“Once again, I’m good.”

Samuel smiles. “Your loss.”

“Somehow I doubt that.”

“So, what’s up? Why’d you call?”

“I needed to talk to you about something.”

“Yeah? Your mom freaking out again? Or did Michael back out of the wedding?”

“No, nothing to do with the wedding, really.”

“Okayyy,” he sings. “Are you going to stop beating around the bush?”

“I …” I open my mouth, but the words are lost again. How do I talk to him about this? How do I ask him these questions without giving myself away? “How do you … ?”

“How do you what?”

“Give me time,” I say. “I have to think about how I’m going to ask this.”

“Are you coming out to me? Neil, if you’re going to tell me that you’re gay, I already know that.”

“I’m going to murder you.” I have to remember to keep my voice low. I’m assuming Wyatt’s asleep by now, but I don’t know that for sure.

“You’re the one being dramatic.”

“Okay, so … how do you know when you’re getting feelings for someone?”

“What are you talking about?”

“When you start to like someone, romantically … how do you know? You’ve had boyfriends and girlfriends before. You have a crush on Hoon.”

“I’ve had exactly one of each,” he says. “Who do you have feelings for? Aren’t you dating Wyatt?”

“That’s the thing …”

“You’re going to dump Wyatt too?”

“No.” I swallow. “Wyatt’s the one I have feelings for.”

Samuel’s thick brow furrows, but his eyes never leave his monitor. “I’m so confused right now.”

“The guy I think I like is Wyatt.”

“Yeah … that’s why you’re dating.”

“We aren’t dating.”

“What?” Then it’s like the next minute or so plays out in slow motion. I watch the realization dawn on Samuel’s face as he adds everything up. “Holy fucking shit.”

I hear a thud, which I can only assume is him setting the controller down, and he finally stares at me in the camera.

“Holy fucking shit.”

“Shut up.”

“Holy shit.”

“Samuel.”

“What the fuck, dude?” Then Samuel looks away. “Oh shit, I’m dying.”

“Nice to know just how important I am.”

“Sorry, I waited in a queue for thirty minutes before enough people joined the party. I can’t give this up.”

“Right, I definitely know what that means.”

“Wait … so the entire thing is fake. You and Wyatt, you’re faking that entire thing?”

“It’s a long story.”

“You’re doing it to get Josh off your back, aren’t you?”

Well, I guess the story isn’t that long. “Yeah, pretty much.”

“God, you’re like a supervillain.”

“I’m doing what I have to do.”

“Now you really sound like a supervillain.”

“It was the best way to get Josh to forget about me, to get over his feelings.”