Games of Love: Enemies-to-Lovers Romance

“Alright,” Connor declared, filling plates with the delicious-looking breakfast food. “Chow time.”

Alex rubbed his hands together in anticipation, looking over the counter at the pans of food. “Hit me with it, then. I’m starving, Lennox.”

I let out a laugh, crawling onto one of the barstools at the counter and leaving one between us so that Alex could get a few shots of us while he ate if he needed to. “Aren’t you supposed to be filming all of this, Alex?”

Alex snorted sarcastically, digging into his fluffy eggs and dousing them in a flood of ketchup, salt, and pepper. “I’m not doing anything at all until my belly is full of breakfast.”

Connor sat down on my other side, grinning with a mouthful of bacon. “I hear that and I’m totally in agreement. Starving over here.”

Connor put my plate in front of me and my bacon and eggs were in the shape of a smiley face, grinning out at me from the pristine, white ceramic. I turned to him slightly, unable to stop smiling, and found that his cheeks were blush-pink. He looked away from me quickly. He shoved his food into his mouth, probably so that he didn’t have to explain himself. I picked at my food more sedately and squeezed Connor’s thigh with the other hand, letting him know that I appreciated the sweet gesture.

After a while, Alex patted his belly and stood up with his camera, getting shots of us eating breakfast and of the sun, rising red and orange beyond the window. I tried to look like Connor didn’t matter much to me, but I found that it was difficult to act like we were still just friends or acquaintances. Connor asked me if I liked the food and I answered yes, and that was about it for our on-camera conversation.

I hopped up from the counter once I was done and told Connor that I was leaving to get ready for the day. We needed to leave in an hour to get to the coffee shop, but Connor looked as if he were already dressed, so I wasn’t worried much about that. I yanked a brush through my hair quickly and twisted my fingers into the auburn strands to French braid it into one, short plait. I pulled one of Connor’s old, green sweaters from his closet and pulled it over my head. It smelled of him and my body seemed to completely relax at the familiar scent. I tucked my jeans into a pair of high-top sneakers and then tugged a hat down over the tops of my ears. I would grab my coat once we stepped out of the door and I left the bathroom in high spirits, ready to face the day after such a nice, peaceful morning. The apartment was quiet but for the TV droning on in the background. Alex was leaving as I got back inside, and Connor was just closing the door after him, a smile on his face.

“Did he get some good shots?” I asked him, sitting down on the smooth couch cushions to wait for him.

Connor came over and kissed me, leaning over the arm of the couch to get closer. “I think so, yeah. The show execs should be happy with it. He’s going to meet us at the coffee shop just to cover all of our bases and get everything he needs. Is that okay with you?”

I shrugged. Now that Alex had gotten over his creepy obsession with dating me, he would just be in the background and it wouldn’t bother me much at all. Maybe he could get enough footage that the studio would think Connor and I were the best fake couple out of all of the contestants. It seemed that we had been through enough and that the producers would give us the benefit of the doubt. Even if Connor and I hadn’t fallen in love, our story still would’ve been the best out of the lot and miles above everyone else. We had gone through the most together in such a short amount of time, whether anyone knew it or not. Emily told me that she and her fake man had been on a few coffee dates for show and that was about it. It seemed like most of the other contestants had probably done the same, which proved that Connor and I had the most interesting story. Though of course, I might have been a little biased.

“That’s fine with me, I’m just ready to read some books and drink some coffee,” I replied with an edge of excitement that I could hear in my own voice, following Connor as he walked to the door and slipped on his shoes. I couldn’t wait to get inside the coffee shop, safe and warm from the cold rain.