Page 101 of You Fall First

I squint at her. “How did you …”

Jo’s spine goes stiff.

Apparently, I’m not the only one who’s thrown off.

“That’s a good question.” Oliver smiles through gritted teeth. “Please tell us, sweetheart. How do you know Noah?”

“He’s the head of PT at Havenwood,” Amelia explains. “We’re catering a fundraiser there next Saturday, remember?”

“Of course I remember,” he hedges. More smiles. More gritted teeth. “I just didn’t imagine their head of PT would be the one who arranged the event menu with you.”

“Oh, we’ve never spoken.” She huffs a laugh. “I scrolled their social media to see what kind of vibe we could expect, and Noah’s all over their accounts. Instagram, Facebook, TikTok. Everywhere.”

Jo looks up at me. “You are?”

“Apparently.”

Crap.

“This is such a coincidence.” Amelia beams at Jo. “Oliver told me he met your boyfriend at the rehearsal yesterday, but I had no idea he was Noah. How fun!”

Jo presses on her own grin. “Oh, Noah is fun all right.”

“Obviously, you’ll both be at the fundraiser, then,” Amelia says.

I shift my weight, biting my tongue. Of course I knew about the fundraiser, but I had no idea The Gilded Dish was catering. And I never told Jo about the event because it’s next weekend. Paige will be here by then.

Jo’s supposed to be off the hook.

I’m not sure how long she wants to keep up this ruse. She could make up an excuse for not being at the fundraiser, or even say something that’s mostly true, like training at her new job will be starting, so unfortunately, she can’t make it.

Easy enough.

Either way, Jo’s gotta take the lead on answering. And I’ve gotta act casual. For her sake.

“Of course we’ll be there,” she says with an edge of false brightness to her voice. “Noah runs their biggest department, after all.”

“Yes,” Oliver grits out. “So we’ve heard.”

“Luckily, my lady’s willing to come along for moral support,” I say, taking my cue from Jo.

“Always, babe.” She tips her chin to gaze up at me. “We go to so many of these events. I can’t remember. What are we fundraising for this time?”

“Alzheimer’s research,” Oliver jumps in to answer before I can, which honestly reveals even more about the guy than I already knew.

“Bridger and Loren will be there too,” I say, giving Jo’s hip a squeeze of reassurance. They run a foundation that sponsors events like these all the time. The fact that their fundraiser hasn’t been at the forefront of my mind speaks volumes about how chaotic life’s been lately.

The only truly steady part of my routine right now is Jo.

“If this is one of Bridger’s events,” Jo says, “Dex and Sayla will probably be there, too. They’re very supportive.”

“We could invite the whole family,” I suggest with a shrug. “The more the merrier.”

More people to watch us pretend to be a couple.

Oops.

“Aw, I love that,” Amelia exclaims. “Family is everything.” She puts her hand on Oliver’s shoulder. “So I guess tonight won’t be the last time we see Jo and⁠—”