Page 125 of Faking it For Summer

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah,” he says. “I’m kind of glad we both got incensed, and we decided to fake date.”

“And why is that?”

“I don’t know. Maybe because it led us to having to share a hotel room, which led us to having to kiss …”

“Which led us to having sex.”

“Which led us tomaking love,” he corrects, a soft look in his eyes.

“You really think we made love?”

“I know I made love to you. Did you not make love to me?”

“Oh, I totally fucked you, Luke. I bounced up and down on you like you were a cowboy. I was riding in the Wild, Wild West.”

“Well, cowgirl, are you ready to go again?”

“I think so. Are you ready for me to ride you all night long?”

He grabs my hand and pulls me into him.

“But we’ve got a lot to discuss, don’t we?” I say, because this feels too complicated, too real, too emotional.

“Yeah. There’s something I want to tell you.”

“What?”

“I love you, Mia.”

“What?” My heart stills, but I laugh because I’m not sure I heard him correctly. He doesn’t mean he loves me, for real, does he?

“I love you. For real,” he says with such an intense expression that I know he’s not lying. “I love you more than the stars in the sky.”

“We don’t know how many stars there are in the sky.”

“Exactly,” he says and smiles. “And I love that you are fearless, and I love that you’re emotional, and I love that we just get each other. And even when we fight and we argue, we’re still able to come back to each other. And you’re making me really nervous right now,” he adds, suddenly unsure of himself.

“What do you mean?”

“You haven’t said anything back to me.”

I cup the side of his face. “You want me to tell you how I feel?”

“I kind of do,” he says.

I lean in and give him a big kiss, and then I step back.

“I kind of think I love you too, Luke.”

The words seem lame compared to his declaration, but there’s something in me that’s holding back.

“Oh, youthinkyou love me?” he says, looking disappointed.

“I am just scared. I don’t know that we’re compatible to be in a romantic relationship together.” I bite down on my lower lip. “Ithink you’re great. You’re my best friend, and I love making love to you. But your number one love in life is your job and proving yourself, and you are doing amazing at that. And I don’t want to hold you back from that, but I don’t want to be sitting in the wings, waiting for you to get to where you want to get in your career.

“I want to be your number one. I want to be the first choice. I want to be the person who means more than anything else. And knowing you as I know you, your career and that upward trajectory have always been the most important thing. But it hasn’t been me ever.