Page 145 of Faking it For Summer

“Huh?” Rafe looks at me with confusion in his expression. “What are you talking about?”

“You came to see how Luke and I were doing, right? Because you think we got engaged too quickly, and because you’re being the overprotective big brother.”

“No, I’m not concerned about you and Luke getting engaged after three months of dating.” He rolls his eyes. “Which, by the way, lying to your family and pretending you’d been dating for a year was kind of messed up, Mia.”

“You know why we did it.” I shrug. “Plus, that’s old news.”

“I know why you did it, but you didn’t have to lie to me.”

“I’m sorry, but I knew you would’ve told the parents, who would’ve told all the busybodies, and everyone on the island would’ve known we were fake dating, and then it wouldn’t have fooled Rex, and that was the whole point.”

“Whatever. Anyway, I should get going, but?—”

“One second, Rafe.”

“Yes?”

“If you didn’t come to check up on me and Luke, then why did you drop by?”

“I wanted to see if you had any James Patterson books,” he says quickly. “But I’ll come back later.”

He looks over at Juniper. “I like your earrings, Juniper.”

“Oh, thanks.”

“Are they new?”

“No.”

“Oh, okay. Well, I’ll be off. And don’t invite that Matt or Matthew guy.” He looks at me. “We don’t want the numbers to be odd—remember that?”

“Yes, bro. See ya.”

As my brother heads out, I say to Luke and Juniper, “Ugh, he’s so annoying. He totally came to check up on Luke and me. Like, get a life and get a girlfriend.” I giggle.

I look over at Juniper, who has a dreamy expression on her face as she watches Rafe walk away. Once again, I’m reminded of moments from the summer when they acted oddly around each other.

Does Rafe have a thing for Juniper, or does Juniper have a thing for Rafe?

“Hey, Luke, walk me to the ice cream store. I’m in the mood for a chocolate cone with sprinkles.”

“Okay. Does that mean I’m buying you an ice cream?”

“Well, duh.”

“Okay. You want anything, Juniper?”

“No. Mia, didn’t you just say you were cold? Why would you get ice cream?”

“Because I like ice cream, even in cold weather.”

“Okay.” She smiles. “No, I’m okay. Enjoy, and take a long lunch if you want. I can look after the store by myself for a bit.”

“No, I don’t want you to do that.”

“It’s fine. I know Luke doesn’t always have a lot of time now that he’s helping get his family business back on track, and you are newly engaged. I want you to spend as much time together as possible. I know I might have sounded like a jealous shrew earlier, but I really am so happy for you both. We’ve all been friends for a really long time, and to see your friendship blossom into love, well, it’s really cool.”

“Oh, thank you, Juni.” I hurry over to her and give her a big hug. “I love you.”