The Bookworm's Guide to Faking It (The Bookworm's Guide 2)

Eight? I was going to be skin and bones by then.

Well, not likely. But I was in a dramatic mood today, so…

“Do you want anything?” I offered.

“Get whatever,” he replied. “I’m not fussy.”

He left on that flippant comment, so I shrugged and grabbed the menu. It was vast, and most of the meals were fancy. I didn’t want fancy.

I wanted soup and grilled cheese.

I was still cold.

I wasn’t sure I’d ever be warm again.

All right, now I was even annoying myself with the dramatics.

I kept flicking through the menu and eventually found the section titled ‘Comfort Food’ where I located my soup and grilled cheese. Since I really didn’t know what to get for Seb, I decided to order him the same.

Once upon a time, it’d been his favorite thing.

It was still mine.

I got up to grab the phone and called the order in. I also got a glass of wine and a hot cocoa because I was cold and stressed and it seemed like a good idea.

Chocolate, wine, and cheese.

In what world wasn’t that a good idea?

Not a world I wanted to live on, that was for sure.

I picked up my phone and connected to the WiFi, immediately opening my reading app the moment it was done. My book downloaded and synced to the last read spot, and I breathed a sigh of relief as I lay back on the sofa and carried on reading.

I just had to know if Rachel was finally going to give in to Donovan and just kiss him already.

The door to the room opened, making me jump, and I looked up over my phone. Seb pulled my case through with a little grunt and put my purse down.

“What did you pack in here? Your closet?”

I shrugged. “I didn’t know what to wear, so I brought a few options.”

“Mm.” He shut the door behind him and wheeled the case into the bedroom. He came back in a second later, glanced at me, and pulled off his coat. “By the way, I have some news.”

“It better be good,” I replied, staring over the top of my phone.

He grimaced. “My grandfather thinks we’re dating.”CHAPTER NINE – HOLLEYrule nine: contrary to popular belief, overthinking isn’t always a bad thing.You know how you blink when you feel like you have something in your eye, but you’re not quite sure? That really quick, intense blinking that makes you feel a bit dizzy? That may or may not clear out anything in there?

Yeah, that.

I did that.

A lot.

“I’m sorry, what?” I hauled myself up into a sitting position and threw my phone on the cushion next to me.

“My grandfather thinks we’re dating.”

“Oh no, I wasn’t saying that because I didn’t hear you. I was saying it because you need to explain. Right now.”

He scratched the back of his neck.

“Sebastian,” I said, a warning in my tone.

“Well, you see, it’s like this.” He paused. “I don’t know what it’s like.”

“You tell me what happened right now!” I grabbed a throw pillow and, getting up so I had one foot on the floor and my knee resting on the sofa, I threw it at him as hard as I could.

Seb caught it like it was nothing, raised one eyebrow at me, and tossed it back onto the sofa.

It wasn’t the most effective weapon in the world.

“Listen, listen,” he said, holding his hands up as he slowly approached me. “It’s my mom’s fault.”

I glared at him.

“My dad went to get my grandpa from the home, and they pulled up when I was getting your case. Grandpa asked me what I was doing with a pink suitcase—” He shot a look at my case. “—And when I said it was yours, he asked me why you were here. Mom came out right then, and Grandpa asked if we were dating, and she said yes.”

“Why didn’t you tell them we aren’t?”

“I tried.” He rubbed the back of his neck again. “Mom clipped me round the back of the head and told me not to ruin his fantasy.”

I dropped back into the corner of the sofa. “This is going from bad to worse,” I groaned, rubbing my temples. “You have to fix this!”

“I don’t know what to do.”

“Grow a pair and tell him the truth!”

“I know it’s not an ideal situation, but—”

“There is no but!” I sat back up again and pointed at him. “Do you know what’s going to happen, Sebastian? He’s going to think we’re dating, go back to the retirement home, and tell my grandmother we’re dating.”

He paused.

“Do you know how much I don’t need that in my life? Jesus Christ, she already thinks my sister and Kai were married before she got pregnant,” I said. “They’re weren’t! They eloped! She has no idea!”

Sebastian blinked at me. “I thought they were married.”

I stared at him. “They are. Just not for as long as she thought she was. She’s already dealt with one fake relationship. If you think I’m going to fuck around with another, you can think again. And I am definitely not concocting some magical story about how we made up and I forgave you and we went from high school best friends to adult lovers!” My voice was a few octaves too high and the pitch was most definitely too high.