Page 23 of Would You Rather
She smirks. “You’re trying to deny it,” she says, tutting at me. “You little cheater.”
“Deny what?” I ask her, wiping my eyes, knowing I’ll never be able to get back to sleep now.
She shakes her head, a smile on her face, and pulls out her phone, holding it out to me. A picture of Lucas and me at the park a few days ago is front and center on the screen, with the headline saying, ‘The hottest celebrity couple debuts their relationship’. Well, then, seems like it worked.
“Shit.”
“Yeah, shit,” she says, pocketing her phone. “I thought you said you didn’t even know him.” She narrows her eyes at me. “And now you’re suddenly dating? How the hell did this happen?” She shakes her head. “You know what, I don’t care. You lost,” she says. “I can’t wait to see you with red hair.”
That is not happening.“I did not lose. I said the day I fall in love will be the day I dye my hair red. That hasn’t – and will not – happen.”
She squints at me and then drops her shoulders. “Fine,” she says, sitting on the edge of my bed. “But it won’t take long. You’re already halfway there.”
I choke on my laughter. “I’m nowhere near close. Believe me, you’re going to be getting a tattoo of my choice before that ever happens.” Ifand whenGabi undoubtedly falls in love first,I’ll be picking out a tattoo for her. And I can’t wait for that to happen.
She narrows her eyes at me. “When did you see him again?” she asks. “Why didn’t you tell me? Is it serious? Is he nice? Is he—”
Gabriella doesn’t have time to finish her sentence because both Leila and Rosie open the door and come inside. “You’re dating Lucas?” Leila asks.
I groan again. “Seriously? Can’t I get some sleep here?” I fall back onto my pillow and squeeze my eyes shut. When I lift my head, they’re all staring at me, waiting for answers. “How do you even know about it?”
“Gabi called us,” she says.
I look over to the traitor in question, who simply shrugs. “It’s a big deal,” she says. “I never thought this day would happen.” She pretends to sniff and wipe a tear.Such a drama queen. “My baby is growing up.”
I pick up my pillow and hit her on the arm with it. She lets out a laugh, and Rosie sits down beside me. “I know I’m not one to say anything since I kept Grayson a secret from you guys, but why didn’t you tell us? Didn’t you know it would be all over the internet?” she asks.
I did. I knew, and I should have prepared for this moment, but the thought of lying to them gives me hives. I pull my bottom lip between my teeth. “I… forgot?”
They all narrow their eyes at me, and Leila shakes her head. “Okay, what’s going on?” she asks. “Last week, you told us you didn’t know him, and now you’re apparently dating? Besides, the Lucas I know doesn’t date, at least not seriously.”
I frown, thinking of all the girls that came before me, getting photographed with him. I’m no different. I’m now one of thosegirls. “It’s complicated,” I tell her, not wanting to lie but also not wanting to go broke from this NDA.
“What’s going on?” Leila asks again. “If anyone understands ‘complicated,’ it’s us.”
Shit. God, I hate lying. “I… can’t say.”
That makes them even more suspicious, and I inwardly curse at myself for signing that NDA. This is the hardest thing in my life. I don’t keep secrets from them. They know everything there is to know about me. Even what happened with Daniel.
“Are you okay?” Leila asks, her tone sounding worried. “Is there something going on?”
“Whatever it is, you can tell us,” Rosalie says.
“Who’s ass do we need to beat?” Gabi asks.
I let out a laugh, shaking my head. I love these girls so much. I can’t lie. Not to them. I sigh, and the words just come tumbling out. “It’s not real.”
“What?” they all ask, clearly confused.
“It’s fake,” I admit with a shrug. “That meeting I had with an agent last week? It was Lucas’ agent. She said people were loving the picture of us and the idea of us as a couple, and his agent suggested we continue the ruse. Pretend to date.” I look at the girls, who all seem confused, and shake my head. “She said this would be good for me, for both of us. That it would get us publicity and make my name known.”
Leila nods. “Yeah, it’ll definitely do that. Lucas is well known and loved, and with you being photographed with him… people will start to notice you, for sure.”
“So this is all fake?” Gabi asks, looking down at the picture again. “None of it is real?”
“Definitely not,” I confirm. “We’re not even kissing in this picture. He was warning me about the paparazzi, that’s it.” I glance down at the picture on her phone. It really does look like we’re kissing. “Trust me, the last thing I would want is to be in a relationship, less of all him.”
“You still don’t like him, huh?” Leila asks.
