Tension inside him relaxing the tiniest bit, Luke opened the popcorn bag he’d stolen from Jay. He’d just reached into the bag when a familiar screeching sound brought him up short.

“You have got to be kidding me.” He turned, and sure enough, to his left stood his thieving feathered foe. “Isn’t it past your bedtime, Clyde?”

The gull cocked its head at Luke and hopped forward a few steps, leaving a trail of hash marks in the sand behind him.

“Coming to steal my snack?” Luke asked. “Guess what. I stole it first.” It had been juvenile of him, but better than punching Jay, which Luke had felt a sudden urge to do as well. “Here.” He tossed a few pieces of popcorn in the seagull’s direction. “Let me save you the trouble.”

Clyde scooped the popcorn up in his beak and hopped closer. Luke tossed out a few more kernels for the bird before scooping a handful for himself. For a few minutes, they watched the waves, munching in companionable silence.

“This is nice, Clyde,” Luke said, nodding to the bird. “I’m glad I ran into you this evening.”

Good lord, he’d gone off the deep end. Thinking about sharing companionable silence with a seagull? He was becoming more eccentric than his boss. Ugh, his boss. That was another situation Luke needed to figure out. He’d royally screwed up tonight. Julia had waved goodbye to him, and he might as well wave goodbye to that bonus.

How the hell was he supposed to demonstrate he’d successfully proven the fantasy of a romantic comedy can feel real when he couldn’t even convince himself?

The thing was, it had felt real. In the middle of this charade, where everyone was pretending, Luke had believed he’d found someone, had even started to think he had a chance at a happily ever after. And that might be the most painfully ironic thing about this entire messed up situation.

Luke shook his head and set the popcorn bag aside. He leaned back, palms pressing into the cool sand as he watched the horizon blur, the sky over the lake turning ever darker. He thought about Julia, about the walk they’d taken on this beach.

At the time, they’d both been hiding things, but what they shared that day had been honest. They’d opened up to each other, revealed parts of themselves. And there was no denying there was something special between them. He knew that much was true.

But he also knew she’d lied to him. Right to his face. Luke understood why Julia didn’t tell him who she was at first. Hell, he’d been doing much the same. And they’d both had their reasons. What he couldn’t understand was why she’d kept up the deception.