Page 17 of The Hearts We've Broken
“No worries.” Mikey brushed him off.
Tommy pointed over his shoulder awkwardly. “I’m gonna…go.” He walked away, and I could practically feel the embarrassment radiating off him.
I pulled Mikey aside, away from the other people. “What the fuck are you doing? Aren’t you a little old to be here?” He had to have been the oldest person at the bonfire.
“Damn, Peach. Good to see you, too.” He snickered.
I crossed my arms, huffing out a breath. “Are you keeping tabs on me?”
Mikey raised his eyebrows, a playful glint in his eyes. “No, but maybe I should, girlfriend. Have you forgotten rule number one?”
“Fakegirlfriend, and no, I didn’t forget. Good to know you’re taking that seriously, though.” I patted his arm as I tried to walk past him.
He took hold of my arm as our shoulders brushed, pulling me back. “Come on, Peach. At least act like you like me. It’s a little too early in ourfakerelationship to be fighting already, don’t you think?” Although his tone was teasing, there was a silent plea in his expression. For whatever reason, he needed me as much as I needed him.
“I’m sorry. I’ve never been in a fake relationship before, so this is all new to me.”
He mumbled something under his breath that soundeda lot like, “I’ve never been in arealone before, so this is also new,” but I chose to ignore it.
“You didn’t answer my question, though. Why are you here?”
Mikey shrugged. “Heard through the grapevine that you’d be here and thought it’d be a good opportunity to pilot this relationship. Thought if it went well and we could make it believable enough, I’d introduce you to the rest of the guys.”
Oh. I hadn’t thought much about the rest of the cowboys in his friend group.
I sighed and gave him a reluctant nod.
“They don’t believe that you’re real. They thought I made you up to get them off my back, so, you know.”
“I see. So, we’ve gotta make it believable.”
“Believable but not flashy, right?” He winked. “It’ll be a piece of cake.”
Right…
“All right. Let’s put on a good show, then.” I gave in, taking Mikey’s hand in mine and dragging him back to the crowd of people congregating around the fire.
“June! Where did you…” Natalie called out to me, but her voice faltered as she took in the man next to me. “Uh, hi?”
“Hey, I’m Mikey.” My fake boyfriend extended a handshake to Natalie, and she took it hesitantly, the look on her face akin to one someone would have if they were picking up a dead animal.
“I know who you are.” She whipped her head toward me and raised her brows with the silent accusation of,This is the guy you went home with?
“This is my friend, Natalie. We both went to school at SGU, and I’m living with her here in Miles City.” Iintroduced her, shooting her a glare and mouthing,Be nice.
“I’m sure I’ve seen you around town, but it’s nice to formally meet you.” Mikey nodded at her, flashing her a wide smile.
“Mm-hmm,” Natalie hummed, dropping his handshake and not bothering to hide her look of disgust as she glanced down at her hand and rubbed her fingers together like they were covered in dirt.
“Don’t mind her,” I cut in, trying to save this conversation. She and I would be having an in-depth talk about this later, but for now, I was just trying to make us look believable. I looped my arm through his, resting my hand on his bicep. “Where did Liv go?”
“She and her brother just left. They took Nico with them.” She flicked her eyes toward Mikey. “I’ll probably head out soon, too. Unless you want me to stay to give you a ride home?” She asked the question like she was giving me an out. As though this was a hostage situation and not something of my own volition.
“That’s all right. I can give her a ride home, right, Peach?” Mikey answered for me.
Annoyance prickled at my skin, but I nodded, not wanting to give the impression that I was in distress, because I wasn’t. If Natalie picked up on anything that seemed like hesitancy or trouble, she would have said something and the whole act would have been ruined.
“Yeah, Mikey can drive me. Thanks for the offer, though. I’ll see you at home.” I nodded enthusiastically, even though my brain was screaming at me that this was all fake and my acting sucked.
