I’m a big fan of options. Like the option to sleep-in an extra hour instead of being strapped to a machine that’s designed to work the core muscles I don’t have. Well… the core muscles I could have if I ate less chicken nuggets and exercised more.

Maybe I’ll make that my New Year’s resolution.

To exercise more.

I’m definitely not going to give up chicken nuggets.

“Olivia!”

Of all the places I could possibly run into my fake boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend at six in the morning, it’s in a women’s locker room and all she’s wearing is underwear. I’m pretty confident in my skin, but she has to be wondering how Asher went from long and lean to short and squishy.

Or maybe she’s not thinking about that at all and I’m a teensy bit insecure.

“You look wrecked,” she laughs.

“I promise you I feel worse.”

“Was this your first class?”

“First and last!”

“We’re going to try pilates tomorrow,” Joey says.

“Oh, Ash loves pilates,” Francesca says. “He can teach you a thing or two.”

I ignore the look Joey is shooting me.

“He probably doesn’t have the patience.” I realize after I say it that I shouldn’t have. I’m writing him off the way most people do. Brash. Irritable. Self-centered. And while he puts up that front, I’ve seen the man beneath it all.

“Do you guys have plans for tonight?”

“I mean, it’s supposed to snow.”

“At least now he has an excuse for a low-key birthday, right?”

Birthday?

“You know him,” I laugh. “Probably made a deal with Mother Nature.”

How is it that I know his social security number but not his birthday?

“So.” Joey turns to me after Francesca leaves for her class. Her eyes are closed and her lips are pursed. I can see equations forming over her head. “You’re sleeping with your boss?”

“No,” I say in a way that’s not convincing at all. “Define sleeping.”

“I knew something was up when he brought you home when you were drunk and then you went to the Ragnar Estate for work,” she says as she wraps a scarf around her neck. “Honestly, Olivia, that’s a disaster waiting to happen. He’s a McGowan. They’re all notorious for treating women like shit.”

“That’s not true.”

“Levi has them on his payroll.”

“Asher hates Levi,” I say. “And we’re not sleeping together. At least, we’re not having sex. It’s… it’s all fake. We’re trying to make his ex-girlfriend jealous.”

“The one who just hugged you with her tits out?”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t think it’s working.”

“I know,” I say. “It’s like she’s happy for us, or something.”

“Imagine that.” Joey whistles out a breath as we walk out of the studio.