Total pages in book: 43
Estimated words: 41373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 207(@200wpm)___ 165(@250wpm)___ 138(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 41373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 207(@200wpm)___ 165(@250wpm)___ 138(@300wpm)
Not that I’d ever exactly felt 100% straight, either. I was 26, the same as Shane, and ever since high school I’d wondered if I was different. I’d never dated a guy, and girlfriends always seemed to fall into my lap more easily. But I’d enjoyed kissing male co-stars before. I’d even had a little guy-crush on one of my friends a few years ago, though I’d never taken it seriously.
The way I felt about my own sexuality was something closer to who fucking knows?
And I liked the way Shane looked at me, anyway. How could it be bad to pretend to be his boyfriend for a little five-minute video? There wasn’t a shot in hell he’d win the contest, anyway.
“So it would be… just an acting gig,” Shane said, and I could practically see the gears turning in his mind. “Just like any other. I don’t have much to pay you—”
I shook my head. “No payment necessary,” I said. “I’m going to be honest, hanging out with you is the most fun I’ve had since being stuck here in Tennessee. Your company will be payment enough.”
The faintest red blush appeared on his cheeks, and it was like catnip to me.
“Holy shit, it’s really going to happen,” Shane said. “I’m going to apply to be on the Fixer Brothers.”
“Here,” I told him, pulling out my phone and unlocking it for him. “Put your number in. I’ll text you tomorrow morning and we’ll get this rolling. I can bring my camera, too. The one I use for audition tapes is pretty high-quality.”
It was the exact opposite of what I was supposed to be doing.
I was supposed to be devoting my time to sending in audition tapes to as many open acting calls as I could. I’d changed my actor name to Rowen Skye. I needed to apply for commercials, short films, TV, anything. I’d get rejected from almost all of them, but I had to try to break back into the world on my own. To prove myself, and prove that I had nothing to do with my goddamn parents.
But how could I say no when Shane looked at me like that?
3
SHANE
Nobody had ever told me that there were so many different types of baking chocolate.
I stood in the baking aisle at the market as “Holly Jolly Christmas” played over the speakers and the after-work crowd flooded the store. I’d been staring at the different types of chocolate for three minutes, looking back at my phone to the recipe. My mind was a swirl of nervous anticipation, knowing Rowen was coming over later tonight.
Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake.
It seemed simple enough, and I wanted to have something to offer Rowen when he came over. Gram had always baked something for new guests, and even though I’d never so much as baked a cookie, I thought I’d give the cake a try.
How hard could it be?
I checked the time. He was supposed to be over at my house in an hour, and I was still here at the store after a long day shift working at the inn. I was losing minutes.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” I whispered under my breath, and an old lady pushing a cart down the aisle turned toward me.
“What are you looking for, kiddo?” the old lady said, peering at me from over her thick glasses.
“Oh,” I said. “Well, the recipe asks for baking chocolate, but there are four different kinds here. Unsweetened, bittersweet, milk…”
She looked down at my phone. “For a cake like that? Looks beautiful. Go for the bittersweet. You’ll be adding enough sugar that it’ll turn out delicious in the end.”
I let out a breath I hadn’t known I’d been holding. “Thank you so much,” I said, grabbing two packages of the chocolate. “And… for the sugar, should I get, uh, granulated, powdered, or confectioners?”
“Powdered for the icing, granulated for the cake itself,” she told me.
“You’re a lifesaver.”
She grinned at me. “Cooking for your sweetheart?”
“No, no,” I said. “Just for… a friend.”
A guy I barely know who’s coming over to be my fake boyfriend.
I grabbed the rest of the ingredients throughout the store in a rush and beelined to my car, heading home.
I flipped on the little switch outside that turned on my Christmas lights, loving the way the multicolored bulbs made the front of my house look adorable rather than sad.
“Okay,” I said under my breath as I unloaded all of the ingredients out onto my counter. I realized I didn’t have proper cake pans, but I had a couple of cheap pie pans that had been left here after some Thanksgiving gathering long ago. I followed the recipe for the chocolate cake layers and then realized that I’d forgotten to preheat the oven.
Rowen was supposed to arrive in twenty minutes.
And I hadn’t even gotten the oven on yet, let alone started the peanut butter frosting or the top layer of chocolate ganache.