Faking It (Fake boyfriend Duet 1)
|♠ 08: Hell of a humiliation

Ughh. I do have a thing for him.

Of all the guys to be attracted to, I had to choose the one who happens to my best friend's brother. Now, it makes things complicated. But I have to push through. Just a few more weeks.

I'm jolted from my thoughts when an arm hooks around my waist. "Umm, what are you doing?"

"What do you think I'm doing?" Gun's green eyes glint with mischief, his lips curving in a wicked smile. God help me, but I really want to kiss those tempting lips.

He pulls me flash against his chest, and I'm overly conscious of the fact that I'm wearing nothing but a two piece pink swimsuit. We're basically skin to skin. Oh boy. The temptation is strong with this one.

I swallow hard.

My thoughts must be all over my face. Because the playfulness on Gun's face is quickly replaced by an intense dark look, causing my pulse to race and my skin to heat up. Then he's tightening his arm around me, his face dipping until its mere inches from mine.

My breath catches in my lungs. Is he going to kiss me again?

Yes, yes please!!

I shake my head. "No, no no!"

"Yes, yes, yes." He counters, amusement flashing in his eyes. The cocky jerk clearly knows what I'm thinking.

"We shouldn't."

" Why not? We've done it before. "

I gulp. "Once is enough."

"I beg to disagree." He growls, sending electric heat coursing through my veins.

I whimper. Why is he making this hard? "But you're not.......we're not....."

Letting go of my hand I forgot he'd trapped in his, he lifts my chin. "Not what?" Gun asks softly, his breath fanning my lips. And then before I can answer, his lips are there, moving against mine in a gentle yet firm caress, obliterating every reason why we shouldn't and showing me all the reasons why we should.

So I slip my arms around his neck and let myself get swept away in the moment, let myself get lost in him. His response is to groan against my lips and tighten his hold on me even more. Kissing me harder, kissing me deeper that everything around us blurs into nothing.

Until it's just us.

I thought he already blew my mind when we kissed in front of Zac. But this.... This is soo much hotter than that. It's everything I didn't know I wanted. And I realise a minute later, when we part and stare at each other with fire still in our eyes, I'm in trouble.

Gun knits his eyebrows together at the pained look on my face. "Nikky what's wrong?"

I swallow hard. "I—"

"Nikitta you're not gonna believe this."

Startled, I push away from Gun as Daphine strolls towards the pool. His jaw visibly clenches, clearly not happy about it, but he let's go of me just the same. Thankfully, my best friend's eyes are glued to the phone in her hand, clueless to what just transpired between me and her brother. When she looks up, excitement is written all over her features. "Zac and Lytton just broke up."

********

"Dad, you didn't tell me the latest book in the Roman mysteries is already here!" I squeak out, staring at the book in my hands. I just finished Born Queen days ago, and I've been in a book funk ever since. I've been waiting for the for The man from Pomegranate street since the author aka Caroline Lawrence announced it on her Facebook page months ago. I can't wait to dive in.

Besides, with what's been happening in the last few days, I need a good distraction. This should do it. "Yeah, I forgot to tell you." Dad says apologetically as he stocks books on her shelf. "Its a good thing that you're here then, huh?"

I came over to help with the new book deliveries. And, well, to check if I could add a few to my reading list. I can never resist whatever new books come into Baldwin Reads & Sno-cones.

"Well, you asked for my help."

"Uh- huh." He chuckles, knowing full well what I'm really about.

With a wistful sigh, I put the book back on the counter and walk over to the nearest box to help my dad with the stocking. It contains Stephen Barclays' Latest release. He's in the horror-genre, and a no-go author for me.

Don't get me wrong, he's absolutely great and has an awesome knack at writing stories. I read one of his books one time, after reading rave reviews about it. And it was really good, totally unputdownable. But I ended up unable to sleep for a few nights, paranoid that a monster would come out from under my bed or my closet.

I was thirteen.

In my defense, it was really scary..

I spend the next couple of hours helping Dad finish putting all the books on the shelves and tidying up the boxes. All the while, we talk about what we've read in the past months. He's been reading mostly suspense thrillers while I've been pages deep in the urban fantasy world.

Dad just brought up the upcoming movie adaptation of one of my favourite authors when the double door swing open, signaling a new customer. Dad, whose facing the door, let's out a welcoming smile. "Gunther, what can we do for you?"

My back stiffens, my heart stopping for a beat. Gun's here? Swallowing, I turn around as casually as I can, putting up what I hope to be a friendly smile. "Oh, hey."

Gun saunters over to us, and I take the opportunity to trail my eyes over him. His light brown hair looks a tad shorter. His wearing a black V-neck sweatshirt over a pair of black checkered shorts, his feet encased in white sneakers. He looks like a gorgeous preppy blonde.

My gorgeous preppy boy. Yeah, I'm owning up to my feelings for him.

"Um, What are you doing here?" I tuck stray strands of aurbun hair behind my ears, glaring aware of how haphazard my ponytail is at the moment. Discreetly, I glance down to check if there aren't any food stains on my shirt. Dad and I ate chill cheese dog boats a while ago. And did I even bother putting make-up on my face when I left the house this afternoon? For the first time, I'm painfully conscious of how I look in front of Gun.

He shrugs his broad shoulders. "I was just around the corner. I thought I'd drop by." To my dad, he says, "Hello Mr. Baldwin."

"Son, how many times do I have to tell you to start calling me 'Ricky'?"

My eyes almost bulge out. Did he just call Gun "son"? Since when did he start calling him that?

"Right. Ricky." Gun grins sheepishly. He clears his throat. "Actually, I was wondering if Nikky and I could go grab a bite? I'm kind of starving."

"Like on a date?" I blurt out before I can even stop myself, butterflies crazing my stomach.

His eyes widen, clearly off-guard. "Uh, well—"

Heat crawls up my cheeks as realisation sets in. He's not asking me out, he just wants some company.

I think I just died.

This is so humiliating.

"Kidding!" I practically yell, startling him a little, laughing the most awkward laugh I've ever laughed. "Got you there, am I right?"

Gun blinks a few times then nods, clearly not knowing what to say. Dad, on the other hand, is visibly cringing at my bumbling attempt to humour..

I seriously want to die right now.

Gun clears his throat. "So, uh, Vicente's?"

I let out a weak smile. "Let me just freshen up a bit."

°°°°

I'm staring hard at Vicente's menu card, pretending to persue the food list when secretly, I'm still cringing at what happened in the bookstore. "Like on a date?" God I feel like an idiot.

No wander Dad looked like he was embarrassed for me. I acted like an inexperienced girl desperate to be asked on a date by her crush. But considering my growing feelings for Gun, maybe its not far off. Which means I need to curb my expectations and keep myself in check. Just because we made out twice doesn't mean that we'll end up going out for real. I have to remind myself that Gun never had a girlfriend. He mostly hooks up with girls in and out of Horizon High. Which should tell me everything I need to know.

"Are you ready to order?" Gun prompts.

I put the menu down and force a smile. "You know what? I'll just have what you're having.".

He stares at me for a beat. "Are you sure?"

I just nod.

With a shrug, he calls the attention of the waitress and starts to order: Two plates of Roast beef sandwich, cheeseburger, cheese steak, a coke for him and a blueberry kale smoothie.

My stomach flutters. He remembers what my favourite smoothie is.

"What's that smile for?" He asks suspiciously when the waitress walks away.

"Nothing. I just remembered something funny." With a small head shake, I change the subject. "So, what brought you to my dad's bookstore anyway? We're you thinking of buying porn magazines?" I snicker. "Well sorry to disappoint, we're not that kind of bookstore."

"What's this— the nineteens? Ever heard of the internet? Get with the times Red." Gun teases smirking. "Besides, do I look like someone who needs porn magazines?"

Ugh. So cocky

I wrinkle my nose at him. "You're such a pig.",

"Hey, you started it."

"Touché." I mutter grudgingly.

"But to answer your question." He clears his throat. "I was there because your mom said you'd be there. I went to you're house first."

"You were looking for me? W-Why?"

Curb your expectations, Nikitta. Curb your expectations.

He blows out a breath, as if finding it hard to articulate what he wants to say. "I was, uh, hoping you wanted to hang out or something."

I blink at him, then my mouth falls open. "Oh, my God. I was right. You were asking me out!!"

Heads turn in our direction, shooting annoyed looks our way.

I ignore them. This is important.

I keep my eyes on Gun, my heart racing like crazy. "Well?" I prompt.

His lips twitch in amusement. "Technically, I didn't have the chance to ask. You beat me to it, remember? And then you quickly back pedaled." To my absolute horror, he repeats my earlier words in a high-pitched voice. "Kidding! Got you there, am I right?"

"Oh my God, you're the worst." But there's no heat to my words.

"Admit it, it was funny."

"It really was." Then we burst out laughing.

We're still laughing when the waitress sets our orders on the table. She shoots us a funny look, which only makes us laugh harder.

"Okay, stop." I choke out in between laughter. My stomach already hurts

"I'm not laughing anymore." Gunther says even though his shoulders are still shaking.

It takes us another minute to finally settled own and focus on our food. But occasionally, our eyes meet, and we chuckle silently. As far as dates go, this one isn't so bad. But are we already dating for real now? That's the million dollar question. I'm tempted to ask, but I don't want to look clingy and desperate.

And we haven't even talked about Zac-—now that he's single again. At least, according to Daph. I haven't bothered to check it for myself yet. I've been avoiding checking my socials since Friday. I'd see the confirmation for myself when school resumes tomorrow, anyway. Besides, I'd rather save the serious talk for another day. For now, I'll enjoy my maybe-date with Gunther.

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