The Fine Art of Pretending Read Online Free PDF Page B

the guys leaving stops to check Aly out, hungry eyes devouring her legs, and she steps back, stumbles in the new shoes, and latches onto my arm.
    There’s no way I can let her do this alone .
    Why can’t she see what I do? She’s a Commitment girl, and that’s not a bad thing. I just need to help her realize it. I throw the guy a look to back off and pull her back to my truck.
    “Look, if you’re serious and you really think this’ll help you get what you want, I’ll do it. We can start telling people tomorrow that we’re hooking up.”
    Her mouth opens in shock. I reach out and gently close it.
    Aly blinks and shakes her head as if to clear it. “On your word?”
    On your word is an expression Aly started using years ago. She normally uses it whenever she knows something is bothering me and I don’t want to talk about it. I’ve never used it because Aly always tells me exactly what’s on her mind. Even when I’d rather she didn’t.
    “On my word,” I promise, stooping down to look her in the eyes. “If this is important to you, then count me in.” I squeeze her hand and tease, “But when this plan of yours works and you have guys crawling all over you, you better not forget about me, all right?”
    Aly laughs and jumps up, throwing her arms around my neck. She kisses my cheek, and the scent of sugar cookies fills my head.
    “Holy cannoli! Brandon, you’re amazing!” She hops down, wobbles, and beams up at me. “And it won’t be for long, I promise. After people buy it and stop seeing me as a Commitment , we’ll just say we’re better off as friends and go back to regularly scheduled programming. Except I’ll be the new confident, Casual Aly.” Her smile widens as she waggles her eyebrows. “And I’ll have Justin Carter to prove it.”
    My playful smile drops.
    Yeah, that’s not happening .

MONDAY, AUGUST 9TH
    7 weeks and 5 days until Homecoming

    BRANDON
CYPRESS LAKE CAMPGROUND, 2:00 p.m .

    I open the passenger door and look out at Cypress Lake. The slope of the parking lot gives a clear shot of the water behind the campground, mocking me as I stand on the steaming gravel road. Inhaling a humid breath, I glance at the four large cabins overlooking the lake.
    They better as hell be air-conditioned.
    Drew meets me at the back of the truck and pulls down the tailgate. He tosses me a Dr. Pepper from the cooler and then takes one for himself.
    “Saying goodbye to Sarah was rough.” He takes a long pull off his drink and nods as Adam parks next to us. “Her apartment’s nice, though. And it only took me two hours to get to your house, so there’s that.” He laughs sarcastically and turns back to people-watch.
    This is why I don’t do relationships . Then I remind myself of what I agreed to last night.
    A quick survey of the lot doesn’t show Kara’s car. Putting off telling him about the pseudo-hookup a little longer, I say, “It’s only a year, man. You’ll be with her at UT in no time.”
    “I know. It just sucks. But it’s not like I didn’t know this was coming or anything.” Drew drags a hand across his face and groans. “Get my mind off it,” he says. “Any chance I missed something crazy in the last forty-eight hours?”
    And there’s my opening. Dammit .
    I glance at Adam leaned back in his parked car. “Actually, yeah. You could say that.” Drew’s body shifts forward as I take a stalling sip of soda. “Aly and I…” I snap the pop-top from my can and pitch it. “We’re sorta dating now.”
    “Wait.” His eyes bug out, and he shakes his head as if it’s defective. “Did you just say Aly ?”
    I nod, and the audible gasp from his direction is pretty much the reaction I expected. Guilt hits me like a punch to the gut. Honesty is important to me. Girls always know the score, and friends know where they stand. I don’t have time for lies or liars. But loyalty matters more. If anyone finds out this hookup with Aly isn’t real, she’ll be embarrassed.
    And I