Single And In Love With My Fake Boyfriend (Single Girls Club #1)

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Lincoln

Callie’s talking to her friends in her bedroom while I gather the laundry out of the dryer. I washed her clothes as well as mine. Once again, there’s something about me washing her clothes that makes an image of me and her together—married—and doing laundry…

I shake my head to rid the thoughts and focus on getting the clean clothes. I also put on a shirt because I don’t want to make a certain beautiful guest of mine uncomfortable. The truth is, I didn’t notice when I woke up that I wasn’t wearing a shirt. I usually sleep without one and didn’t think much of it. But when Callie walked into the kitchen and stared, I remembered that I wasn’t wearing one.

I won’t lie. I liked the way she gazed at my chest.

After folding the laundry, I put mine away, but leave hers on my bed to give her later, after she’s done talking with her friends.

Dropping down on my bed, I run my hands through my hair. I can hear Callie in the next room, laughing as she chats with her friends. I can’t hear what she’s saying, though. She sounds very happy and excited. She must miss them a lot, but I hope she’s enjoying herself here as well.

I really like having her over and I’m glad she’ll be here another night. It feels like we’re in our own bubble, cut off from the rest of the world. Like in our own fairytale, even though we’re just friends. I know we’ll have to go back to normal life once this is all over. And after a few weeks, we’ll go our separate ways.

But I’ll remember the fun time I had with her. She’s become so important to me, an imprint that will be on my mind and heart for possibly the rest of my life. I know there’s a chance I’ll meet someone one day, but I know I’ll remember my good friend Callie Richards.

The floor creaks, causing my head to shoot to the doorway. Callie stands there, her phone pressed to her chest. Because my T-shirt is so big on her, the whole thing is crooked, one side exposing her shoulder. I focus on her skin for a second before my eyes meet hers.

“I was looking for you in the kitchen, but you weren’t there,” she says.

I gesture to the empty laundry basket. “Was just doing laundry. Here are your clean clothes.” I stand up and hand them to her.

“Thanks. I mean, no thanks.”

She laughs, and I laugh.

“You’re so nice to me and are doing so many things for me and that’s why I keep thanking you,” she says.

I give her a smile. “It’s really no problem, Callie.”

She looks at me and I look at her. I want to say something else, but I’m not sure what.

“You put on a shirt,” she says, then flinches like she didn’t mean to say that.

“Yeah, sorry about before. I’m not used to having people over.”

“Right.” She shifts from one foot to the other. “It’s okay. It’s your house and everything.”

I nod.

We’re quiet.

“How are your friends doing with this crazy weather?” I ask.

“They’re fine. The apartment is still in one piece. No trees have fallen on any cars and nothing indoors has been flooded.”

I grin. “That’s good. You must miss them a lot.”

“Yeah, I really do.”

We stand in silence again.

She pats the clothes. “I’d better change.” She turns to go.

“Callie?”

She faces me.

“I was wondering if you have any plans for today?”

“Nope. No plans other than hanging out with you. I mean, assuming you don’t have any plans.”

Spending the entire day with her sounds perfect, exactly what I need and want.

“No plans, either, other than hanging out with you. I was thinking maybe we can read your favorite romance book together? And discuss it.”

Her face brightens with a smile. “Ooh, yes! We’ll have our book club right here.”

I share her smile. “Sounds good.”

She waves and leaves my room. A short while later, she returns dressed in the clean clothes.

“I’m sorry you can’t go out and buy more clothes for yourself,” I say. “And that I don’t have anything decent for you to wear.”

She walks over to me, takes my hand, and gives it a squeeze. “You’re really so kind, Lincoln. But none of this is your fault. We’re just trying to make the best of a crazy situation.”

I nod. “I know, but if I was able, I’d trudge through the weather and get you everything you need.”

She smiles and bends forward. My eyes widen as she places a warm, soft kiss on my cheek. Smiling shyly, she tugs on my hand, leading me out the door. “We can have the book club in the living room?”

“Y-yeah, that sounds great. Let me just fetch my book from my shelf real quick. Meet me there?”

“Sure.”

I turn around and re-enter my room, my thoughts focused on one thing and one thing only. Her soft lips on my cheek.

My hand automatically goes to the cheek and I shut my eyes, reliving the feeling of her lips sweeping across my skin. I didn’t have a chance to react, but if I was able to, I would have turned my head and kissed her. I’d show her just how special she is to me. And not as my friend.

As much as I want to think about it over and over, I can’t keep her waiting. After grabbing the book from my shelf, I head to the living room. Callie is sprawled on the couch, appearing as if she’s made my apartment her home. I stop my thoughts from wandering down a path they shouldn’t wander down.

She smiles at me. “Hey. Why are you just standing there?”

“I was just thinking about something. It’s not important.” Even though it kind of is.

I make my way to the couch and drop down next to her with my book. I accidentally use too much force and she rolls to me. Her body smashes into mine.

“Sorry!” she says as she scoots away from me.

“No, it’s my fault. I dropped down too hard and too close to you. And my body is quite heavy.” I scan around. “Oh, you don’t have your book.”

She waves her phone. “Got the e-book version right here. It’s my favorite book and I have all editions and all formats. I listen to the audiobook all the time.”

I smile. “You’re making me very curious about this book now. It must be amazing if you love it so much.”

Her cheeks are a bit red. “I more than love it, if there’s such a word. Between all versions and formats, I definitely read this more than a hundred times.”

My eyes bug out of their sockets. “Wow. That’s great. I hope I love it, too.”

She holds up her hands. “It’s okay if you don’t. I just want to share it with you. Want to start with the first three chapters and then we can talk about it?”

“Sounds good.”

I flip to the first page while she pushes her knees to her chest, resting her phone on her knees.

And we read.

The first few words suck me in immediately. I’m not much of a reader, but between this book and the action one I started, I’m pretty sure I could turn into a bookworm.

As I read, I feel eyes on me. Lifting my head, I find Callie watching me and I raise an eyebrow at her. “Am I doing something wrong?”

Her cheeks are red again. “No, sorry. I just wanted to see how you looked while you read the book. Like, if you’re enjoying it so far.”

“And what’s the conclusion?”

“You’re definitely sucked in. But carry on and don’t mind me.”

As I continue reading, and loving it, I once again feel her eyes on me. And when our gazes collide, I lift a brow again, not hiding my wide smile.

She bursts out laughing. “Sorry. You look so into it, it’s fascinating to watch. Like, here you are, this famous football player, and you’re doing something so peaceful and calming by reading a book. This needs a pic.”

“Should I make a sexy pose?” I flex my muscles.

She giggles. “No! Just read naturally.”

I give her a thumbs up, laughing, too.

I don’t pay attention when she takes the photos—I’m very into the book. There’s romance pretty early on. The guy and girl are declaring their love for each other, but circumstances in their lives get in the way of their happiness and they have to fight to be together.

Callie is quiet, and when I glance at her, she’s engrossed in the book as well. But she must feel me watching her because she lifts her gaze. I send her a smile, which she returns.

Then we focus on finishing the first three chapters. Once we do, we discuss what we read so far. Callie listens intently to my thoughts and I do the same to her. I’ve barely read romances or discussed them with anyone, so this is new territory for me. But I’m enjoying every second of it.

Callie keeps twitching because she wants to tell me spoilers.

I raise my hand. “No, no! Don’t tell me anything.”

She groans. “I so wish you could get to the end already! It’s so wonderfully amazing, you have no idea.”

“I can’t wait.”

She gives me a crooked smile. “So which do you like more? The action one or this one?”

“This one. Hands down. I can see why it’s your favorite.”

“And still a bestseller.”

“Nice. It’s a bummer they haven’t been able to work out the movie details. I could see so many possibilities.”

“Yeah, it’s a bummer. But anyway, want to continue?”

“Sure. Let’s read as much as we can before lunch. I’ll make us sandwiches and we can discuss it as we eat.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

We do that for an hour and a half. Callie offers to make the sandwiches with me, but I tell her it’ll only take a few minutes. She watches TV meanwhile and I have the sandwiches on trays and in the living room quickly.

“These look so good,” she observes.

“Well I can’t cook, so I kind of became a pro at sandwiches. They’re a bit plain, though, not fancy.”

She shrugs. “Who needs fancy?”

I laugh. “True.”

We eat and discuss the book. I’m not the type of person to analyze, but Callie makes me see the book in a whole new light. She raises topics I haven’t even considered. She’s careful not to spoil anything, though.

After lunch, we continue reading the book, discuss it in more detail, and then watch TV. The weather hasn’t let up at all, which I’m secretly happy about because I don’t want her to go home yet. And from the way she’s laughing and having fun, I get the vibe she doesn’t want to go home, either.

“So what’s for dinner, host?” Callie asks me as she stretches on the couch.

I shrug. “I don’t know. I usually eat a frozen meal or pizza or something. But now that you’re here, that won’t do.”

She lifts a brow. “Well we can’t order anything, so unless you want to cook…”

I nod, smiling unsurely. “I saw a simple recipe in the cookbook that sounded pretty good. And I think I have all the ingredients.”

She gets to her feet and holds out her hand to me. “Let’s get to it, chef.”

“You want to help?”

“I can’t sit around while you work in the kitchen. Besides, it’ll be fun.”

My lips kick up in another smile. “It sure will be.”

I place my hand in hers and we make our way to the kitchen. While I flip to the correct recipe, she searches around for pots and pans that I’ve hardly used.

We check if we have everything we need and get started. Callie has some experience with cooking because she helps Alex all the time and she helped her mom when she was younger. I feel a little confident because of my success at breakfast this morning.

My kitchen isn’t that big, and we keep bumping into each other as we move around. One time, Callie smashes into my chest and the force is so strong that she’s thrown backward. I quickly catch her in my arms, pulling her close to me.

Her eyes are wide as she stares into mine. “Good catch,” she breathes.

I scan her from top to bottom. “You okay?”

“Yeah. You?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay. Cool. Um…” Her voice trails off as we gaze into each other’s eyes. We’re so close that her lips are inches from mine. What would happen if I’d bend my head just slightly? She must be sharing my thoughts because her gaze keeps flicking to my lips.

The sound of the pot boiling over on the stove grabs our attention. Callie lets out a yelp before running to lower the flame.

That weird moment is forgotten as we finish up the cooking. Then we sit down at the kitchen table and eat.

“Hmm…” Callie says as she chews. “It came out better than I thought.”

I chew as well. “Only because you were the chef.”

“Bull. I was the sous chef. You were the chef.”

Grinning, I place my hand over hers that’s on the table. “Doesn’t matter who was in charge. The point is that we did it together.”

She turns her hand so our fingers interlock. “You say the sweetest things, Lincoln. One day, you’ll make a girl very happy.”

I gaze into her eyes, finding myself inching closer to her over the table. If not for it, I’m pretty sure my mouth would devour hers. I’d tell her I know who that girl is—the one sitting right across from me.

But I just smile and say, “Thank you. You’ll make a guy very happy, too.”

She blinks at me, and maybe I’m imagining things, but it’s like she wants to say something. Maybe that her special man is sitting across from her?

But her phone sings as she receives a call, making us break our gazes from each other.

“It’s my mom,” she tells me as she scans the screen. “She probably wants to know how I’m doing.”

She chats to her mom for a bit and I can’t help overhearing that she’s lying, telling her mom she’s at her apartment with her friends. Maybe that’s for the best. If my parents were to call me, I’d lie about Callie being here, too. They’d form all these conclusions that it means something when it clearly doesn’t…or at least, it shouldn’t. Yet I want it to…

She ends the call and laughs sheepishly. “Yeah, so you might have noticed that I lied about staying here.”

I wave my hand. “I get it and would do the same.”

“And that…” she says as she takes another bite of her food. “Is why we’ve become such good friends.”

My lips feel like cement as I lift them in a smile. “For sure. Very good friends.”

Her smile doesn’t quite reach her eyes. Does that mean she’d like us to be more? But how can we? We’re fake dating. She needs time to get over the pain of her breakup. I don’t want to put her through any more pain. She’d constantly have to be in the spotlight if we were to date for real. I’d never ask her to give up her private life for me. She’s already given up so much for me.