Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 102731 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 514(@200wpm)___ 411(@250wpm)___ 342(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102731 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 514(@200wpm)___ 411(@250wpm)___ 342(@300wpm)
I kept my mouth shut because I knew Fyfe had slept with Olivia after he and Carianne broke up.
“So, that made him more attractive to me and I didn’t dump him. We stayed together another two months.”
“That’s childish, Carianne.”
“Very,” she agreed. “But I’m telling you … if you pretend to date me, Callie will get so jealous, she’ll have to admit how she feels about you.”
It had worked on me when we were kids when Callie dated Michael. It had made me realize I didn’t want to lose her.
But we were kids.
Surely, we’d evolved past those kinds of games.
“I don’t think so.”
“I do.” She threw back the last of her coffee. “Think about it. I’m happy to help give her a nudge. She’s stubborn, you know. It’ll be for her own good.”
I sighed, picking up the cappuccino to sip and consider.
The impatient part of me that wanted Callie now was seriously tempted by the offer.
Seventeen
LEWIS
“No. Absolutely not. Worst idea ever.” Fyfe shook his head at me, as if he was disappointed I’d even contemplated Carianne’s plan.
My gut told me it was a stupid idea, and would most likely push Callie further away. Yet, Carianne’s conviction that Callie would be jealous tempted my devil. I wanted to do whatever I could to make Callie see that she wanted me too. That our night together three weeks ago wasn’t a drunken mistake. It was fate correcting a prior mistake.
I opened my mouth to tell Fyfe what Carianne had said, but my mobile rang, cutting me off. Seeing it was Eilidh video-calling, I answered. “Perfect timing.”
Eilidh wore not a scrap of makeup, which was unusual. She was usually fully done up because she was either coming from the studio or an event. She looked young and baby-faced on my screen. “What’s perfect timing?”
“What are you up to?” I asked instead.
“Who is it?” Fyfe asked from the opposite sofa. We were hanging out at his place since he actually had his own house.
“Who is that?” Eilidh’s eyes widened slightly.
“Fyfe.” I looked at my friend. “It’s Eilidh.”
“I haven’t seen Fyfe in ages. Turn me around.”
“I’ll come over,” my friend suggested instead, pushing up off the opposite couch to come sit beside me. He leaned his head in toward the phone. “Eils.”
“Eils?” Eilidh grinned at him. “It’s been years and all you’ve got is Eils?”
“Hey, I’ve been here for almost two years, so that’s not my fault,” he teased.
“Holy crap, let me look at you.” She comically peered closer as if that would make her view any clearer. “Fyfe Moray, I always knew you were a smoke show.”
Fyfe groaned and got up to return to the other sofa. “And you haven’t changed a bit.”
He missed the way Eilidh’s smile fell, but I didn’t. As soon as she realized I was paying attention, she pasted on a bright smile. “So, what’s perfect timing?”
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“I’m fantastic. For the first time in ages, I have a few weeks off before the next project.”
“Is that the film you’re shooting in Romania?”
“The very one. I’ve been lounging around my flat, doing bugger all for a few days. It’s nice, but I’ll get bored soon enough, I suppose.”
Something about that didn’t ring true at all. And there were dark circles under her eyes that I only just noticed. “Eilidh—”
“Perfect timing for what?” she repeated.
Deciding she’d probably hang up on me if I pushed her, I relented. “I was telling Fyfe that Callie said she doesn’t want me back. And then I ran into Carianne and she proposed we pretend to date to make Callie jealous.”
“After asking him out!” Fyfe called before getting up to come sit next to me again. He looked into the camera at Eilidh. “He forgot to mention Carianne asked him out for real first.”
“Not surprising.” Eilidh shrugged. “I always knew she fancied Lewis.”
“Aye, apparently even when she was dating me.” Fyfe appeared mildly affronted.
“I remember telling you she wasn’t good enough for you,” Eilidh pointed out before giving me a sharp look. “And you’re an idiot if you trust a woman who has admitted to secretly harboring feelings for her friend’s boyfriend and boyfriend’s friend for years. Let me tell you, Carianne is hoping that by pretending to date her, you’ll fall in love with her instead, like some fucking stupid rom-com.”
“That sounds like Carianne,” Fyfe agreed.
Confused, I huffed, “Carianne’s nice, no? I mean, she loves Callie.”
“Maybe.” Eilidh grimaced. “But she’s also always been jealous of Callie. When we were kids, it didn’t matter what Callie had, Carianne had to have it too.”
“I remember that.” Fyfe nodded. “When we were dating, if Callie got something, Carianne wouldn’t shut up about it until she got it too. I just thought it was what girls did.”
“No.” Eilidh screwed her face up at him. “Way to generalize us.”
They bickered back and forth while I considered what they’d said. Maybe I was letting my impatience get the better of my rational thinking. Eilidh was right. Carianne had confessed to having feelings for me for a while, and I didn’t want to lead her on.