maybe finding someone in this tin can of a town is possible.”

I wince. “Not exactly. We, um . . . aren’t really dating.”

Tessa lifts her head. “Like you’re just keeping it casual?”

“Like it’s fake.”

“People don’t fake date in real life, that’s just for movies and romance books.” Aspen laughs, but stops when she sees my face. “Wait, you’re serious?”

“Actually . . .” Tessa starts.

At the same time Sloane asks, “What’s this about?” She studies me with serious consideration.

“Canyon.” The confession comes with a sigh. “He’s going after the Incident Commander job and the idea of people focusing on our past instead of my qualifications or the years of work I’ve done with the team made my blood boil.”

“So you gave them something else to focus on?” Tessa guesses.

“That depends . . . are you going to tell me it’s a terrible idea that’s going to blow up in my face?”

“Not at all. I’ve never done it, but Veda has,” Tessa says of her friend and gymnastics superstar. “Her agent sets up advantageous dates all the time. It’s more common than you think.”

“Sometimes I forget you’re, like, super famous, with super famous friends,” Aspen says.

“Especially when you’re sitting in the dirt with us, eating trail snacks, on a random Thursday.”

“Just call me a chameleon,” she jokes back. “I think this is actually a brilliant idea. The tactic works on global media, why wouldn’t it work here?”

“But what if you actually fall for him?” Aspen, the romantic of the group, asks.

I consider that because I do like Atlas. He’s fun in a way I didn’t expect and not nearly as nice as I tease him about being. When he turns off the polite charm and lets the raw parts of him shine through . . . it makes my pulse pound harder than any climb. I definitely want to kiss him and explore that tension between us. But am I falling for him? That would be epically stupid.

He doesn’t like messy, and we would be messy. A short-term fake relationship is one thing—we can both walk away, maybewith some bruises and scrapes—but long term, how would that work with his parents? He might have cut out his brother, but if he was forced to choose, that’s not a position I want to put him in.

“It can’t hurt more than what his brother put me through,” I say, hoping my face shows a bravery I don’t feel as I think about the not-so-far-fetched idea that I could fall for Atlas Kane. Other than being Canyon’s brother, there’s nothing about him that doesn’t do it for me, and even that is something I could overlook. But I’m not surehecould, and since this is all for show, it might not even matter.

“The chemistry between you two.” Tessa holds her fingers to her lips and pulls it away with an open palm, mimicking a chef’s kiss. “You couldn’t take your eyes off him last night outside Peaks & Petals. And he was so fucking cute the way he didn’t want to drop your hand so you could hug me.”

“Honestly, you should both consider a career change because you had me fooled.”

“In five minutes?” I ask.

“Some things you can’t fake.”

“And I bet you wouldn’t have to fake anything with him,” Aspen adds with a snort.

Sloane’s uncharacteristically quiet as the girls pile on relentlessly. I watch the way she worries her lip. “You think this is a terrible idea, don’t you?”

She looks down at her hands twisting in her lap, and when she lifts her chin the ghosts that sometimes haunt her are swimming in her amber eyes. “Secrets and lies never stay buried for long, and I don’t want to see this hurt you.”

It’s like a knife to my chest because there’s so much worry in her soft voice. I don’t know what she’s hiding from us, and most days it feels kinder not to push her on it, because we’ve all seen the way the topic of home and her past makes her shut downfor weeks. Knowing that I’m adding to the burden she already carries makes my chest ache so painfully.

“Hey,” I reply quietly, waiting until her gaze, that drifted to the trees over my shoulder, returns. “Thank you for caring. I promise you, I’ve got this.”

“So, you’ve told your dad?” she asks, something that sounds like anger edging her voice.

“Well, no.” This time it’s my gaze that drops to the rock at my feet. “I can’t tell him. He’d have to lie for me, and I won’t ask him to do that.”

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