Page 51 of Don't Date Your Nemesis

“Hate is just love that hasn’t figured itself out yet.” Kiara patted his chest.

“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.”

Uh oh. Mom and Dad were fighting.

Kiara raised her brow in challenge and said, “You proposed to me by saying you took a fart on the heart.”

I raised my brow at him, a smirk curling on my lips.

Ethan shook his head. “That’s different.”

“How?”

While they bickered, I took another drink and tried not to think about Deepika on her knees in that changing room, my hand over her mouth, her body shaking against mine.

“You know what I don’t get?” Ethan asked, turning back to me, Kiara momentarily distracted by someone calling her name. “How you went from publicly humiliating Deepika at that Valentine’s party to proposing to her in a diner. What’s the connection?”

I winced at the mention of that day. I wish I could go back to when I was a dumb teenager and take back what I had said.

“I guess I’m very charming,” I said with a grin, winking at my best-friend.

Ethan stared at me.

“What?”

“You’re so fucking stupid,” he said and continued. “But seriously. You do remember what you did, right? When you were a complete dick to her.”

“Yeah,” I said, finishing my champagne. “I remember.”

“Did you ever apologize?”

“Recently.”

“Recently? It’s been what—more than a decade?”

“I’m aware.”

He studied me. The look he gave when he was trying to figure out if I was about to do something spectacularly stupid.

“You actually like her.”

“It’s fake, man,” I replied quickly. “Just PR.”

“PR, hmm. That’s why you’ve been eye-fucking her all this time.”

“Are you scolding Liam again?” Kiara reappeared, smiling at her fiancé, who recovered his scowl and kissed her temple. “You should leave him alone. They’re working it out.”

“Working what out? They’re pretending to be engaged for three months.”

“Sometimes pretending is how you figure out it’s real.” She kissed his cheek. “Come on. I want to try out the photo booth.”

Ethan let himself be pulled away, but not before shooting me a look that clearly said, ‘We’re talking about this later.’

I rolled my eyes. He could be such a dad sometimes. Speaking of which, he’d make a great dad.

I scanned the terrace and found Deepika on the balcony. The last rays of the sun painted her silhouette as she stood by herself.

My chest pulled tight.