“But this is?”

“Pretending to be with Carter beats any alternative I can come up with.” Even if it makes me a liar and a coward. God, I wish I weren’t so damn afraid.

She folds her arms and arches a brow. “And that’s it? Just pretend? No ulterior motives in choosing Carter?”

“He was convenient.”

Shay grunts. “I’m sure that’s all there was to it.”

I shrug. We won’t discuss how good it felt to have him pressed against me or the flurry of butterflies that swarmed in my belly when he touched me at the bar. It would’ve been so easy to stay in his arms all night, to thank him for this favor by taking him home with me. But after running through the details of our weekend together, I left. I didn’t trust myself to stay. Not with the peppy cheerleader lady looking at Carter like he’d broken her heart.

“Do you know anything about Carter and Myla?” I ask. “She was blowing up Carter’s phone last night.” Never mind the fact that she whispered something to him and smacked his ass.

Shay snorts. “Her and most single, age-appropriate women in Jackson Harbor. He’s become such a flirt.”

“It seemed like more than flirtation. Have they been dating?”

“Myla Quincy, right?” She frowns and grabs her phone. “I don’t think so.”

“Who are you calling?”

She grins. “Ava. She used to work with Myla. She might know something.”

I snatch the phone from her hand before she can connect the call. “Don’t. Please?”

“If you and Carter are involved, don’t you want to know?”

I wave a hand. “I have no claim on him. I was just curious.” And jealous. More jealous than I want to admit. I find the bottle opener, open my beer, and drain half of it in one go.

Shay laughs. “I guess you don’t want a glass?”

That easily, the subject of Carter and me is pushed aside. This weekend might be difficult, and maybe I’m making the biggest mistake of my life—lying to my family because I’m too scared to tell them the truth and risking my friendship with Carter when he deserves better—but for now, Shay and I are back to being a couple of single girls. Just the way I like it.

Teagan

There are books you read when you’re lonely and need to smile, but sometimes, those are the same books you definitely shouldn’t read when you’re actively lusting after your fake boyfriend. I’ve been waiting for this novel to come out for months—a sexy friends-to-lovers romance about a woman who sets out to seduce her best friend and falls in love in the process. It isn’t doing my libido any favors. I either need to find something else or tell Carter I’m changing the rules of our arrangement, because the way this heroine thinks about her friend feels all too familiar.

One more page, then I’ll put it down and find something else to do.