Page 20 of Operation: Ogre

“It didn’t look like nothing,” he said.

I wasn’t going to get out of this without giving them something. I cleared my throat, rubbing the back of my neck and not meeting their eyes. They both knew the truth about me, about the lie, about everything. “I’m helping Jaxon.”

“By eating his face?” she asked, shaking her head. “Wow. What a dedicated friend.”

“No!” I paused. “Well, yes. He asked me to.”

“He asked you to kiss him?” Carter asked. “As in, he confessed he likes you?”

“No.” Why did that hurt so much to admit? “Jaxon likes Aaron. We’re just making him jealous.”

Sam stared at me for a second before she hissed, “What?”

“You know, making him jealous. The whole fake dating thing,” I explained, crossing my arms and glaring at both of my siblings.

“Ohmygod,” she breathed.

“You’re an idiot,” Carter said, shaking his head.

“Hey!”

“It’s the truth.” Carter stared at me, his face unexpectedly serious. “This is not going to work out how you’re planning, and I worry you and Jaxon are setting yourself up for heartbreak.”

“What?” I asked, but my pulse was pounding in my throat as sweat began to bead on my forehead. Nope. Do not think about losing him, I ordered myself.

“Even you know that,” Sam said. “You’ve probably read it enough times. Either he falls for you, or you fall for him. Resentment builds. Then you break apart.”

The bottom of my stomach fell out, and I swallowed. No. I couldn’t lose Jaxon. He was far too important to me. No. The cloud of dread began to swell in my chest, pushing out all oxygen. “That won’t happen.”

“Right.” Carter closed his eyes and took a deep breath before meeting my gaze once more. “Look, Chris, you need to seriously think about this. I don’t want you or Jaxon to get hurt. I care about you both. This whole thing is a recipe for disaster.”

“Nothing bad is going to happen.” I didn’t know if I was saying that to him or myself at this point.

Sam and Carter exchanged a glance. I scowled at them. She said, “Maybe you need to think about you and Jaxon.”

“Me and Jaxon?” My eyebrows knitted together.

“Yeah. The two of you together.” When I stared at Sam blankly, she added, “You know, together, together, as in not-fake dating.” Then she made a circle with the fingers of one hand and then poked her other pointer finger in and out of it.

I gagged. “Please never do that again. And, no. Never. We’re friends.”

Just friends, I repeated firmly in my brain.

“You started that way,” Carter said, tacking onto Sam’s point, though he did smack her hands when she started to make the rude gesture again, which made me realize they’d discussed this. Assholes. They were teaming up against me. “I believe that, but I think it’s changed.”

“What do you mean?” We hadn’t changed. His importance hadn’t changed. Nothing had.

“Last year, it was different between you two,” he said, his hand waving. “The energy, the vibe, or whatever. But sometime this summer, how you talked about him changed. Maybe even by the end of last year.”

I swallowed. Had it?

“Just think about it, okay?” Carter started the car and pulled back onto the desolate highway. “That’s all I’m saying.”

Well, I would hardly think of anything else now.

Chapter Ten

Jaxon