Chapters (92)
- First
- Love Connection
- Zero
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- One Month Later
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Six Months Later
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-one
- Twenty-two
- Twenty-three
- Twenty-four
- Six Months Later
- Twenty-five
- Twenty-six
- Twenty-seven
- Twenty-eight
- Twenty-nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-one
- Thirty-two
- Thirty-three
- I Have Never
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-one
- Twenty-two
- A Christmas Date
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-one
- Twenty-two
- Note from the Author
- Sneak Peek – To the Stars and Back
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Also by Camilla Isley
- About the Author
It takes all of my willpower not to go in there and strangle Julia on the spot. I don’t need anyone’s pity, and especially not hers, thank you very much. And what she’s saying stings even more—not only because it’s true that Diego is not my boyfriend, but more so because he isn’t even a friend. He’s just a guy I’m paying five thousand dollars to pretend he likes me.
“Don’t be silly, Jules,” my mom says. “They’re not friends. Have you seen the way he looks at her?”
What? How does he look at me?
“No,” Julia says, echoing my thoughts. “Does he have a special look?”
“Yes, he stares at your sister the way your father used to look at me when we were young.”
“Mom, that’s absurd.” Unfortunately, I agree with my sister here. “And Dad still looks at you that way.”
“True.” Mom giggles. “And trust me, love, I can tell when a young man is in love.”
“Mom, I think you want to see Nikki married off so much that you’ve put your pink glasses on and are ready to swallow whatever bullshit she feeds you.”
“Don’t swear, dear, it’s not becoming for a bride. And don’t treat me like an old lady who doesn’t understand how the world works anymore. With age comes wisdom, and I can see a lot more than you think.”
“I don’t know. I’m not convinced. Have you even seen them kiss, like, ever?”
“Maybe they’re just private people. Look how cute they are… they’re building a snowman. When did you ever see Nikki build a snowman?”
I can’t see what my mom’s doing, but I can imagine her pointing out the kitchen window to the backyard.
“Where’s Nikki?” Julia asks, alarmed.
With the speed of the best undercover agents, I quickly backtrack to the rear door, slam it shut with a loud bang, and call, “Mom? Are you inside?”
“In the kitchen, baby,” she shouts back.
I walk in, plastering a big, fake smile on my lips. My heart is still beating super fast. “Can you gals spare a carrot?” I say, struggling to keep my voice even. “We need a nose for our frosty man.”
“Sure, honey,” she says a bit over-brightly. “You want it peeled?”
“No, I’m sure Frosty won’t mind.”
Despite my best efforts, I can’t bring myself to meet Julia’s eyes. I take the carrot from Mom and hurry back outside as quickly as I can.
“Here’s your carrot,” I snap to Diego.
“Whoa, what happened to you?” He stops leveling the main body snowball and gets up from his crouch. “You went inside a cute, hopping bunny and came out a roaring tiger.”
“My stupid sister is putting weird ideas into my mom’s head.”