Page 62 of Accidentally Falling for My Fake Wife

“I like her,” I respond. The corners of my lips lift, and my gut flips. “She’s pretty great.”

He nudges me. “Of course she is! She’s related to me.” I almost roll my eyes at him, and he laughs at me. “Good. Cause I’d hate not to be able to like you anymore.”

This time, I roll my eyes at him while, at the same time, the knot in my stomach loosens.

“I’ll see you at dinner,” Josh yells over his shoulder as he stops at his door. I lift my hand and wave but keep walking until I reach my room.

I throw my bag on a bench, and when I walk through the door, I slide my phone from my pocket and text Susie.

Me:Is it Sunday yet?

A dopey grin plants itself on my face as I watch the three dots on my screen.

Susie:Did you beat the Rams?

My chest vibrates, and a wide grin spreads across my face.

Me:Not yet.

Susie:Then it’s not Sunday, silly.

Susie:I’m meeting up with Brie.

Susie:I’ll talk to you later.

Susie:Miss me lots!

“I do,” I say out loud, grinning at her sass. “It’s crazy how much I do.”

But I’m not ready to wear my heart on my sleeve. So instead, I reply:

Me:Have fun!

Chapter Twenty-Five

Susie

The fact that mymom can use all seven tiles to spell a word is still as confounding and annoying to me as ever. Despite that, Scrabble is still one of my favorite games unless I’m playing against my mom.

AfterTea Timeposted a picture of what looks like Josh kissing someone else, Brie went into shutdown mode. Her typical reaction when anything triggers a huge emotional response. It’s still the one challenge my best friend has whenever it comes to difficult emotions since the death of her parents when we were kids.

Seeing what looked like Josh kissing another woman definitely triggered all of those abandonment issues.

Suggesting a game of Scrabble was a way to keep her occupied. But our lets-distract-Brie-with-a game-of-Scrabble plan became a butt-kicking fest when she told me she invited her Aunt Marie and my mom.

How is it possible we’ve been playing for five minutes, and my mom has almost one hundred points with three words on the board?

“Yes!” My mom yells, and I roll my eyes at her dramatics. She stands up from the couch and points a finger at all of us. “You’re all going down.” She gets up and does her celebratory dance. She reminds me of Elaine from Seinfeld.

I cover my face and groan, but when I peek through my fingers, it’s to find Brie laughing. I slowly inhale and think that if my mom can help take Brie’s mind off Josh for a little while, she can do her silly little dance.

I’ll pretend she’s not the woman who gave birth to me.

Josh called me as I was driving to Brie’s. The panic in his voice confirmed what I already believed to be true.

Regardless of what that picture looks like, it’s not true.

Over the years, my brother has done some extremely idiotic things, but messing things up with Brie on a level this big isn’t one of them. I’ve known how he feels about Brie for years, but he just figured it out. Despite that, he would never intentionally hurt her or shame her in a way that would humiliate her, even if he wasn’t in love with her.

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