Page 36 of Fake Dating & Matchmaking 101

“Just—don’t forget your toothpaste. And remember to floss. Oh, and if you see Trent, tell him to come over here because I have to talk to him.”

He chuckles and shakes his head. “Honestly, dude, I don’t know how Trent managed to deal with growing up with you.”

“I’m full of good advice.”

“You’re full of advice alright. We’ll see how much of it is good.” He slips out the door.

I plop down on the bed. My legs feel weak, like I just climbed eleven stories without stopping for a break. And I know that this state I’m in—the wobbly legs, the fluttery stomach, even the tight feeling in my throat—it’s all thanks to seeing Cole half undressed.

When I close my eyes, I see it all over again. His strong chest and abdomen, all those perfect muscles rippling with every movement. The way his forearms flexed as he buttoned up those darn black Levi’s.

I tilt my head up toward the ceiling.

No big deal, I tell myself. So, what, if he looks like a pro athlete, and his black hair’s super cute after he sleeps all night, and I think I saw him kiss Blue on the top of the nose? So what? He’s still Cole.

“This is no big deal,” I whisper to Blue. “In no time we’ll get back to normal.”

Blue bleats. I groan and toss up my hands again, covering my face. “You’re right…. Who am I kidding? My life hasn’t been normal for a long, long time. Why would it start now?”

Chapter 10

Cole

I want a greasy breakfast sandwich with a thick sausage patty, two eggs, and tons of butter soaking the toasted English muffin.

Instead, I’m faced with a buffet of foods I don’t recognize.

In theory, I suppose, there are options. But everything looks very green and raw and as far as I’m concerned, there’s only one choice to make: eat vegetables for breakfast or go hungry.

“Not a fan of avocados, hm?”

I look up and see Danielle Simpson on the other side of the table. She’s wearing a tie-dyed apron and wielding silver tongs. Her short, dark hair is swept back with a tie-dyed scarf. A little nose ring sparkles in the light coming through a window nearby.

She uses the tongs to tug the edge of a piece of toast spread with green goo, so it’s separated from other slices, also covered in green.

I grip my empty plate. “Uh… is that what that stuff is?”

“Yeah. Organic avocado if the organic thing makes a difference to you.”

I wait for the usual nervousness to hit me.

For the past couple of years, whenever I run into Danielle, I get sort of tongue-tied.

But that’s not happening right now.

Why?

Maybe it has something to do with Olivia, and how she was looking at me this morning.

Back in that yurt, when I was changing, I felt like the temperature of the air in there spiked to a thousand degrees. The heat didn’t have anything to do with the logs in that dinky wood stove, though. It had to do with Olivia and me, and whatever energy was zipping between us. It was real and palpable, that energy heating up the space between us.

And it felt good, too.

Which is crazy, given how much she usually gets on my nerves.

Danielle’s still fussing with the toast. “I’m guessing you don’t really care, organic or not.”

“Not really,” I agree. “So, you got any bacon back there?”

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